film starred Marlon Brando, Johnny Depp and Debra Winger, the production company went bankrupt after just 2 weeks and the movie was never completed. First run in 1977, the annual Ballycotton Road Race attracted runners from around Ireland and abroad to its 10 Mile circuit of country backroads. In October 2017 it was announced that the 2017 event was to be the last. The local area is home to a number of artists and craftspeople included woodworkers, painters, potters, writers and musicians who sometimes exhibit at the Stephen Pearce Gallery in Shanagarry. Ballycotton has a 13 km cliff walk which leads westward to Ballytrasna. Wildlife in the area includes seals and dolphins, and whales are sometimes visible from the cliffs in December and January. The nearby beach at Ballynamona is on a wildlife sanctuary and herons, oystercatchers and sandhoppers. It is also possible to spot Peregrine Falcons near the rocky inlets at dawn and dusk. Ballycotton cross In 1875 a local antiquarian, Philip T. Gardner, donated the Ballycotton cross (also known as the Ballycottin cross) to the British Museum. It is a 9th-century jewelled Celtic cross with a centre glass jewel with an inscription of the Bismillah in Kufic script which may be interpreted as As God wills, In the name of Allah or We have repented to God. It is held in the British Museum's brooch collection, and the provenance is: "said to have been found in or near Ballycottin Bog". As an early indicator of possible links between Ireland and early Islam, the cross has been cited in academic papers and histories of Islam's presence in Northern Europe in the late Dark Ages, and on speculative history websites and forums. See also Lighthouses in Ireland List of towns and villages in the Ireland List of RNLI stations References External links Ballycotton Development Company Tourism, sports and local, activities development organisation. Towns and villages in County Cork Lighthouses completed in 1851 Lighthouses in the Republic of Ireland Lighthouses on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage