Ballybeg is an anglicisation of the Irish language term, Baile Beag, which means "Little Town". The Irish playwright Brian Friel has set many of his works, such as Philadelphia Here I Come!, Translations and Dancing at Lughnasa, in the fictional County Donegal town of Ballybeg. Friel's Ballybeg has often been compared to the village of Glenties, close to where he lived.
Ballybeg is also the name of many small townlands, towns and villages in Ireland, including:
Ballybeg, a townland in County Antrim, Northern Ireland
Ballybeg Road, a small road between Portglenone and Ahoghill in County Antrim, Northern Ireland
Ballybeg, a townland in County Carlow, Ireland
Ballybeg in Clarecastle, County Clare, Ireland
Ballybeg Priory near Buttevant, County Cork, Ireland
Ballybeg, a townland in County Down, Northern Ireland
Ballybeg, a townland in County Laois, Ireland
Ballybeg, a townland near Strokestown, County Roscommon, Ireland
Ballybeg, Borrisleigh, County Tipperary, a townland in County Tipperary
Ballybeg, County Tyrone, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
Ballybeg, a suburb of Waterford, Ireland
Ballybeg, Faughalstown, a townland in Faughalstown civil parish, barony of Fore, County Westmeath, Republic of Ireland
Ballybeg, Kilcumreragh, a townland in Kilcumreragh civil parish, barony of Moycashel, County Westmeath, Republic of Ireland
Ballybeg, a village in County Wicklow, Ireland
Many other places called Ballybeg are distributed around Ireland, and in Serbia there is a Ballybeg Mosque, built under the orders of Bali-beg Malkočević around 1521 [1].
