Ballymoney’s town centre carries more real history than its size suggests — a 20-point heritage trail marked around the streets, and two memorial gardens to a genuinely famous local family most visitors have never heard of.
The Dunlop memorials
Ballymoney is the hometown of Joey and Robert Dunlop, brothers who became two of the most successful road racers in motorcycling history. Joey Dunlop won 26 races at the Isle of Man TT (including three hat-tricks), 24 at the Ulster Grand Prix, and five Formula One World Championships, was awarded the MBE in 1986 for his racing and the OBE in 1996 for humanitarian work delivering aid to Romanian orphanages, and was voted Northern Ireland’s greatest-ever sports star in 2015. He was killed racing in Tallinn, Estonia, on 2 July 2000; over 50,000 people attended his funeral at Garryduff Presbyterian Church, near Ballymoney.
His younger brother Robert held the outright record for wins at the North West 200 — 15 in total — despite a severe crash in 1994 that broke his arm and leg. He was killed racing at the North West 200 on 15 May 2008, and is buried beside Joey at the same church.
Both brothers were granted the Freedom of the Borough of Ballymoney — Joey in 1993, Robert in 2007 — the town’s highest civic honour. Two memorial gardens now mark their achievements: a statue of Joey on his motorcycle alongside a wall listing his TT, Ulster Grand Prix, and North West 200 victories, and a separate garden dedicated to Robert (“The Mighty Micro”), opened in May 2010. Both sit within the town centre, close to Castle Street.
The War Memorial
Ballymoney’s war memorial stands at the Royal British Legion building, listing local names lost in the First World War, Second World War, and Korea. A statue of a soldier stands before panels of names, with wreaths laid regularly by the Legion.
King George’s Field
A stone plaque near the town’s recreational grounds marks a King George’s Field — part of a UK-wide network of parks and playing fields dedicated as a permanent memorial to King George V in the 1930s, protected in perpetuity for public recreational use.
Blue plaques
Look up while walking Main Street and you’ll find blue heritage plaques marking notable former residents, including Irish playwright George Shiels (1881–1949), who wrote several of his best- known plays while living in the town — see Famous Faces of Ballymoney for more on Shiels and comedian James Young, also Ballymoney-born.
The Old Church Tower
The oldest surviving structure in the town centre, the Old Church Tower has stood since 1637 and appears on the earliest maps of Ballymoney, at the junction where Main Street, Church Street, Castle Street, and Meeting House Lane converge.