User:Drogheda music/sandbox

Ballsgrove
Ballsgrove is a mixed public and private housing estate in Drogheda, Co Louth. Ballsgrove takes it's name from the Ball family who were the previous owners of the land and owners of Ballsgrove house. Ballsgrove house was built by George Ball in 1734. George Ball was a High Sheriff of Louth in the 18th century.

In the 1950s the local authorities purchased the lands surrounding Ballsgrove House. In the 1960s they began the building of the 394 homes. When finished, Ballsgrove was one of the largest estates in Ireland in the 1970s. Ballsgrove was so large that a new Roman Catholic Parish and church, Holy Family Church Ballsgrove, was established to cater for Church going patrons in the area.

By the 1970s Ballsgrove had retained it's large playing fields and added a playground that was opened by the then President of Ireland, Erskine Hamilton Childers. The Ballsgrove area has been commended for its Social and Demographic balance. A few reasons have been attributed to this. One was the offering of a differential income model to the residents which allowed people to pay what they could afford back to the Local Authority to eventually own their homes. This lead to better opportunities for many of the children of the Ballsgrove area. The other factor is that it is neighboured by the affluent Highfield estate on one side and the public housing estates of Rathmullen Park and St Finians Park on the other side. A great example of this mix of backgrounds is at Halloween time when all four housing estates support the large Bonfire built by the local children and attended by up to 1000 people. Local musician Seán Mathews wrote a song about this called "Welcome to Ballsgrove", which was released in 2020.

Former Ballsgrove residents
Sinn Fein TD Imelda Munster, former Drogheda United F.C footballer Dusty Flanagan, Folk Musician Seán Mathews, Independent Councillor Paddy Mcquillan and Labour Court member Paul C. Bell.