The Ordnance Survey Memoirs are a uniquely detailed source for the history of the northern half of Ireland immediately before the Great Famine. They were written in the 1830s to accompany the 6" Ordnance Survey maps, but with one exception were not published at the time. In this new edition they act as a nineteenth-century Domesday book and are essential to the understanding of the cultural heritage of our communities. The Memoirs document the landscape and situation, buildings and antiquities, land-holdings and population, employment and livelihood of the parishes.

This volume contains the Memoirs for 6 parishes in west Antrim, focusing on Ballymena and including the towns and villages of Ahoghill, Cloughmills, Cullybackey, Galgorm, Portglenone and Rasharkin.

The material paints a marvellous picture of the flourishing commercial centre of Ballymena, with its numerous public and eccleastical buildings. The vibrant character of the town is delineated through its trades, markets, fairs and banks, as well as its wide range of social and benevolent societies.