Morton's traces back more than a century to Johnny Morton, who sold fish door to door around Ballycastle and the surrounding rural townlands. The next generation, Sean, Maureen, Teresa and Margaret Morton, kept the business going, and the family still runs the fish shop at Bayview Road today, alongside its own small fishing operation. Fish is landed locally when conditions allow, or sourced from fishermen working out of Greencastle in Donegal and Portavogie in County Down. A fish and chip shop was added alongside the fish counter in 2005, selling the same day-boat catch fried to order; it was named Britain's best fish and chip shop by the Sunday Times in 2022. The two trades operate side by side at the harbour end of town, run by descendants of the original Morton family rather than any outside operator. Locals and visitors buy fresh fillets, shellfish and ready-fried meals from the same counter, a rare case of a working fish merchant and chip shop sharing one address.
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