Ballabeg
There are several small villages and hamlets with the name Ballabeg (Manx: Balley Beg) in the Isle of Man. The most well-known, and most populous, of these is a village in the parish of Arbory in the sheading of Rushen, in the south of the island near Castletown. The village has the parish church (Kirk Arbory), a Methodist chapel, and a railway station, on the Isle of Man Railway. The village had a tiny shop and Post Office, but this closed in April 2006 and was demolished for rebuilding in January 2009. The shop is on the left of the picture but is now a two-storey building comprising two holiday flats. There are a number of farms nearby.
Ballabeg
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|---|---|
 A7 road through the centre of Ballabeg | |
  Ballabeg Location within the Isle of Man | |
| OS grid reference | SC248704 |
| Parish | Arbory |
| Sheading | Rushen |
| Crown dependency | Isle of Man |
| Post town | ISLE OF MAN |
| Postcode district | IM9 |
| Dialling code | 01624 |
| Police | Isle of Man |
| Fire | Isle of Man |
| Ambulance | Isle of Man |
| House of Keys | Rushen |
The name Ballabeg derives from the Manx Balley Beg which means small homestead; although the spelling is different, it is pronounced approximately the same as the English name. Nearby was the "Ball and Bag", a free house which was built by Sir David Mark Jordan, a Victorian army captain who settled there upon his retirement.
It also has Arbory Primary School, serving the villages of Ballabeg, Ronague and Colby, as well as the outlying areas. The parish church has a large churchyard with graves dating back at least to the mid-18th century, although there has been a church on the site for longer. Its best known occupant is Captain John Quilliam, who helped steer the damaged HMS Victory as First Lieutenant at the Battle of Trafalgar.
The annual parish festival, Laa Columb Killey, is the parish's main event of the year. It traditionally alternated between Ballabeg and Colby, but in recent years has been held only in Ballabeg. It commemorates the parish's patron saint, Columba. Laa Columb Killey is Manx for St Columba's Day.
Sources
- Manx Archaeological Register, available from the Centre for Manx Studies.
