Ballymena, Ireland

I was born and raised in Ballymena, a town situated in the heart of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The name "Ballymena" always causes pronunciation problems to people who don't live there. We natives call the town "Ballameena," others "Bally-Men-Ah," both pronunciations producing ridicule from either 'side". The name is Irish and means "middle-town," presumably because it rests in the center of the county.

People in the North joke about the folks from my hometown. They see us all as farmers, at best, and ignorant, small-minded, country bigots at worst. It's always been a very religious place. There are many churches, Protestant, Catholic and Church of Ireland. But there is much more to the town than this.

The River Braid runs close to the railway tracks, winding its deep, sluggish way toward Lough Neigh, the largest freshwater lake in the British Isles. There are several notable "landmarks" in the town. First, the Memorial Park, with its epitaph to those towns-folk who died in the First World War, and four statues depicting the seasons. These graceful statues, all ladies, always fascinated me as a child, their delicate cherub faces forever frozen in iron. Likewise, the poppy wreaths permanently in their place below the central epitaph, a concrete pillar right in the middle of this small, green oasis.

Then there is the Peoples' Park, where we fed the ducks with my granny's stale bread as kids, and played on the swings made of wooden planks and metal chains trying to reach the sky. There is a football pitch of sorts there where my Dad used to play on Saturday mornings, and tennis courts where many an afternoon was spent thumping balls. There is also one place in this park that struck terror in us as children--Devil's Point, a place high above the man-made lake where two young boys drowned many years ago floundering among the weeds; this has become a permanent aspect of the park's folklore.

The Town Hall, an ancient building, rests on the hill which takes you into the town center, which has now become crowded with shops and a busy shopping mall called the Tower Center. Ballymena is known as the City of the Seven Towers because years ago there were seven towers visible as one approached from any direction. Many of these towers have now been flattened to make way for more shops, more supermarkets and more parking facilities.

The Swimming Pool was also a major landmark for us as children. My father was involved in the building of this (he was the foreman), and it has survived and expanded since that time in the 1970s. It is now a multiplex leisure center where you can lift weights, have a sauna, join a judo or karate club, or engage in all kinds of sports including badminton. You can exercise and then pop next door to watch a film in the new Cinema Complex.

The old cinemas--The State and The Tower--have long been closed down which is a pity, especially that the Tower is closed because that was where I first saw a film on the silver screen (The Princess and the Rose). My dad took my sister and me there, a tiny hand in each of his, our eyes like saucers sucking in everything! The building was magical as it had sweeping steps up to the front and a huge, red velvet curtain.

Today Ballymena has changed a great deal since I lived there. It has become a haven for shoppers. It has also unfortunately become a magnet for drug-users and dealers, something that was unheard of as I grew up. However, it is still great to go home and walk along the river near to my parents' house, to see the many colors of green that are Ireland, to hear the accent again, to walk through the town remembering, and to sample the dulse, fish and chips, and yellow man once more.

Ruth M

Submitted: Tuesday 24th February 2004, 8:02 AM

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