Ballygowan period, and subsequent to the introduction of the Belfast & County Down Railway in 1850, that the village began to grow. Ballygowan railway station opened on 10 September 1858, but finally closed on 16 January 1950. After the railway closed in 1950 the village became an attractive "dormitory" town and the ensuing 50 years have seen rapid growth. On Monday, 15 September 2014, the remains of The Baron Bannside (better known as The Rev. Ian Paisley) were buried in the graveyard attached to Ballygowan Free Presbyterian Church. Lord Bannside was a former First Minister of Northern Ireland and a former
Spring is on the way (painting) Spring is on the way (painting) Spring is on the way is a painting by Vladimir Ivanovich Ovchinnikov ()(1911-1978), well-known Russian painter, who lived and worked in Leningrad, member of the Leningrad branch of Union of Artists of Russian Federation, regarded as one of the leading representatives of the Leningrad School of Painting, most famous for his landscape paintings. In painting the author captures the view of the high bank of the Volkhov River in the Staraya Ladoga with the Church of St John the Baptist, with the Chapel of St Paraskeva and bell tower. For the first time the