Neolithic artefacts found in the village suggest ancient settlement, while the Lislaynan ecclesiastical settlement looks back to a thousand years of Christian witness. There was also a Norman settlement in the area, at Redhall, and at Brackenberg, now the centre of modern Ballycarry. An early Christian stone coffin lid which was uncovered at Redhall in the 18th century, was reinstated in the Templecorran cemetery and displays an early Christian cross engraved within an arc.
Community
The town is home to Ballycarry Presbyterian Church. Founded in 1613, Ballycarry is the oldest congregation in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. The present church building dates from 1830. The Old Presbyterian Presbyterian Congregation also traces its roots back to 1613, and this congregation remained strongest in 1829 when the Presbyterian Church was split over the Subscription Controversy, the Non-Subscribers leaving open the issue of subscription to the Westminster Confession of Faith. The Old Presbyterian Church is located on the Main Street in the village. The most imposing church building is that of St. John's Parish Church, the Church of Ireland congregation, built in the 19th century by the Ker family of Redhall. Ballycarry Community Association organises the Broadisland Gathering community festival held each year on the first Saturday in September and associated dates. The Gathering highlights the strong Ulster Scots heritage of the community and includes dancing, music, pipe bands, discussions, re-enactment, exhibitions and the Aul Kinntra Fair, revived from the 1930s but dating back to the 17th century. Chief guests at the Gathering have including Rt. Hon. Dr. John Reid, when Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Ballycarry has a vibrant community association, which succeeded in attracting funding for a modern community centre in the village in 2001. The Association includes representatives from all local groups in the village including the three local churches, sports clubs, fraternities and social groups. In 2009 many events were held in Ballycarry to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the community being established in 1609.
People
James Orr, known as the Bard of Ballycarry, was the foremost of the Ulster Weaver Poets, and was writing contemporaneously with Robert Burns. He was one of many Ulster Presbyterians who fled to America after taking part in the ill-fated United Irish Rising in 1798. He returned to Ballycarry under an amnesty and died in the village in 1816. An imposing monument to Orr, erected by local Freemasons in 1831, is sited in the adjacent Templecorran cemetery. In 2011 a tourist trail, the Weaver's Trail, was officially launched in Orr's honour by the Mayor of Larne, Cllr. Bobby McKee MBE, and was supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Rev. Edward Brice, the first Presbyterian minister in Ireland, came to Ballycarry in 1613 and ministered in the Templecorran Church, now in ruins. He was originally from Stirlingshire in Scotland and was brought to the village by William Edmondstone, who settled there in 1609. Brice was one of several Scottish clergymen who were forbidden to preach by the Established Church authorities in the 1630s.
Rev. John Bankhead, who was minister at Ballycarry for almost 71 years, was married twice and had 22 children. He was ordained in August 1763 and died in July 1833.
William Nelson, a 16-year-old hanged for his part in the ill-fated Irish Rebellion of 1798, which involved many Presbyterians in East Ulster, is known as The Ballycarry Martyr. His brother John was transported for his part in the Rising and became a successful architect in Virginia and a personal friend of President Thomas Jefferson.
William James Hume, local farmer, poet and entertainer, was author of a popular 1940s Ulster folksong The Muttonburn Stream, which is a local river lying to the north west of Ballycarry. He died in 1948.
William Calwell, who emigrated from Ulster to California, returned to the village after the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 and brought back architects plans for basement style bungalows, some of which still remain in the village and are unique in Northern Ireland. He was also one of the founders of a co-operative creamery in the community, which continued to operate under the Dale Farm company until the 1990s. Calwell was also a local poet and died on his 90th birthday.
The graves of over 50 locally notable figures are documented in "The Templecorran Project: an historic guide to Templecorran cemetery, Ballycarry" by David Hume and John W Nelson, providing a historical trail through the old cemetery in the village.
Education
Ballycarry Primary School
Transport
was opened on 1 October 1862. The railway station is located about a mile from the village.
2001 Census
Ballycarry is classified as a small village or hamlet by the . On Census day there were 981 people living in Ballycarry. Of these:
23.1% were aged under 16 years and 15.1% were aged 60 and over
50.2% of the population were male and 49.9% were female
2.9% were from a Catholic background and 92.3% were from a Protestant background
