Knocklayd, like much of the Antrim Hills was originally of volcanic origins some 60 million years ago. Whether it was actually a volcano or simply an area that has been shaped by subsequent erosion to look like a volcano, I don’t know. Climbing up the side of it from the north east it certainly resembles a volcano, at least until around 450m. After that the land convexes out and you see, not a volcanic caldera, but a boggy top. It’s a broad hogs back some 400m long going NW to SE.

Unlike most peaks in Ireland, Knocklayd has no major re-entrants, being a smooth curve all around (apart from a quarry on the west side).
Perhaps because of the volcanic resemblance, Knocklayd was the subject of an elaborate hoax in 1788 perpetrated in “Faulkner’s Dublin Journal” which said that “..Our fears were very much increased in the evening by a most uncommon noise from Knocklade, the top of which burst, and the discharge of burning matter and hot stones from it was truly alarming, killing several cattle in the adjacent fields, many cabbins were thrown down, and several people are missing …”.

Our view shows Knocklayd to the left. The land separated by the sea from the mainland is Rathlin Island. Beyond it is some of the coast of Scotland. [oh, ok, Scotland is not very obvious in the overcast murk] Trackback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/428/comment/928/