Early history Ballymena's recorded history dates to the
Early Christian period, from the 5th to the 7th centuries.
Ringforts are found in the
townland of Ballykeel, and a site known as Camphill Fort in the townland of Ballee may also have been of this type. There are a number of
souterrains within a radius of the centre of Ballymena. north in the townland of Kirkinriola, the medieval parish church and graveyard show signs of Early Christian settlement, including a souterrain. Also in 1868, a gravedigger found a large stone slab on which was carved a cross with the inscription
ord do degen. This refers to Bishop Degen, who lived in Ireland during the seventh century. This stone is now in the porch of
St Patrick's Church of Ireland, at the end of Castle Street. At the end of the 5th century, a church was founded in Connor, south of Ballymena. This was followed by a monastery at Templemoyle, Kells. In 831,
Vikings invaded the area and burned the church. In the late 12th century, the
Anglo-Normans invaded Ireland and conquered much of what is now eastern Ulster, creating the
Earldom of Ulster. They built a
motte-and-bailey fort in what is now the Harryville area of Ballymena. It is one of the best-surviving examples of this type of fortification in Northern Ireland. In 1315,
Edward Bruce (brother of Scottish king
Robert the Bruce) invaded the Earldom of Ulster,
opening up another front in the war against the English. On 10 September 1315, at the
Battle of Connor, near Ballymena, Edward's army defeated the army of
Richard de Burgh, the Anglo-Norman
Earl of Ulster.
Early modern era On 10 May 1607, during the
Plantation of Ulster,
King James I of England granted the native Irish chief, Ruairí Óg MacQuillan, the Ballymena Estate. The estate passed through several owners, eventually passing into the possession of William Adair, a Scottish
laird from
Kinhilt in southwestern Scotland. The estate was temporarily renamed "Kinhilstown" after Adair's lands in Scotland. The original castle of Ballymena was built in the early 17th century, situated to take advantage of an ancient ford on the
River Braid. In 1626
Charles I confirmed the grant of the Ballymena Estate to William Adair, giving him the right to hold a market at Ballymena every Saturday. He hired local Irish as workers on the estate; they served as tenant farmers for much of the next two centuries and more. Galgorm nearby was granted to Sir
Faithful Fortescue. In 1618 he built the Castle, which still exists. During the
Irish Rebellion of 1641, the local Ballymena garrison were defeated by Irish rebels in the battle of Bundooragh. Ballymena's first market hall was built in 1684. In 1710, during moving of the casements from the General Horde, it was found that several books belonging to the Duke of First Parish were left among the casements. These books were returned to the church in agreement with the terms set forth by the Duke. In 1690, during the
Williamite-Jacobite War, Williamite general the Duke of
Württemberg used
Galgorm Castle as his headquarters.
Sir Robert Adair raised a Regiment of Foot for
King William III and fought at the
Battle of the Boyne. By 1704, the population of Ballymena had reached 800. In 1707, the first
Protestant (
Church of Ireland) parish church was built. In 1740, the original Ballymena Castle burned down. The
Gracehill Moravian settlement was founded in 1765. During the
1798 rebellion, Ballymena was occupied from 7 to 9 June by a force of around 10,000
United Irishmen. They stormed the market hall, killing three of its defenders. The Urban District Council petitioned for borough status and the Charter was granted in December 1937. The first meeting of councillors as a Borough Council was held on 23 May 1939. The population of Ballymena reached 13,000. Ballymena Castle was demolished in the 1950s. In 1973, the Urban and Rural District Councils were merged to create
Ballymena Borough Council. Following local government reorganisation in 2015, the Borough Council was merged with the Boroughs of
Carrickfergus Borough Council and
Larne Borough Council. During the
Second World War, Ballymena was home to a large number of evacuees from
Gibraltar. They were housed with local families. In the 1950s
St Patrick's Barracks in Ballymena was the Regimental Training Depot of the Royal Ulster Rifles (83rd & 86th). Many young men who had been conscripted on the United Kingdom mainland, along with others who had volunteered for service in the British Army, embarked upon their period of basic training in the Regimental Depot, prior to being posted to the regular regimental battalions. Many of these young men were to serve in Korea, Cyprus and with the British Army of the Rhine. In 1968 due to a series of government austerity measures, the remaining three Irish regiments,
Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (27th) Royal Ulster Rifles (83rd & 86th) and the Royal Irish Fusiliers (89th) merged to become the Royal Irish Rangers. Early in the 1990s the
Royal Irish Regiment, whose Regimental Headquarters was at St Patrick's Barracks, was granted the Freedom of the Borough. Like other towns in Northern Ireland,
Ballymena was affected by the Troubles, a lengthy period of religious and partisan tensions and armed confrontations from the 1960s until 1998. A total of eleven people were killed in or near the town by the IRA and various
loyalist groups. During the later half of the 20th century, Ballymena, like many other once prosperous industrial centres in Northern Ireland, experienced economic change and industrial restructuring; many of its former factories closed. Since the 2010s Ballymena has seen a decline in its retail and manufacturing sectors. Both
Michelin and JTI have left the area. Local firm
Wrightbus is also struggling, citing a downturn in orders. It is hoped that the creation of a manufacturing hub at the former Michelin site will attract businesses to the area.
21st century In January 2013, the actor
Liam Neeson, a native of Ballymena, received the
freedom of the borough.
Ian Paisley was made a freeman of Ballymena in December 2004. Ballymena is described by some observers as being at the heart of Northern Ireland's equivalent of the
Bible Belt. It has a Protestant majority. In the early 1990s the
Democratic Unionist Party (DUP)-dominated town council banned a performance by the
ELO Part II in the township, saying they would attract "the four Ds Drink, Drugs, Devil and Debauchery". The Council banned the screening of
Brokeback Mountain (2005), starring
Jake Gyllenhaal and
Heath Ledger, as it featured a homosexual relationship. An impersonator of comic
Roy 'Chubby' Brown was also banned. The majority of the town's Catholic population is situated around the Broughshane and Cushendall Road areas. Recently there has been tension in the Dunclug area of the town which now has a Catholic majority. These tensions have been associated with internment bonfires and the flying of republican flags; the town has tried to reduce tensions. In 2011 it was revealed that Ballymena has the third-highest level of legal gun ownership in Northern Ireland. Ballymena competed for
city status as part of the
Platinum Jubilee Civic Honours. However, the bid was unsuccessful. In June 2025, Ballymena was the scene of an alleged attempted sexual assault by two 14-year-old boys which triggered
heavy rioting that lasted for several days. The police alleged the riots were racially motivated. ==Economy==