Ballycastle: Home-educated children help uncover mystery of lost building

A group of home-educated children have been getting their hands dirty as they help archaeologists uncover the remains of a mysterious building.

The youngsters swapped their usual lessons for an archaeological dig, working alongside experts to discover what lies beneath the ground.

The building, which appeared on an 18th-century map before disappearing from later records, has left researchers searching for answers about its original purpose.

For the children, the experience offered a chance to learn about history outside their usual setting, while taking part in a real archaeological investigation.

The project partners Ballycastle Museum with Queen’s University Belfast and the Community Archaeology Programme Northern Ireland (CAPNI).

These hands-on community excavation sessions pair professional archaeologists with local school groups, home-schooled children, and adult volunteers.

For this session the young group joined archaeologists in Ballycastle, County Antrim, where researchers are investigating the remains of a building shown on a map from 1786.

The structure had disappeared from maps by the 1830s, leaving its history largely unknown.

Researchers believe it may have been connected to the town’s industrial past, potentially forming part of a bleach yard associated with businessman Hugh Boyd.