Ballymena, NIR - Postcode - BT42 3JY

Description of Ballymena

The name Ballymena  meaning "the middle townland" comes from the Irish word báile meánach.

A town in Northern Ireland's County Antrim. You'll find it inside the boundaries of Mid and East Antrim Borough.

The town was founded on property that King Charles I granted to the Adair family in 1626, along with the permanent right to host two yearly fairs and a free Saturday market. The Saturday market is still active in 2018. Ballymena is a major retail center in Northern Ireland and the home of the Ballymena United Football Club.

Large communities including Cullybackey, Galgorm, Ahoghill, and Broughshane are included in Ballymena's total size of 632 square kilometers (244 square miles). Population-wise, it was the eighth largest town in Northern Ireland in 2011, with a total of 29,551 residents.

History of Ballymena

Ballymena's written history begins in the Early Christian era, between the fifth and seventh centuries. Both Camphill Fort in the townland of Ballee and the ringforts in the townland of Ballykeel may be traced back to this period. Within a 1.2-mile (2-kilometer) radius of Ballymena's downtown, several souterrain sites have been discovered.

There are various signs of Early Christian settlement in the ancient parish church and graveyard located two miles (3.2 kilometers) to the north in the townland of Kirkinriola, including a souterrain. In the same year, 1868, a gravedigger unearthed a massive stone slab bearing the carvings of a cross and the words "ord do degen." This person is the 7th-century Irish bishop Degen. St. Patrick's Church of Ireland on Castle Street presently has this stone in its doorway.

About eight miles (13 kilometers) south of Ballymena, in the town of Connor, a church was established at the end of the 5th century. Then, in the following century, a monastery was established in Templemoyle, Kells. But the church in Ballymena was destroyed by Norse invaders in 831.

After conquering England a century earlier, the Normans pushed north and took over much of present-day County Antrim and County Down in the 12th century. Together, they built the foundation for what would become the Earldom of Ulster. They constructed massive earthen mounds called mottes, topped with turrets made of wood, to use as fortifications throughout this campaign. Northern Ireland is home to some excellent examples of motte and bailey fortifications, including one in the Harryville (Ulster-Scots: Herrieville) area.

Brother of "Robert the Bruce," King Robert I of Scotland, Edward Bruce invaded Ireland in 1315. Edward defeated Richard De Burgo, the Norman Earl of Ulster, and his army on September 10, 1315, at the Battle of Tawnybrack, which took place five miles (8.0 km) south of Ballymena at Kells.

Economy of Ballymena

Ballymena has a rich history as a market town. Losses in employment in Ballymena's industrial sector first appeared in the 1980s and have since been repeated in the 2010s.

The cities of Broughshane (home of Michelin), Galgorm (home to JTI Gallaher), and Wrightbus (home to Wright Brothers), were all notable for their respective employers. 320 people lost their jobs after big construction firm Patton Group filed for bankruptcy in November 2012.There would be a total of 877 people out of work as a result of JTI Gallagher's announcement in October 2014. Approximately 850 people lost their employment when Michelin announced in November 2015 that they will be closing their Ballymena manufacturing after 50 years.