'Galgorm' is a

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic origi ...

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, about 1 km west of

Ballymena Ballymena ( ; from ga, an Baile Meánach , meaning 'the middle townland') is a town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is part of the Borough of Mid and East Antrim. The town is built on land given to the Adair family by King Charles I i ...

. It is part of the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

of Ahoghill. Administratively, it is in the Borough of Ballymena. The townland encompasses the village of Galgorm and much of the area between Ballymena and Galgorm itself. It is bordered by the townlands of

Artibrannan Artibrannan is a townland in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, near Ballymena. It is situated in the historic barony of Toome Lower and the civil parishes of Ahoghill (by 1851) and Craigs (by 1891) and covers an area of 112 acres. The name derive ...

to the north, Lisnafillon and Fenaghy to the west and Ballykennedy to the south. It is on the

River Main The Main () is the longest tributary of the Rhine. It rises as the White Main in the Fichtel Mountains of northeastern Bavaria and flows west through central Germany for to meet the Rhine below Rüsselsheim, Hesse. The cities of Mainz and Wiesb ...

. The village itself sits predominantly where the Galgorm Road, Sand Road and Fenaghy Roads meet and it has a small number of independent businesses and shops On the outskirts of Galgorm and just prior to the old Moravian settlement of Gracehill sits the old Gallahers/JTI plant, which when vacated became an extension of Wrightbus, a major employer in the Ballymena Area. Wrightbus was taken over by JCB in early 2020 and remains a large employer in the area The majority of the townland is from a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

background and for the best part is a residential extension of Ballymena, a central Northern Ireland shopping town. The townland has two separate Orange Order lodges, Galgorm Loyal Orange Lodge and Galgorm Parks Loyal Orange Lodge

The boundaries for the townland are the previous estate boundaries of

Galgorm Castle 'Galgorm' is a townland in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, about 1 km west of Ballymena. It is part of the civil parish of Ahoghill. Administratively, it is in the Borough of Ballymena. The townland encompasses the village of Galgorm an ...

which was constructed in 1618 by

Sir Faithful Fortescue Sir Faithful Fortescue (1585–1666), of Dromiskin in County Louth, Ireland, was Governor of Carrickfergus in Ireland, long the chief seat and garrison of the English in Ulster and was a royalist commander during the English Civil War. Origi ...

and is recognised as one of the finest examples of early Jacobean architecture in Ireland. Fortescue sold it in 1645 to Dr. Alexander Colville, from whom it passed to his son Sir Robert Colville, and later by descent to

Earl Mount Cashell Earl Mount Cashell, of Cashell, County Tipperary, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1781 for Stephen Moore, 2nd Viscount Mount Cashell, who had previously represented Lismore in the Irish House of Commons. He was the el ...

. The grounds and castle have been used for filming and TV projects, including ''

The Frankenstein Chronicles ''The Frankenstein Chronicles'' is a British television period crime drama series that first aired on ITV Encore on 11 November 2015, designed as a re-imagining of Mary Shelley's 1818 novel ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus''. Lead actor ...

'' featuring

Sean Bean Sean Bean (born Shaun Mark Bean on 17 April 1959) is an English actor. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Bean made his professional debut in a theatre production of ''Romeo and Juliet'' in 1983. Retaining his Yorkshire ac ...

. The castle itself is now on the site of Galgorm Castle Golf Club, home to the Northern Ireland Open. In September 2020, the course hosted the Irish Open after the event was rescheduled and moved from

Mount Juliet Golf & Spa Hotel The Mount Juliet Hotel & Golf Course is situated in Mount Juliet Estate Thomastown, County Kilkenny, Ireland. History The Mount Juliet Estate was named by the Earl of Carrick after his wife Juliet, and consists of a Georgian manor home set ...

amongst the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

pandemic.

References

{{coord, 54.860495, -6.329561, display=t Townlands of County Antrim Irish Open (golf) venues