Ballymena

The Missing Of The Somme

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

“When you go home tell them of us and say, ‘For your tomorrow we gave our today’.” The Thiepval Memorial commemorates British and South African soldiers who died in the Somme valley and have no known grave. The Battle Of the Somme took place from July 1st to November 18th, 1916, but soldiers were in the area from July 1915 until the end of the war; the Germans attacked in the Somme in the spring of 1918 (Operation Michael) and a second Battle Of The Somme took place in late August, 1918, as part of the Allies’ Hundred Days Offensive.

The words are from an epitaph by John Maxwell Edwards in the Kohima War Cemetery, Nagaland, India.

Crebilly Road, Ballykeel 1, Ballymena

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2025 Paddy Duffy
T07869 T07870 T07871

Keep Our Kids Safe

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

On June 7th, a Ballymena teenager was allegedly assaulted by two Romanian-speaking fourteen-year-olds, who were subsequently charged with attempted rape and denied bale. Rioting in Ballymena (Reuters gallery | youtube) beginning on the 9th spread to other locales in subsequent days, including Larne where the leisure centre was set alight on the third night (Guardian | youtube). More than 100 people from Ballymena were eventually arrested (Yahoo). Convictions of rioters – which police described as “race-motivated” and “hate-fuelled” – began on August 1st (PSNI); a 21-year-old man was sentenced to two years in jail earlier this month (Belfast Live). Two-thirds of the Roma population have left the town (Guardian).

These flyers are stuck onto a bus shelter on Crebilly Road, Ballymena. “We are not racist; we are concerned parents”, “Two-tier policing”, “Stop illegal and unvetted immigration”, “Stop mass migration”, “Keep our kids safe”.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2025 Paddy Duffy
T07872 T07873 T07874 T07875 T07876

The Men From Harryville

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

This entry updates 2023’s Harryville Says No with images of two additional boards/plaques erected by the 12th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles Memorial Association (Fb), “in honour of the men from Harryville [Ballymena] who made the ultimate sacrifice during the Battle Of The Somme from 1st July to 18th November 1916”.

“Remembering 57386 Sergeant John McNabney, formerly of No 9 Larne Street, 36th Divisional signal company, awarded the distinguished conduct medal, military medal with bar, and mentioned in despatches.” McNabney’s career and many decorations are described in Ballymena Guardian | Your Lurgan.

Larne Street and Waring Street, Ballymena

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2025 Paddy Duffy
T07702 T07697 T07698 [T07699] T07700 T07701 T07703
T07692

Mill Street, Ballymena

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

These shutters of a solicitor’s office in Mill Street, Ballymena, are painted with a view of the street from around the turn of the (20th) century.

The original photograph, by photographer Robert French, can be seen in the National Library Of Ireland. French died in 1917, which provides an upper limit for the date of the scene.

In the misty distance is the tower of St Patrick’s (CI) church (WP) and closer to the camera (on the right of the left-hand panel) is the steeple on top of the old town hall, which was built in 1684 (one of the old “seven towers” in the town) and rebuilt in 1928 (WP).

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2025 Paddy Duffy
T06079 T06078