Ballabeg, Lonan

infobox UK place
crown_dependency = Isle of Man
official_name= Ballabeg
manx_name= Balley Beg
latitude= 54.212
longitude= -4.406
population = <40
manx_parish= Lonan
manx_shedding= Garff
constituency_manx_parliament= Garff
post_town= ISLE OF MAN
postcode_district = IM4 7HB
postcode_area= IM
dial_code= 01624
map_type = Isle of Man
os_grid_reference= SC431822
douglas_distance= 6km
static_

static_image_caption= dablink|For the village in Arbory Parish, see Ballabeg.

The name Ballabeg derives from the Manx _gv. "Balley Beg" which means small homestead; although the spelling is different, it is pronounced the same as the English name. Ballabeg dates to at least 1643 when a "Ballabegg" was recorded on the Castle Rushen Manorial Roll, under the ownership of Furness Abbey.

This hamlet, one of eight on the Isle of Man with the same name, is located ten kilometres north of the capital, Douglas, just to the south of the town of Laxey. The hamlet only consists of a farm and a handful of houses but is famed for its beautiful little tram station which celebrated its centenary in 2005. When the Manx Electric Railway was built through Ballabeg in 1894 an ancient Celtic keeill and adjoining burial ground were discovered. The keeill was known as Keeill Killanne (with many spelling variations), shortened to Kilkillane and gives its names a nearby stream known as Strooan ny Carlane / Kilane and a house in the hamlet called Kilan. No known traces of the keeill survive today. Many lintel graves, buried in triplets, were found at the site. It is believed that the bodies were exhumed and removed, while a large wooden cross and plaque, since removed, marked the site for many years.

A small white cottage, known as the schoolhouse, still stands in Ballabeg next to the site of the former keeill. The building was used as a schoolhouse, religious chapel and social cottage where the locals would gather to play music and tell stories. It is currently being used as a warehouse.

The landscape of Ballabeg is mainly agricultural land used for the grazing of sheep. There are areas of mature and newly planted woodland (including a nationally important cliff-side ancient oak forest remnant), gorse, brooghs (headlands) and small dubs or ponds. The A2 or Douglas to Ramsey road bisects the settlement. The Manx Electric Railway runs through the settlement and has a level crossing there.

The settlement has no defined boundaries but is said to start north of the Raad Ballagawne in the south, the Irish Sea in the east, Church Road in Ballacannel to the north and the old road from Lonan Church to Raad Ballagawne in the west.

References

* Manx Archaeological Register, available from the Centre for Manx Studies.