placenamesBallysally
Baile Sailí
Ballysally’s recent history can be read through changes to its housing and shared spaces. A community sculpture, a buried record of estate life and a project to replace paramilitary murals show different ways residents have represented their neighbourhood in Coleraine.
The name
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 Sailí · Irish · main form · validated name
- Ballysally · English · main form
Place & story
Reshaping the housing estate
An Assembly answer in February 2008 described a strategy for Ballysally that combined selective demolition, environmental improvements and a broader mixture of housing tenures. Houses at Burn Road and Danes Hill Road had been demolished, and the land was advertised for sale for private housing development. The minister also explained that a developer would have to provide open space through the planning process. This dated account captures a period when changes to the estate involved both the removal of buildings and decisions about their replacement. [2]
Bronze figures and a buried time capsule
A public artwork documented by Ulster University in 2006 brought residents into the making of a shared landmark. Annette Hennessy created two bronze figures, set on a stone base within a circle of ceramic tiles made by Ballysally Primary School children and parents. Research gathered over a year recorded community events and collected printed material. The resulting information was stored on an iPod and buried beside the sculpture in a time capsule, preserving a record of everyday estate life beneath the artwork. [3]
A different language for the walls
In March 2014, Building Ballysally Together completed a project that removed seven paramilitary murals and replaced two others with historical imagery. Housing Executive funding supported the work. The new Footsteps Through History mural on Daneshill Road brought together subjects including Martin Luther, John Knox, Coleraine’s plantation plan and the Christmas Truce of 1914. Contemporary reporting described a five-year effort by the community group to make the estate more welcoming while expressing Protestant identity through historical subjects. [4]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Derry
- Civil parish
- Coleraine
- Within
- Ballysally
- Coordinates
- 55.15486, -6.66644 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 1413307 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Ballysally. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Written answers, 8 February 2008: Social Housing, AQW 3308/08 · Northern Ireland Assembly / Minister for Social Development
- Ballysally Sculpture, 2006 · Ulster University research portal
- Loyalist murals replaced with historical footsteps, 28 March 2014 · Maeve Connolly / The Irish News
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2018-08-11. How this page was prepared.