Ballykelly

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Ballykelly (Baile Uí Cheallaigh in Irish) is a village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It lies 3 miles west of Limavady on the main Derry to Limavady road and contains some of the most interesting buildings erected in Ulster by the Plantation companies. It had a population of 1,836 people in the 2001 Census.

The village is rich in architecture, being largely developed by the London Company of Fishmongers through the 18th century and 19th century. It features Tamlaghtfinlagan Church amongst many traditional buildings. The village enjoys views across Lough Foyle to Inishowen in County Donegal and is bordered by Ballykelly Forest which was the first State Forest in Northern Ireland.

Sampson's Tower

Contents

1 Places of interest
2 Transport
3
4 2001 Census
5 References
6 See also

Places of interest

Between Limavady and Ballykelly is the Rough Fort, a prehistoric earthwork fort in the care of the National Trust.
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.
There is a big military airfield RAF Ballykelly, which suddenly 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.

Transport

The Broharris Canal was constructed in the 1820s when a cut, some 2 miles long on the south shore of Lough Foyle near Ballykelly was made in the direction of Limavady. It served both as a drainage channel and a navigation with goods being brought from the port of Derry, and shellfish and kelp from the sand banks along the shore.

The Ballykelly disco bombing occurred on December 6 1982 when a small bomb killed seventeen people (6 civilians and 11 British Army members) in the Droppin Well disco and bar. The Irish National Liberation Army later admitted responsibility.

2001 Census

Ballykelly is classified as a village by the [NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA)] (ie 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]

References