Ballycraigy
Housing estate in Antrim town, Northern Ireland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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]
Ballycraigy | |
|---|---|
Townland | |
 | |
| Coordinates: 54°42′31″N 6°10′41″W |
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]