Ballymena is a town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Its name in Irish is An Baile Meánach, which literally means 'middle town'.

Ballymena is described by some as being at the heart of Northern Ireland's equivalent of the Bible Belt. It is also sometimes said to have the worst heroin problem.

Early History

The first recorded history of the Ballymena area dates to the Early Christian period from the fifth century to the seventh century. Raths found in the townland of Ballykeel and a site known as Camphill Fort in in the townland of Ballee may also have been of this type. There are a number of souterrain sites within a 2km radius of the centre of Ballymena.

Two miles north of Ballymena in the townland of Kirkinriola, the ancient parish church and graveyard possess several indicators 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 inscription 'oa do degen'. This refers to Bishop Degen who lived in Ireland during the 7th century.

At the end of the fifth century a church was founded in Connor, 5 miles south of Ballymena. This was followed by a monastery at Templemoyle, Kells. In 831 the Vikings invaded the Ballymena area, burning the church at Connor.

In the twelfth century the Anglo-Normans conquered much of County Antrim and County Down and created the core of the Anglo-Norman Earldom of Ulster. During this campaign they built great mounds of earth topped by wooden towers, referred to as mottes, as defensive structures. Harryville Motte and Bailey is one of the best examples in Northern Ireland of this type of fortification. Some sources, however, credit the O'Flynns with building the Mid-Antrim mottes and baileys in imitation of the invaders. The O'Flynns defeated and repelled the Earl of Ulster, John de Courcy in 1177 and 1178.

In 1315 Edward Bruce (brother of Robert Bruce, King of Scotland) invaded Ireland. On 10th September 1315, at the Battle of Tawnybrack (5 miles south of Ballymena at Kells), he conquered the army of Richard De Burgo , the Anglo-Norman Earl of Ulster.

In 1576 Queen Elizabeth I granted land, including the town of Ballymena, to Sir Thomas Smith. The lands had been forfeited to the crown after Shane O'Neill's rebellion in the 1560s. Smith brought English settlers to the area. In 1581 Smith's English settlement failed. The Lands reverted to the crown.

On 10 May 1607 King James I granted the native Irish chief, Rory Og MacQuillan the Ballymena Estate. The estate passed through several owners, eventually passing into the possession of William Adair , a Scottish laird from Kinhilt in South-Western Scotland. The estate was temporarily re-named Kinhilstown after the Adair's lands in Scotland. The original castle of Ballymena was built in the early seventeenth century, situated to take advantage of an ancient ford over the River Braid . In 1626 King Charles I confirmed the grant of the Ballymena Estate to William Adair, giving him the right to hold a market at Ballymena on every Saturday.

In 1641 the local Ballymena garrison fought against the rebels but had to retreat to Carrickfergus. Ballymena's first market house (on the site of the present town hall) was built in 1684.

In 1690 the Duke of Würrtemburg, a Williamite General used Galgorm Castle as his headquarters. Sir Robert Adair raised a Regiment of Foot for William III and fought at the Battle of the Boyne.

By 1704 the population of Ballymena had reached 800. In 1707 the first Protestant (Church of Ireland) parish church was built. In 1740 the original Ballymena Castle burnt down. The Gracehill Moravian settlement was founded in 1765. During the 1798 rebellion, Ballymena was occupied from 7th to 9th June by a force of around 10,000 United Irishmen, who stormed the Market House (now the Town Hall) killing three of its defenders.

The first Roman Catholic Church in Ballymena was not consecrated until 1827. By 1834 the population of Ballymena was about 4,000. In 1848 the Belfast and Ballymena Railway was established. In 1865 Robert Alexander Shafto Adair started building Ballymena Castle, a magnificent family residence, in the Demesne. The Castle was not completed until 1887.

Twentieth Century

In 1900 Ballymena assumed urban status. The Adairs disposed of most of their Ballymena estate to the occupying tenants in 1904, under the provisions of the Irish Land Act of 1903. The “old” town hall building, which also contained the post office and estate office, burned down in 1919. The Duke of York laid the foundation stone to the new town hall on 24 July 1924 and it was officially opened on 20th November 1928. 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 23rd 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 create the present Ballymena Borough Council.

See also

• List of towns in Northern Ireland