These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
Baile Mhic Uiginn· Irish · main form · validated name
Ballymaguigan· English · main form
Place & story
A club of its own
Ballymaguigan had no team of its own when Jim McKeever was a child: the young players looked towards neighbouring Newbridge. In a later interview, McKeever recalled staying with Newbridge after Ballymaguigan formed while he was away at school. He eventually returned to his home club. Its senior championship and league double in 1962 brought together four McKeever brothers, Jim, Dennis, Eddie and Frank; another brother, Sean, also played for Ballymaguigan.[2]
People & connections
Jim McKeever’s wider influence
Ballymaguigan native Jim McKeever captained Derry to its first Ulster championship and All-Ireland final in 1958, earning the inaugural Footballer of the Year award. His influence continued through teaching and coaching. At Saint Mary's in Belfast he lectured for more than thirty-five years and guided the college to its first Sigerson Cup victory in 1989. He also managed Derry and served as county-board chairman, carrying his local football experience into several forms of sporting leadership.[3]
Training grounds behind the 1993 victory
Ballymaguigan also appears in Derry's account of the 1993 Ulster championship through manager Eamonn Coleman. After the final, Coleman credited the spring training work on the fields of Ballymaguigan and Maghera. Dermot McPeake's anniversary feature traces Coleman's own early development to training with Jim McKeever as a fourteen-year-old. The connection places the local grounds within a longer chain of players becoming teachers and managers, rather than treating county success as something created only on final day.[4]
Both censuses use the same 2015 settlement boundary. These exact counts cover usual residents in the settlement, rather than local government districts or historic counties. Other NISRA tables may use approximate counts.
View population figures
BALLYMAGUIGAN — Settlement 2015 (N11000459) — census population
placenames