Ballymaguigan
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| Ballymaguigan Baile Mhig Úiginn or Baile Mhic Úiginn |
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WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates:
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| Province: | Ulster | |
| County: | County Londonderry | |
| District: | Magherafelt | |
| Population ( ) | <650 | |
Ballymaguigan (Irish: Baile Mhig Uiginn) is a small hamlet (place) situated in southern County Londonderry in Northern Ireland. It is a rural region of about 350 houses and lies on the western shores of Lough Neagh, with relative close proximity to Magherafelt. The hamlet forms one part of a parish named Ardtrea North. Ballymaguigan is in located in the local council named, Magherafelt District Council. The name Ballymaguigan originated as a result of the area being highly populated in the 17th century with Maguigans, who refused to bow the knee to the Landlords and were ultimately banished to the mountains. Hence the name, Baile Mhig Úiginn, meaning Townland of the Maguigans. Interestingly, the Sperrins continue to be saturated with Maguigans while Ballymaguigan remains void of anyone by the name to the present day.
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[edit] Population
In accordance with the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency Ballymaguigan has a;
Population in Ballymaguigan
There are 2408 people living in Ballymaguigan
- Of the total population 1,228 are male. - Of the total population 1,180 are female.
Marital Status in Ballymaguigan
Single (never married) 1,260
Married (first marriage) 965
Re-married 14
Separated (but still legally married) 47
Divorced 24
Widowed 98
The Age Ranges of People in Ballymaguigan
-0-4 years old 189
-5-7 years old 134
-8-9 years old 78
-10-14 years old 208
-15 years old 40
-16-17 years old 85
-18-19 years old 71
-20-24 years old 160
-25-29 years old 183
-30-44 years old 537
-45-59 years old 400
-60-64 years old 88
-65-74 years old 146
-75-84 years old 70
-85-89 years old 13
-90 and over years old 6
[edit] Places of interest
Lough Neagh is situated in lower end of Ballymaguiagn. It is regarded by fishermen of Ballymaguigan and surrounding areas as one of the best places to obtain eels in Ulster, and is also good for obtaining salmon. Due to Ballymaguigan's location on the shores of Lough Neagh, in days gone by fishing was the primary source of income for many families in Ballymaguigan.
St. Trea'a GAA Grounds is the central meeting point in Ballymaguigan. It lies beside colehill crossroads and the hall is used for Whist Drives (on Thursday Night)and many other events. The facilities also has a Woman's Group and Changing Rooms. There is also a large car park within the facility.
University of Ulster used to have a base in Ballymaguigan down the Point Road. The university tested and treated the waters of Lough Neagh, to treat and look after the wildlife in the lough.
[edit] Sport
Gaelic games are far and away the most popular sports in the area, with St.Trea's G.F.C being the local club. Ballymaguiagn fields Gaelic football teams at U12, U14, U16, Minor, Reserve, Thirds and Senior levels. There are also Minor and Senior ladies Gaelic football teams .
Prior to 1944 one team catered for the combined interests of Ballymaguigan and Newbridge. The war came, Toome Airfield was built, practically dividing the parish in two thus making it very difficult for the Ballymaguigan based players to travel to the pitch in the creagh for training. Paddy Batson suggested that a ball be purchased so that the local players could practise in Ballymaguigan. From this initial step the beginnings of an independent club became apparent.
[edit] Education
Most people in Ballymaguiagn attend the local catholic maintained primary school. The school is named Saint Trea's Primary School and acoomidates for children ages 4 to 11.
The people of Ballymaguiagn and neighbouring counterpart village in the parish of Ardtrea North, Newbridge may not have a school to attend because of the new laws regarding the opening of a primary school. In Northern Ireland if a primary school has less than 105 pupils they may have to face the possibility of closer. Saint Trea's Primary School falls into this bracket and may face a joining with Anahorish Primary School. This means that the new school would have to accommodate both communities and be placed in a central location within the parish.
Once the people of Ballymaguigan have finished their education in Saint Trea's Primary School then attend secondary schools in the local town of Magherafelt. The people of Ballymaguigan attended schools in Magherafelt such as:
- Saint Pius X College formally Saint Pius X High School, Magerafelt
- Saint Mary's Grammar School
- Rainey Endowed Grammar School
- Sperrin Intergraded College
[edit] The Troubles
On the 18 December 1971 - James Sheridan (20), John Bateson (19) and Martin Lee (18), all from Ballymaguigan died in a premature bomb explosion while travelling in a car at King Street, Magherafelt. The three men all were Catholics and members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA). The men all came from Ballymaguigan.
[edit] Roads Within Ballymaguigan
- Shore Road is the main road within Ballymaguigan and is named the Shore Road because it runs along the shore of the lough. The road is about 12 miles long. The road partially runs through the village of Newbridge, Ballymaguigan, Ballyronan and Ballinderry, before it becomes the Ballinderry Bridge Road.
A number of other roads run off the right of the Shore Road and eventually these roads end at the lough. These roads are named the (Lower) Waterfoot Road, Moss Road, Lough Road and the Point Road.
- The Barrack Road (Section One) - Running from O'Neill's Park to the Gracefield Road
- The Barrack Road (Section Two) - Running from the middle of the Barrack Road to the beginning of the Ballmaguiagn Road. This road was formally known as "Charley's Hill" locally.
- The Ballymaguigan Road - This road almost runs parallel of the Barrack road. The road begins just off the left hand side of the Shore Road and forms a cross-roads with the Lough road. The Ballymaguigan road finishes at the Gracefield road.
- The Waterfoot Road - This road is actually two roads, The road begins just off the left hand side of the Shore Road and forms a cross-roads with the (Lower) Waterfoot Road. The Waterfoot road finishes at the Gracefield road.
- O'Neill's Park] - This is a housing development and is located on what is commonly known locally as "The Island Hill". The entrance of this development is just off the Barrack road. The development consists of twenty six houses.
[edit] Religion
Approximately 84.5% of Ballymaguigan people are Roman Catholic. The remainder are Protestant. Unlike in urban areas of Northern Ireland the two communities live side by side peacefully and hardly ever come into conflict. The Protestants live in a small area at the upper end of Ballymaguigan(waterfoot road) whilst the Roman Catholic majority live in the remaining area.
[edit] Famous People
Back on the 11th June 2007 Eamonn Coleman died. He led County Derry Gaelic Football team to win the 1993 All Ireland.
[edit] Language/Dialect
Mid Ulster English is the dialect spoken by most people in Ballymaguigan. Due to the fact that Ballymaguigan is situated in the southern Londonderry region of Northern Ireland, the people of Ballymaguigan dialect represents a cross-over between Ulster Scots and Hiberno-English.
In Ballymaguigan and the Mid Ulster region it is very common to hear the following words used by the people of Ballymaguigan
Much non-standard vocabulary found in Mid Ulster English and many meanings of standard English words peculiar to the dialect come from Scots and Irish. Some examples are shown in the table below. Many of these are also used in general Hiberno-English.
Mid-Ulster English Standard English Notes Ach!/Och! annoyance, regret, etc. (general exclamation) Usually used to replace "Oh!" and "Ah!". "Ach" is Irish for "but", which is usually use in the same context. aye yes bake mouth From Scots, extension of meaning from beak. Many body parts are also from Scots: see below. boke, boak vomit From Scots bowk with Ulster vocalisation to /o/. cowp, cope to tip over, to fall over From Scots cowp with Ulster vocalisation to /o/. crack banter, fun, eg. "What's the crack (with ye)?" - "What's up?" From Scots or Northern English and Irish Gaelic. Often craic the recently-adopted Irish spelling. culchie a farmer, rural dweller either from "Kiltimagh" (KULL-cha-mah), a town in Co Mayo or from the -culture in "agriculture". dander walk (noun or verb) Almost always a noun in (Ulster) Scots (daunder), its use as a verb is English influence. duke, jouk, juke duck, dodge from Scots jouk, "to dodge". gob, gub mouth Perhaps from Scots gab, but also Scottish Gaelic and Irish gob, mouth. gutties plimsolls Note also the phrase "Give her the guttie" - "Step on it (accelerate)". From Gutta-percha, india-rubber, Also used in Scotland. hallion a good-for-nothing From Scots. (to have) a hoak, hoke to dig, to look around in e.g. "Have a wee hoak" From Scots howk with Ulster vocalisation to /o/. jap to spill From Scots jaup. lug ear Scots, almost certainly from a Scandinavian source, eg. Norwegian lugg, a tuft of hair. oxter armpit Scots poke ice-cream From Scots poke a bag or pouch. scunnered, scundered embarrassed (esp. Belfast area), annoyed (around Tyrone) From Scots scunner. sheugh Pronounced /ʃʌx/ a small, shallow ditch. From Scots sheuch. thole tolerate, put up with From Scots, even appears in Gothic texts. thon that From Scots, originally yon, the th by analogy with this and that. throughother untidy, like "something the cat dragged in" Throughother was used to describe houses that you had to pass through one room to get to another, which was untidy. And so throughother came to be used to describe anything that is untidy. wee little, but also used as a generic diminutive Cognate with German wenig, meaning "a little", although more closely related to English weigh.
Furthermore, speakers of the dialect conjugate many verbs according to how they are formed in Scots, eg. driv instead of drove as the past tense of drive, etc.
