Ballyclare (from Irish Bealach Cláir, meaning 'pass of the plain'ⓘ)[2] is a small town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

The earliest evidence of people in this area is a hoard of flint arrow heads found when houses were being built north of the river in November 1968.

There were a total of thirty-nine flints discovered – some perfectly finished and others are blank indicating an 'industry' and trading here near the river crossing over four thousand years ago.

The village grew after the Plantation of Ulster and was granted permission by King George II in 1756 to hold two fairs each year making it an important market centre.

Jonathan Swift preached in Ballyclare and it was from the town that the families of Mark Twain, Sam Houston and General Alexander Macomb left for America.

The people of Ballyclare and the surrounding villages played a part in the Irish Rebellion of 1798, and fought in the Battle of Antrim.

At the beginning of the 20th century Ballyclare was a growing industrial town with an urban district council and became the largest paper producer in Ireland.

Archibald McIlroy's novel When Lint Was in the Bell is a light-hearted, lightly fictionalised chronicle of life in 19th-century Ballyclare.

The Major Sinclair Memorial Pipe Band is based in the town and is regular in parades and RSPBA competitions.