Ballyronan

The village was founded by Daniel Gaussen in 1788. He built a forge on the shore of Lough Neagh for manufacturing spades and soon afterwards erected stores. This led to the building of quays and the formation of a port, which greatly benefited the surrounding countryside. A large distillery was erected in 1824, and a brewery in 1830, by Messrs. Gaussen and Sons. Vessels of about 50 tons burden plied regularly between the village and Belfast, exporting wheat, fruit, spirits, ale, and freestone, and bringing back barley, timber, slate, iron, wine and groceries. The village was well situated for trade as besides being on Lough Neagh, several roads diverge from it. The village was situated on…

More recently, Eugene Martin, a Catholic civilian was murdered by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) on 2 February 1993. Winston Finlay, a Protestant, was shot in front of his wife by the IRA as he arrived at his home in Ballyronan. The gunmen opened fire as he got out of the car to open the garage door to allow his wife to drive in. He had previously been a full-time UDR soldier serving in the Intelligence Cell in Magherafelt, County Londonderry and had also served in the RAF for 14 years. He was a member of the Ballyronan Orange Lodge and was a serving member of the RUCR when he was murdered.