Ballycraigy
Ballycraigy | |
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Townland | |
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| Coordinates: 54°42′31″N 6°10′41″W / 54.70861°N 6.17806°W |
Ballycraigy (from Irish Baile na Creige, meaning 'townland of the rock')[1] is a townland and housing estate in Antrim town, Northern Ireland.[2] According to the census for Ballycraigy ward the estate has approximately 865 residents.[3]
The Ballycraigy estate is almost wholly Protestant, and the estate is associated with Ulster loyalism. Ballycraigy has its own loyalist marching band, "Ballycraigy Sons of Ulster", with purple/lilac attire for their uniform. Every Eleventh of July, many Protestants celebrate by lighting a bonfire in the centre of the estate.[4] In 2007 there was a legal threat over the inclusion of hundreds of tyres in the bonfire with the fear that excessive toxic fumes would be emitted; however it was not possible to establish who had been involved in placing them there, and the bonfire was allowed to go ahead.[5]
On the Ballycraigy estate is a memorial garden dedicated to Billy Wright, leader of the Loyalist Volunteer Force paramilitary organisation.[6]
There are two other townlands named Ballycraigy in County Antrim. One is in Larne and is the site of Ballycraigy Manor, a country house with a tower and battlements built in 1869, the residence of James Chaine,[7] a businessman involved in shipping and a Conservative Party politician.[8] The other is in the parish of Carnmoney.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ "Ballycraigy". Northern Ireland Place-Names Project.
- ^ "Ballycraigy Townland, Co. Antrim". www.townlands.ie. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
- ^ "Ballycraigy (Antrim and Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map, Location, Weather and Web Information". www.citypopulation.info. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
- ^ "Bonfires lit across Northern Ireland ahead of 12th marches". The Irish Times. 12 July 2014. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
- ^ "Legal threat over toxic bonfires". BBC News. 11 July 2007. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
- ^ "The law cannot make a man love me, but..." Belfast and Beyond. Amnesty International UK. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
- ^ "1869 – Ballycraigy Manor, Larne, Co. Antrim". Archiseek. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
- ^ Walker, Brian M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary election results in Ireland, 1801–1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. p. 249. ISBN 0-901714-12-7.
- ^ "Ballycraigy Townland, Co. Antrim". Townlands. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
