Ballylifford

Ballylifford ( _ga. Baile Leithearr; i.e., Townland of the short turn or side) is a small village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland on the western shores of Lough Neagh. Along with Derrychrin, it makes up the parish/area of Ballinderry. The two villages are usually combined and known as Ballinderry, rather than by their own names respectively. Recent developments have made the two villages almost indistinguishable from one another anyway.

Ballylifford is less than one kilometre from the border with County Tyrone, where it divided by the Ballinderry River. Ballinderry Bridge is a focal point of Ballinderry. The village is beside Derrychrin, Ardboe, Moortown, Ballyronan, Coagh and The Loup. It lies 12 km east of Cookstown and also has relatively close proximity to Dungannon and Magherafelt. Administratively it is part of Cookstown District Council.

The village has developed in linear form along Ballinderry Bridge Road and recently a few housing developments have sprung up along the road.

Education

There is one primary school in Ballylifford: Ballylifford Primary School (formerly Ballylifford National School) is a Catholic primary school for children between the ages of four and 11.

port

Gaelic games is the most popular sports in the area, with the largely successful Derry champions Ballinderry Shamrocks (Baile an Doire na Seamróg) being the local team.

People of interest

*Volunteer Seán Larkin ( _ga. Seán Ó Lorcain) was an Irish revolutionary and hunger striker from Bellagherty (Baile Uí Facharthaigh) (a townland of Ballinderry), less than 1 km from Balylifford. He attended Ballylifford National School as a boy. He was a member of the Irish Volunteers and later the 3rd Western Division Flying Column of the Irish Republican Army. He fought in the Tan War/Irish War of Independence and after the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, he fought on the anti-treaty side of the Irish Civil War. He was opposed to the partition of Ireland and was captured and imprisoned by Free State forces close to the end of the war. He was executed by the Free State on March 14, 1923.

Politics

Administratively Ballylifford (along with the rest of Ballinderry) is part of Cookstown District Council. Martin McGuinness is Member of Parliament for the area. Only one party has a branch in the area: the Heron/Wilkinson/McNally Sinn Féin Cumann, Ballinderry.