Annalong
A quaint village with a bustling harbour
Annalong, meaning 'ford of the ships’ in Irish, is a peaceful fishing village at the foot of the Mourne Mountains. Once upon a time its picturesque harbour was used for shipping granite. Nowadays, it's not stone leaving the harbour, but fishing boats! The harbour is still the heart of the community and around 50 tonnes of fish are landed here each year. Stroll along the coast path that hugs Annalong’s shores, or wander past the endearing seaside cottages with coloured shutters. Can you spot any fishing relics as you walk by?
Meet Brian
Local pot fisherman Brian Chambers has been fishing since he could walk. He built his own boat ‘The Girl Beth’ in 1990, and it’s still going strong some 30 years later! As an 8th-generation fisherman, fishing is truly in Brian's genes, and his children even fish with him during the summer. As a pot fisherman, Brian loves to cook and tuck into a plate of delicious brown crab claws, but it surprises him that this way of eating seafood isn’t more popular locally: “People don't like to get hands-on with their food which I think puts them off crab claws and other delicious shellfish here”. But we’re with Brian on this one - sweet, tasty crab meat is hard to resist!
Coley – also known as saithe – is a member of the cod family, characterised by their three dorsal fins. Its meat is grey when raw but turns white when cooked, and delivers a fabulous clean and buttery flavour. Inexpensive and a great alternative to better known white fish, coley’s fishy flavour works wonderfully as the main event in a simple and quick recipe, like the one below.
Simple coley with mash
- 900g potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
- 2 tbsp olive or rapeseed oil
- 4 tsp butter
- 4 x 170g coley fillets
- 8 tbsp semi-skimmed milk
- Fresh parsley, chopped to garnish
- 640g mixed green vegetables, steamed
- Lemon wedges, to serve
- Place the potatoes in a pan with water. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until tender.
- Heat the olive oil and 1 tsp of the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat until sizzling. Season the coley with salt and pepper and add to the pan. Cook for just 3-4 minutes on each side or until white all the way through, then set aside and keep warm.
- Drain the potatoes and bring the milk to the boil using the same pan. Remove from the heat and return the potatoes to the pan with the milk and add the remaining butter. Mash until smooth and creamy. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Place the coley on a bed of mashed potato, garnish with the parsley, and serve with the green veg and lemon wedges.
Download the leaflet
You can download an offline version of this trail map and play fun activities around the area!
Click the banner on the right to open the leaflet in a new window and download.
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