Ballymaglaff Road
Origins
Ballymaglaff Road takes its name from the rural townland of Ballymaglaff in Comber parish. The Comber Historical Society notes that Ballymaglaff lies “out the Comber Road to Dundonald” and that the name comes from the Irish Baile Mhig Laithimh – “McGlave’s townland”comberhistory.com. Covering about 807 acres, Ballymaglaff is one of the larger divisions in the areacomberhistory.com and has a long history of settlement: it contains the remains of an Early Christian rath and an important Mesolithic flint‑working sitecomberhistory.com, and a National School operated there by 1863freepages.rootsweb.com.
Roads in rural County Down were often named after the townlands they traversed when postal services and mapping were formalised in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Ballymaglaff Road runs north‑east from the Comber–Dundonald road (A22), crosses the Enler River and meets Gransha Road near Millmount. The earliest known reference to the name appears in a Belfast Telegraph auction notice dated 1 September 1939, which described farms “situate adjoining the Ballymaglaff Road”comberhistory.com. A modern road sign erected in 2014 on Millmount Road, featuring the townland name in red, prompted renewed local interest but did not mark the first use of the nametownlandsofulster.com.
Sources
Comber Historical Society – “Ballymaglaff” (Aug 2024): explains that Ballymaglaff lies on the Comber–Dundonald road, gives its Irish form Baile Mhig Laithimh, translates this as “McGlave’s townland,” and notes that the townland covers about 807 acrescomberhistory.com. The same article describes archaeological finds, including an Early Christian rath and a Mesolithic flint‑working sitecomberhistory.com.
Townlands of Ulster – blog post “Ballymaglaff” (Mar 2015): recounts that a new road sign erected in 2014 displaying “Ballymaglaff” prompted locals to research the name; the author discovered via the PlacenamesNI database that the Irish form Baile Mhig Laithimh means “McGlave’s townland”townlandsofulster.com.
School list compiled from the 1863 Griffith’s Valuation (RootsWeb): records a National School at Ballymaglaff, showing there was a recognised settlement and roadway in the mid‑19th centuryfreepages.rootsweb.com.
Belfast Telegraph advertisement (1 September 1939): an auction notice from 1939 describes two farms “situate adjoining the Ballymaglaff Road,” providing the earliest documented reference to the road name.