National Trust North Coast - White Park Bay, Cushendun And Rathlin

The National Trust is a charity on the North Coast, looking after outdoor spaces like White Park Bay, Cushendun village and land on Rathlin Island

We’re a conservation charity that protects over 350 historic houses, 160 gardens, 1, 100km of coastline, 254, 000 hectares of land of outstanding natural beauty, 6 World Heritage Sites, 28 castles and 60 pubs - let's not forget the pubs. Then, we open them up to everyone, to enjoy for ever.

But it doesn’t stop there. We also look after forests, woods, fens, beaches, farmland, downs, moorland, islands, archaeological remains, castles, nature reserves, villages - for ever, for everyone.
Glenmona House – that lovely old mansion nestled in the trees overlooking Cushendun beach is looking to its future – or rather the National Trust’s new recruit is presently working on researching a strategic plan to ensure that the beautiful old house is given a new role within the village and becomes a key destination for visitors travelling the Causeway Coastal route.

Recently retired from her role as Director of Development Services in the old Moyle District Council, Esther is looking forward to this new challenge

She explains: “Cushendun village, with its curious Cornish style architecture, is a real gem on the Causeway Coastal Route and still relatively undiscovered. Glenmona House and its grounds offer so many exciting possibilities for developing the tourist industry here and I hope to get the local community involved in that process. Over the past few weeks I have been carrying out research and talking with visitors, community groups and local businesses. My next step will be to report my preliminary findings to the National Trust in September. The most important thing in planning how the building and grounds will be used in the future will be to ensure that any activity is economically viable and sustainable. Then the big challenge will be to source the funding as substantial investment will be required to realise the vision of this new venture”

Esther can be contacted by email at: esther. mulholland@nationaltrust.org. uk or you can call at Glenmona House any Wednesday.

Our fulltime rangers, Kevin and Liam, are also based at Glenmona House. From Glenmona they, and their seasonal teams, carry out conservation work on the local coastline, forests, paths, farmlands and nature reserves.