Ballerin is a small

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

between

Garvagh Garvagh ( or ''Garbhachadh'' meaning "rough field") is a village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is on the banks of the Agivey River, south of Coleraine on the A29 route. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 1,288. It is sit ...

and

Ringsend Ringsend () is a Southside (Dublin), southside inner suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located on the south bank of the River Liffey and east of the River Dodder, about two kilometres east of the city centre. It is the sou ...

County Londonderry County Londonderry (Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry (), is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty-two Counties of Ireland, count ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. It is located within

Causeway Coast and Glens Causeway Coast and Glens is a local government district covering most of the northern part of Northern Ireland. It was created on 1 April 2015 by merging the Borough of Ballymoney, the Borough of Coleraine, the Borough of Limavady and the Di ...

district. It includes Saint Columba's Catholic

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

and Saint Mary's Catholic church.

Name

The village lies within a

townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...

that has a similar name. The village's name is usually spelt ''Ballerin'', while the townland's name is usually spelt ''Boleran''. Earlier spellings of these names include ''Ballyerin'' (1654) and ''Ballyirin'' (1613). All are believed to come . However, the local

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...

club uses the Irish name ''Baile Iarainn'',Ballerin Gaelic Athletic Club
meaning "townland/settlement of

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

Parish

Ballerin is in Errigal civil parish and St Mary's is in the Derry Diocese, covering about half the Catholic parish of

.Garvagh Parish

Sport

Ballerin is the focal point for a number of sports in the area including Errigal Boxing Club, Irish Dancing, indoor bowling, Camogie and

Gaelic games Gaelic games () are a set of sports played worldwide, though they are particularly popular in Ireland, where they originated. They include Gaelic football, hurling, Gaelic handball and rounders. Football and hurling, the most popular of the s ...

. *

Ballerin GAC Ballerin Sarfields GAC () is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in Ballerin, Northern Ireland. They are a member of the Derry GAA and currently cater for Gaelic football, Ladies' Gaelic football and Camogie. The club have also had hurling ...

References

Villages in County Londonderry Causeway Coast and Glens district {{Londonderry-geo-stub