Ballymena
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 Ballymena Town Hall, with the new Braid Arts Centre behind | |
  Ballymena Location withinNorthern Ireland | |
| Population | 31,205 (2021 census) |
| Irish grid reference | D1003 |
| • Belfast | 28 miles (45 km)SE |
| District | |
| County | |
| Country | Northern Ireland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BALLYMENA |
| Postcode district | BT42–BT44 |
| Dialling code | 028 |
| Police | Northern Ireland |
| Fire | Northern Ireland |
| Ambulance | Northern Ireland |
| UK Parliament | |
| NI Assembly | |
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Ballymena (/ˌbæliˈmiːnə/BAL-ee-MEE-nə;[1] fromIrish:an Baile Meánach[ənˠˌbˠalʲəˈmʲaːn̪ˠəx]ⓘ, meaning 'the middle townland')[2] is a town inCounty Antrim, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 31,205 people at the2021 United Kingdom census, making it theseventh largest town in Northern Ireland by population.[3] It is part of the Borough ofMid and East Antrim.
The town was built on theBraid River, on land given to the Adair family byKing Charles I in 1626, with a right to hold two annual fairs and a Saturday market in perpetuity. Surrounding villages areCullybackey,Ahoghill,Broughshane, andKells-Connor.
The recorded history of the Ballymena area dates to theEarly Christian period, from the fifth to the seventh centuries.Ringforts are found in thetownland of Ballykeel, and a site known as Camphill Fort in the townland of Ballee may also have been of this type. There are a number ofsouterrains within a1+1⁄4 miles (2.0 km) radius of the centre of Ballymena. Two miles (3.2 kilometres) north in the townland of Kirkinriola, the medieval parish church and graveyard show signs of Early Christian settlement, including a souterrain. Also in 1868, a gravedigger found a large stone slab on which was carved a cross with the inscriptionord do degen. This refers to Bishop Degen, who lived in Ireland during the seventh century. This stone is now in the porch ofSt Patrick's Church of Ireland, at the end of Castle Street. At the end of the fifth century, a church was founded in Connor, five miles (8.0 kilometres) south of Ballymena. This was followed by a monastery at Templemoyle, Kells. In 831,Vikings invaded the area and burned the church.
In the late 12th century, theAnglo-Normans invaded Ireland and conquered much of what is now eastern Ulster, creating theEarldom of Ulster. They built amotte-and-bailey fort in what is now the Harryville area of Ballymena. It is one of the best-surviving examples of this type of fortification in Northern Ireland.
In 1315,Edward Bruce (brother of Scottish kingRobert the Bruce) invaded the Earldom of Ulster,opening up another front in the war against the English. On 10 September 1315, at theBattle of Connor, near Ballymena, Edward's army defeated the army ofRichard de Burgh, the Anglo-NormanEarl of Ulster.
On 10 May 1607, during thePlantation of Ulster,King James I of England granted the native Irish chief, Ruairí Óg MacQuillan, the Ballymena Estate. The estate passed through several owners, eventually passing into the possession of William Adair, a Scottishlaird from Kinhilt in southwestern Scotland. The estate was temporarily renamed "Kinhilstown" after Adair's lands in Scotland. The original castle of Ballymena was built in the early 17th century, situated to take advantage of an ancient ford on the River Braid. In 1626Charles I confirmed the grant of the Ballymena Estate to William Adair, giving him the right to hold a market at Ballymena every Saturday. He hired local Irish as workers on the estate; they served as tenant farmers for much of the next two centuries and more. Galgorm nearby was granted to SirFaithful Fortescue. In 1618 he built the Castle, which still exists.
During theIrish Rebellion of 1641, the local Ballymena garrison were defeated by Irish rebels in the battle of Bundooragh.
Ballymena's first market hall was built in 1684.[4]
In 1710, during moving of the casements from the General Horde, it was found that several books belonging to the Duke of First Parish were left among the casements. These books were returned to the church in agreement with the terms set forth by the Duke.
In 1690, during theWilliamite-Jacobite War, Williamite general the Duke ofWürttemberg usedGalgorm Castle as his headquarters.Sir Robert Adair raised a Regiment of Foot forKing William III and fought at theBattle of the Boyne.
By 1704, the population of Ballymena had reached 800. In 1707, the firstProtestant (Church of Ireland) parish church was built. In 1740, the original Ballymena Castle burned down. TheGracehillMoravian settlement was founded in 1765.
During the1798 rebellion, Ballymena was occupied from 7 to 9 June by a force of around 10,000United Irishmen. They stormed the market hall, killing three of its defenders.[4]
The first modernRoman Catholic Church in Ballymena was consecrated in 1827. By 1834 the population of Ballymena was about 4,000. In 1848 theBelfast and Ballymena Railway was established. In 1865Robert Alexander Shafto Adair (laterBaron Waveney) started building Ballymena Castle, a magnificent family residence, in the Demesne. The castle was not completed until 1887.
In 1870The People's Park was established.
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In 1900, Ballymena assumed urban district status.[4] Under the provisions of theLand Purchase (Ireland) Act 1903, the Adairs disposed of most of their Ballymena estate to the occupying tenants in 1904. The old market hall building, which also contained the post office and estate office, burned down in 1919. The newBallymena Town Hall was officially opened by theDuke of Abercorn on 20 November 1928.[6]
The Urban District Council petitioned for borough status and the Charter was granted in December 1937. The first meeting of councillors as a Borough Council was held on 23 May 1939. The population of Ballymena reached 13,000. Ballymena Castle was demolished in the 1950s. In 1973, the Urban and Rural District Councils were merged to createBallymena Borough Council. Following local government reorganisation in 2015, the Borough Council was merged with the Boroughs ofCarrickfergus Borough Council andLarne Borough Council.[7]
During theSecond World War, Ballymena was home to a large number of evacuees fromGibraltar. They were housed with local families.[8]
In the 1950sSt Patrick's Barracks in Ballymena was the Regimental Training Depot of the Royal Ulster Rifles (83rd & 86th). Many young men who had been conscripted on the United Kingdom mainland, along with others who had volunteered for service in the British Army, embarked upon their period of basic training in the Regimental Depot, prior to being posted to the regular regimental battalions. Many of these young men were to serve in Korea, Cyprus and with the British Army of the Rhine. In 1968 due to a series of government austerity measures, the remaining three Irish regiments,Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (27th) Royal Ulster Rifles (83rd & 86th) and the Royal Irish Fusiliers (89th) merged to become the Royal Irish Rangers. Early in the 1990s theRoyal Irish Regiment, whose Regimental Headquarters was at St Patrick's Barracks, was granted the Freedom of the Borough.
Like other towns in Northern Ireland,Ballymena was affected by the Troubles, a lengthy period of religious and partisan tensions and armed confrontations from the 1960s until 1998. A total of eleven people were killed in or near the town by the IRA and variousloyalist groups.
During the later half of the 20th century, Ballymena, like many other once prosperous industrial centres in Northern Ireland, experienced economic change and industrial restructuring; many of its former factories closed. Since the 2010s Ballymena has seen a decline in its retail and manufacturing sectors. BothMichelin and JTI have left the area. Local firmWrightbus is also struggling, citing a downturn in orders. It is hoped that the creation of a manufacturing hub at the former Michelin site will attract businesses to the area.
In January 2013, the actorLiam Neeson, a native of Ballymena, received thefreedom of the borough.[9]Ian Paisley was made a freeman of Ballymena in December 2004.[10]
Ballymena is described by some observers as being at the heart of Northern Ireland's equivalent of theBible Belt.[11][12] It has a Protestant majority. In the early 1990s theDemocratic Unionist Party (DUP)-dominated town council banned a performance by theELO Part II in the township, saying they would attract "the four Ds Drink, Drugs, Devil and Debauchery".[13] The Council banned the screening ofBrokeback Mountain (2005), starringJake Gyllenhaal andHeath Ledger, as it featured a homosexual relationship. An impersonator of comicRoy 'Chubby' Brown was also banned.[14]
The majority of the town's Catholic population is situated around the Broughshane and Cushendall Road areas. Recently there has been tension in the Dunclug area of the town which now has a Catholic majority. These tensions have been associated with internment bonfires and the flying of republican flags; the town[who?] has tried to reduce tensions.[15]
In 2011 it was revealed that Ballymena has the third-highest level of legal gun ownership in Northern Ireland.[16]
Ballymena competed forcity status as part of thePlatinum Jubilee Civic Honours.[17] However, the bid was unsuccessful.
In June 2025, Ballymena was the scene of an alleged attempted sexual assault by two 14-year-old boys which triggeredheavy rioting that lasted for several days. The police alleged the riots were racially motivated.[18][19]
Ballymena was traditionally a market town. The 1980s were a time of job losses in Ballymena as industry suffered and this reoccurred in the 2010s.
Notable employers wereMichelin in Broughshane, JTI Gallaher in Galgorm, andWrightbus.
In November 2012, the Patton Group, a major builder entered administration with the loss of 320 jobs.[20]
In October 2014, it was announced that JTI Gallaher's would be closing with a loss of 877 jobs.[21]
In November 2015, Michelin decided to close their Ballymena factory after 50 years, resulting in the loss of up to 850 jobs.[22]
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1821 | 2,740 | — |
| 1831 | 4,067 | +48.4% |
| 1841 | 5,549 | +36.4% |
| 1851 | 6,136 | +10.6% |
| 1861 | 6,769 | +10.3% |
| 1871 | 7,932 | +17.2% |
| 1881 | 8,883 | +12.0% |
| 1891 | 8,655 | −2.6% |
| 1901 | 10,886 | +25.8% |
| 1911 | 11,381 | +4.5% |
| 1926 | 11,873 | +4.3% |
| 1937 | 12,928 | +8.9% |
| 1951 | 14,173 | +9.6% |
| 1961 | 14,734 | +4.0% |
| 1966 | 15,917 | +8.0% |
| 1971 | 23,386 | +46.9% |
| 1981 | 18,166 | −22.3% |
| 2001 | 28,717 | +58.1% |
| 2011 | 29,551 | +2.9% |
| 2021 | 31,205 | +5.6% |
| [3][23][24][25] | ||
On census day (21 March 2021) there were 31,205 people living in Ballymena.[3] Of these:
On census day (27 March 2011) there were 29,551 people living in Ballymena, accounting for 1.63% of the NI total,[23] representing an increase of 2.9% on the 2001 census population of 28,717.[24] Of these:
There are a number of educational establishments in the town. These include:
Ballymena railway station opened on 4 December 1855. A station was opened at Harryville on 24 August 1878, but closed on 3 June 1940.[citation needed]
TheBallymena, Cushendall and Red Bay Railway operatednarrow gauge railway services from Ballymena toParkmore from 1875 to 1940.[34]
TheBallymena and Larne Railway was another narrow gauge railway. The line opened in 1878, but closed to passengers in 1933 and to goods traffic in 1940. Between 1878 and 1880 the line terminated at Harryville, but was then extended to the town's main railway station.
Association football clubs in the area includeBallymena United F.C., Coaching For Christ, Southside Rangers F.C. andWakehurst F.C.[35]
Ballymena RFC is a localrugby union club.[36]
All Saints GAC is the onlyGaelic Athletic Association club in the town.
Ballymena Golf Club was founded in 1903.[citation needed]
Other Ballymena sports clubs includeBallymena Cricket Club, Ballymena Lawn Tennis Club and Ballymena Bowling Club.[37]
Townlands are traditional land divisions used in Ireland. Ballymena covers all or part of the following townlands:
| Climate data forPortglenone (64 m elevation) 1981–2010 | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 6.9 (44.4) | 7.4 (45.3) | 9.5 (49.1) | 11.7 (53.1) | 14.6 (58.3) | 16.9 (62.4) | 18.6 (65.5) | 18.3 (64.9) | 16.2 (61.2) | 12.7 (54.9) | 9.4 (48.9) | 7.2 (45.0) | 12.5 (54.5) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 1.7 (35.1) | 1.5 (34.7) | 2.8 (37.0) | 4.2 (39.6) | 6.5 (43.7) | 9.2 (48.6) | 11.2 (52.2) | 11.0 (51.8) | 9.4 (48.9) | 6.6 (43.9) | 3.8 (38.8) | 2.1 (35.8) | 5.9 (42.6) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 91.4 (3.60) | 60.8 (2.39) | 77.9 (3.07) | 64.2 (2.53) | 64.0 (2.52) | 70.0 (2.76) | 77.5 (3.05) | 88.5 (3.48) | 79.5 (3.13) | 101.1 (3.98) | 89.6 (3.53) | 89.2 (3.51) | 953.6 (37.54) |
| Average rainy days(≥ 1.0 mm) | 16.2 | 12.6 | 14.6 | 12.8 | 13.6 | 12.2 | 14.5 | 13.9 | 14.8 | 16.7 | 15.8 | 15.8 | 173.5 |
| Source: metoffice.gov.uk[47] | |||||||||||||
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Italics denote settlements that are classed as towns but also have city status  Northern Ireland portal | ||
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