Baile Uí Cheallaigh

Ballykelly derives from Baile Uí Cheallaigh, meaning 'O'Kelly's townland,' reflecting pre-plantation Gaelic territorial ownership. The area's earliest documented religious significance dates to 585 AD when Saint Columba founded Tamlaght Finlagan Monastery for Saint Finlough (Fionnlogha), a fellow monk who became the abbey's first abbot. The monastery functioned as a monastic settlement with a r...