Marine Hotel, 1-3 North Street, Ballycastle, Co Antrim, BT54 6BN

The Marine Hotel, located at 1-3 North Street, Ballycastle, has undergone significant change. The original hotel was demolished and replaced in the early 1990s by a modern, three-storey hotel and apartment building with a leisure centre, typical of late 20th-century seaside architecture. While the present building is not considered to be of special architectural or historic interest, it serves to terminate the terrace houses along North Street and turns the corner onto Quay Road, presenting a positive façade towards Mary Street and the former harbour site (now filled in).

The original hotel, as described in a 1972 survey, was a three-storey stucco building with sixteen bays facing Quay Road and nineteen bays facing North Street. It featured canted bays, porches, and castellations. The windows were plain sash windows, and the roofs were slated, with dormers and king post decoration on the main gables. Decorative iron railings were present, and an end block on North Street displayed a coat-of-arms of George II, originally from the former custom house. Porch roofs were undergoing replacement at the time of the survey.

Historical records indicate an inn existed near the corner of Quay Road and North Street as early as 1760, as documented by C Dallat's map of the town. Ordnance Survey maps from 1832 and a revised edition from 1856 depicted a terrace of houses at the end of Quay Road. The 1904 Ordnance Survey map specifically identifies the Marine Hotel as a corner building fronting onto North Street. The building was damaged in the 1970s, leading to its demolition and the subsequent construction of the current hotel. The apartment blocks and leisure centre were added in 1994. The hotel is situated within the town’s conservation area.