Ballycraigy | |
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Townland | |
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]