Ballykelly, County Londonderry

Coordinates: 55°02′40″N 7°00′57″W / 55.0445°N 7.01576°W / 55.0445; -7.01576

Ballykelly
Irish: Baile Uí Cheallaigh
The village centre, located on the A2
Ballykelly  Ballykelly shown within Northern Ireland
Population	1,836 (2001 Census)
District	Limavady
County	County Londonderry
Country	Northern Ireland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LIMAVADY
Postcode district	BT49
Dialling code	028
Police	Northern Ireland
Fire	Northern Ireland
Ambulance	Northern Ireland
EU Parliament	Northern Ireland
UK Parliament	East Londonderry
List of places: UK • Northern Ireland • County Londonderry

Ballykelly (from Irish: Baile Uí Cheallaigh, meaning "O'Kelly's Townland"^[1]) is a village and townland in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It lies 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Limavady on the main Derry to Limavady A2 road and is 15 miles (24 km) east of Derry. It is designated as a Large Village and in 2001 the population of Ballykelly (excluding Walworth) was 1,827.^[2] It lies within the Limavady Borough Council area.

Features

Ballykelly contains some of the most interesting buildings erected in Ulster by the Plantation companies, being largely developed by the London Company of Fishmongers through the 18th and 19th centuries. It features Tamlaghtfinlagan Parish Church, built by Earl Frederick Hervey, 18th Century Bishop of Derry, amongst many traditional buildings. The Presbyterian Church, Drummond Hotel and North West Independent Hospital, were all built by the London Company of Fishmongers.^[3] The village enjoys views across Lough Foyle to Inishowen in County Donegal^[4] and is bordered by Ballykelly Forest which was the first State Forest in Northern Ireland. Although there are good health and educational facilities available, there is only a limited retail sector relative to the population of the village.^[2]

Sampson's Tower

Politics

The village lies within the East Londonderry constituency and is represented by Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) member, Gregory Campbell.

History

The village was originally laid out as a Plantation settlement. The development of the nearby World War II airfield greatly enhanced the size and significance of the village. There has been considerable expansion throughout the post-War period, particularly since the 1990s, with a series of private residential developments west of the historic core along Clooney Road.^[2]

RAF Ballykelly opened in 1941 as a base for RAF Coastal Command. It closed in 1971 and the site was handed over to the British Army, who renamed it Shackleton Barracks. The Army was due to leave Shackleton Barracks in early 2008. During World War II an RAF bomber on a training run clipped a telephone line behind a church in Ballykelly and crashed, claiming the lives of the crew.^[4] The aircraft was carrying out a trials mission involving low level parachuting, but a parachute became entangled with the tailplane, putting the aircraft out of control.

During the Northern Irish Troubles the Droppin Well bombing occurred in Ballykelly, killing 17 people in a local disco and bar. Although one of the most fatal single incidents of the conflict, it was the only fatal Troubles-related incident to take place in Ballykelly.

Places of interest

• Ballykelly Forest is located west of the village. The land was purchased in 1910 and it became the first state forest in Northern Ireland, with the planting of 11 acres (45,000 m²) of Douglas-fir commencing in 1912. It now has walking trails.^[5] It was also known as the Camman Wood and was a popular haunt for highwaymen terrorising the coach road from Coleraine to Derry.^[6]
• Between Limavady and Ballykelly is Rough Fort, one of the best preserved earthworks in the province. It covers approximately one acre and was one of the first properties to be acquired by the National Trust in Northern Ireland.^[4]
• Nearby is Sampson's Tower, a fortified structure built by public subscription in memory of Arthur Sampson who for 40 years was an agent of the London Worshipful Company of Fishmongers.
• The village hosts Shackleton Barracks, which became famous when a commercial airliner on a Ryanair service landed there by mistake on 29 March 2006, instead of at City of Derry Airport.^[4][7]

Demographics

Ballykelly is classified as a village by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (i.e., with a population of between 1,000 and 2,250 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 1,836 people living in Ballykelly. Of these:

• 27.8% were aged under 16 and 11.3% were aged 60 and over
• 49.6% of the population were male and 50.4% were female
• 59.6% were from a Catholic background and 39.0% were from a Protestant background
• 6.9% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed.

For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service

Climate

Transport

• Ballykelly has good road links to Derry and Limavady. A proposed Ballykelly by-pass would, when constructed, provide a 7 km single carriageway road taking the bulk of through traffic away from the village.^[2] Construction is due between 2013 and 2018.^[9]
• The City of Derry Airport is 9 km (5.6 mi) to the west.
• The Broharris Canal was constructed in the 1820s when a 2 miles (3.2 km) long cut was made on the south shore of Lough Foyle near Ballykelly in the direction of Limavady. It served both as a drainage channel and for transport with goods being brought from Londonderry Port, as well as shellfish and kelp from the sand banks along the shore.
• Ballykelly railway station opened on 29 December 1852 and closed on 20 September 1954.^[10] There are currently no rail links serving Ballykelly, although the Derry to Belfast line runs nearby.

Sport

• Gaelic Football is played at Glack GAC which encompasses players from Ballykelly and the Glack area. With some notable players of the Derry GAA team coming from the area over the clubs history.
• Camogie is also played at Glack GAC for Ladies.
• Ballykelly United Football Team, are currently in the stages of redevelopment.
• The Nedd CC are the local cricket team in Ballykelly, and currently play in Senior League 2 of the North West Cricket Union.

Education

• Ballykelly Primary School
• St. Finlough's Primary School, Glack, Ballykelly

Religion

The Anglican Parish of Tamlaghtfinlagan originally was located 1-mile (1.6 km) southwest of the current village; it is recorded in Papal Bulls of the mid C12th. The name Tamlaghtfinlagan comes from the Irish, the resting place of Finliganus, one of Columba's monks who was, according to tradition, the founding abbot of the abbey. This abbey building still exists, although in ruins. In the mid C16th the parish church moved to Walworth, where it was gutted by the retreating troops of James II following the defeat in the battle of the Boyne, 1689. The current edifice was dedicated in 1795, and is a simple perpendicular church, with three aisles, a small chancel and a gallery, much of which was built by the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers.

• Ballykelly Presbyterian Church was built in 1827 by the Fishmongers Company, London and is a listed grade A building. It has a growing congregation of over 240 families.^[11]
• St Finlough's Catholic Church

People

• Novelist William Makepeace Thackeray travelled through the village during his Irish tour in 1842. He wrote about the Presbyterian Church, championing its architecture over the ‘sham-Gothic ecclesiastical edifices’ which were apparently in Ireland at the time. Also Luke Greene a local socialite^[4]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ballykelly, County Londonderry

References

External links

• BBC Your Place and Mine: Ballykelly, Co. Derry - A Model Plantation Village

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