Dunloy lies in the ancient Irishdistrict of "Killimorrie", which is now known as Killymurris. Killymurris is claimed as being derived from the Irish Coill Ui Mhuireadhaigh meaning "the wood of Murry". An alternate origin given for Killymurris is that it derives from Choill Mhuiris meaning "the wood of Morris". Just south of Dunloy village, in the townland of Ballymacaldrack is "Dooey’s cairn". This open Court tomb, named after the landowner, is located on the slopes of Long Mountain and overlooks the valley of the River Main. The earliest known activity within the tomb is estimated at around 4000BC. Also on Long Mountain is another court Tomb, known as Broadstone. See: List of megalithic monuments in Ireland In the same townland lies the ancient graveyard of Caldernagh.
Since 1996 residents have shown opposition to Loyal Order parades in Dunloy. Parades are currently prohibited from entering the centre of the village. Loyalists in nearby Ballymena counter protested to this by holding weekly protests at a Catholic church situated in the predominantly loyalist Harryville area of Ballymena. These protests have since ended. There have been many attacks on the localOrange Hall. On 12 July 2005, locals blocked the road in an attempt to stop the Orange Order from marching through the village.
The Troubles
On 11 July 1978, John Boyle, a 16 year old civilian, was shot dead by SAS soldiers in a graveyard in the village. The previous day John had discovered an IRA arms cache under a fallen tombstone when he was visiting a family grave and reported the weapons to his father, his father then contacted the Royal Ulster Constabulary who rather than removing the weapons, passed the information to the British Army, who placed SAS operatives at the site. The next day, John returned to the graveyard. He was then shot dead by the British soldiers, who alleged he picked up a rifle and aimed it towards them, however a leaked RUC document confirmed 16 year old John was shot in the back and his fingerprints were not on any of the recovered weapons. 2 soldiers were put on trial for the killing, but both were acquitted and the Boyle family never received any form of apology from the security forces. In 21 February 1984, 26-year-old Sergeant Paul Oram, a member of the British Army, along with 18-year-old Declan Martin and 21-year-old Henry Hogan, both Catholic members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, were killed in a gun battle between undercover British Army members and Provisional Irish Republican Army members in Dunloy.
Demography
2011 Census
It had a population of 1,215 people in the 2011 Census. On Census day in 2011:
94.5% were from a Catholic background and 4.2% were from a Protestant background
2001 Census
Dunloy is classified as a village by the . On Census day there were 1,071 people living in Dunloy. Of these:
31.4% were aged under 16 and 11.1% were aged 60 and over
48.7% of the population were male and 51.3% were female
97.1% were from a Catholic background and 2.9% were from a Protestant background
