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Ballinamore

Coordinates: 54°03′07″N 7°48′07″W / 54.052°N 7.802°W / 54.052; -7.802
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Ballinamore
Béal an Átha Móir
Town
Main Street-High Street, Ballinamore
Main Street-High Street, Ballinamore
Ballinamore is located in Ireland
Ballinamore
Ballinamore
Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 54°03′07″N 7°48′07″W / 54.052°N 7.802°W / 54.052; -7.802
CountryRepublic of Ireland
ProvinceConnacht
CountyCounty Leitrim
BaronyCarrigallen
Elevation
74 m (243 ft)
Population
 (2016)[1]
 • Total914
Irish Grid ReferenceH131112
Websitewww.ballinamore.ie

Ballinamore (Irish: Béal an Átha Móir, meaning "mouth of the big ford")[2] is a small town in the south-east of County Leitrim in Ireland.

Etymology

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Béal an Átha Móir, corrupted Bellanamore, means "town at the mouth of the big ford", so named because it was a main crossing (ford) of the Yellow River. The gaels called the baile Átha na Chuirre ("homestead of ford of the afflictions") because a hospital-house stood near the bridge in the 13th century.[3][4]

Location

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Ballinamore is in the south-east of County Leitrim in the North Midlands of Ireland, the town being 19 km (12 mi) from the county boundary with County Fermanagh. The town is built on the Yellow River. The R202 regional road intersects the R199 and R204 roads here. A historic barge waterway, built in the 1840s to connect the Erne and Shannon rivers, was reopened for boat traffic in 1994 as the Shannon–Erne Waterway. Ballinamore has daily Local-link bus services to Carrick-on-Shannon and Dromod railway station, Monday to Saturday.

History

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After the 5th century, the Conmaicne settled this area, displacing and absorbing an older tribe named the "Masraigh".[5] These Conmhaícne ancestors were called the "Cenel Luachán". This is the origins of Ballinamore.

In 1244, the town (Irish: baile) was named Áth na Chuirre ("ford of the afflictions") because, according to the Irish Annals, a hospital dedicated to Saint John the Baptist (Irish: spital) stood beside the ford. Saint Bridget's church, and holy-well, stood on a high hill one kilometre north of present-day town.[6][3][4]

In 1256, the Battle of Magh Slecht occurred nearby, leading to the division of Bréifne between the O'Rourkes of North Leitrim and the O'Reillys of East Bréifne (modern-day County Cavan).[6]

In 1621, the name 'Ballinamore' is first mentioned, when under the Plantation of Leitrim, the "Manor of Ballinamore" was granted to Sir Fenton Parsons with 600 acres (2.4 km2) of arable land.[7]

Around 1693, Ballinamore Iron works was established, and in production until circa 1747 when the business was put up for sale, the assets including a furnace, forge, slitting mill, mine yards, coal yards, large quantities of pig iron, mine and coals.[7][8][a 1] The native Irish forests bounding the parish were exhausted for this mining.[9]

In the 18th century, dispossessed Catholics from County Down settled in the area.

In 1860, the Ballinamore and Ballyconnell Canal was opened, but declined in use after 24 October 1887, the date Ballinamore railway station opened. The railway station was part of the narrow gauge Cavan and Leitrim Railway and was the hub of the line, with the locomotive depot and works. It was the point where the line from Dromod through Mohill and Ballinamore to Belturbet branched to Kiltubrid, Drumshanbo and Arigna.[10] The railway line was used until closure on 1 April 1959.[11]

In the 19th, and early 20th centuries, annual fairs were held at Ballinamore on- 12 May, and 12 November.[12][13]

In 1925, Ballinamore town comprised 163 houses, approximately 28 being licensed to sell alcohol.[14]

In 1994, the Ballinamore and Ballyconnell Canal was reopened as the Shannon–Erne Waterway and marketed as a tourist/cruising waterway.

Annalistic references

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Various Irish Annals mention the baile of Áth na Cuirre, i.e. Ballinamore,[3][4] in 1244 AD. A Connachta army marched from nearby Fenagh towards the baile, presumably along the R202 route. At the Yellow River ford, today's bridge into the Main Street, the soldiers vandalised the nearby Hospital of Saint John the Baptist, accidentally killing one of their own,[a 2] an important leader of Clann Murtagh O'Connor named Mhaghnusa mic Muircertaig Muimnigh.[15][16][17]

Irish: "Do imdhigh in slúag iarsin ass an mbaile amach, ... co h-Ath na Cuirre forsan nGeircthigh, & do bhí an tuile tar bruachaib di, & ni rancotar tairrsi condernsat tech sbidél Eoin Baisde do bhái a nimeal in átha do scaoiled, da chur tarsan abhuinn do dhul tairsi dont slúaig; condechaid mac Muircertaig Muimnigh, .i. Maghnus, isin tech, & Concobar mac Cormaic Mic Diarmada; condubairt Maghnus risin bfer do bhí thúass ag scaoiled an tighe, ag sínshépe a cloidem uadha súas, agsin an tairrnge chongbhus an maide gan tuitim; leisin comrádh sin do thuit airrghe an tighe a gcend Mhaghnusa mic Muircertaig Muimnigh, gonderna brúligh día chinn, gur bhó marbh dhe ar an lathair sin"

"English: The host went afterwards out of the town, ... to Ath-na-cuirre on the Geirctech; and the flood was over its banks, and they did not pass over it until they pulled down the hospital-house of John the Baptist, which was on the margin of the ford, to place it across the river, that the host might pass over it. The son of Muirchertach Muimhnech, i.e. Maghnus, and Conchobhar, son of Cormac Mac Diarmada, went into the house, when Maghnus, pointing up his sword, said to the man who was overhead throwing down the house, ‘there is the nail which prevents the beam from falling.’ At these words the rafter of the house fell on the head of Maghnus, son of Muirchertach Muimhnech, and fractured his skull, so that he died on the spot;".[18]

[text: Annals of Lough Ce https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T100010A/text010.html][18]

Don Tidey kidnapping

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In 1983, members of the Provisional IRA kidnapped Quinnsworth managing director Don Tidey, holding him captive in Derrada Woods, outside of the town.[19] Garda Gary Sheehan (police officer) and Private Patrick Kelly were murdered during a rescue attempt.[20][21][22][23][24] Historians believe local Sinn Féin politician John Joe McGirl assisted the kidnappers in holding Tidey at the location.[19][25]

Notable features

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The local Church of Ireland church is the oldest building in Ballinamore in the 1780s from the ruins of the local Roman Catholic Church (St Patrick's) demolished during the reformation and penal laws.

The nearby Ballinamore Estate was granted to the Ormsby family in 1677.[26] Elizabethan settlers located at first in County Sligo, from where they spread into Counties Mayo, Roscommon and Galway. The Ballinamore branch were descended from the Ormsby of Comyn or Cummin in County Sligo.[citation needed]

There is a monument to the IRA Chief of Staff, TD, and local councillor John Joe McGirl[27] on an island on the Shannon-Erne Waterway.

Sport

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Ballinamore Seán O'Heslin's GAA are the local Gaelic games club.[28][29]

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Christy Moore released a song called The Ballad of Ballinamore in 1984, giving the writing credits to Fintan Vallely. Later compilations have referred to the song as simply Ballinamore. The song was a parody of an earlier Irish rebel song called The Man from the Daily Mail. It was written after an RTÉ investigation in the Ballinamore area for evidence of the abducted racehorse Shergar (believed to be abducted by the Provisional IRA) found several locals refusing to say anything other than "no comment".[citation needed]

Notable people

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See also: Category:People from Ballinamore

See also

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Notes and references

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Notes

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  1. ^ Iron works at Ballinamore, Castlefore, and Dromod, were established on Irish land confiscated during the plantations of Ireland, by english adventurers named Capt. William Slacke, John Skerret, and Joseph Hall.[9]
  2. ^ Or a sudden blast of wind according to the Annals of Clonmacnoise- "Phelym O’Connor with great forces … came to the Corre, where there was a tymber house of Couples, into which Magnus m’Mortagh, and Connor m’Cormack entered, & immediately there arose a great blase of winde, which fell down the house, whereof one couple fell on the said Magnus … was struken dead;"

Primary sources

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  1. ^ "Census 2016 Sapmap Area: Settlements Ballinamore". Central Statistics Office (Ireland). Archived from the original on 10 February 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  2. ^ Placenames Database of Ireland Archived 14 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine (see archival records)
  3. ^ a b c Earley & O'Seaneachain 2015, p. 439.
  4. ^ a b c Seymour 1935, p. 245.
  5. ^ Ó Duígeannáin 1934, p. 113-140.
  6. ^ a b O'Donovan 1856.
  7. ^ a b Fr Dan Gallogly (1991). Sliabh an Iarainn Slopes, History of the Town and Parish of Ballinamore, Co. Leitrim.
  8. ^ Meehan 1926, pp. 413.
  9. ^ a b Kelly 1995, pp. 1–12.
  10. ^ Baker, Michael HC (1999). Irish Narrow Gauge Railways. A View from the Past. Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 0-7110-2680-7.
  11. ^ "Ballinamore station" (PDF). Railscot - Irish Railways. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
  12. ^ Longman 1819, pp. 405.
  13. ^ Watsons 1830.
  14. ^ Irish Free State 1925, pp. 31.
  15. ^ Bambury 2008, p. 1244.5.
  16. ^ O'Donovan 1856, p. M1244.6.
  17. ^ Simms 2001, p. 5.
  18. ^ a b Hennessy 2008, p. LC1244.4.
  19. ^ a b "Who helped Don Tidey's IRA kidnappers escape, after murdering a garda and an Irish soldier in Derrada Wood?". Belfasttelegraph.co.uk. 22 October 2023.
  20. ^ "Victims' group calls for memorial for two men killed in Don Tidey rescue". BreakingNews.ie. 15 December 2023.
  21. ^ "Today marks 40th anniversary of the killing of Carrickmacross Garda". Northern Sound. 16 December 2023.
  22. ^ McGreevy, Ronan (2 January 2022). "Gardaí confirm Provisional IRA killed garda and soldier during Don Tidey kidnap". The Irish Times.
  23. ^ Reilly, Jerome (15 June 2008). "'Don't be dead heroes,' IRA gang told gardai, soldiers". Irish Independent.
  24. ^ "Garda Ar Lár". RTÉ Television. 16 February 2009. Archived from the original on 23 March 2009.
  25. ^ Murphy, Gary (10 November 2023). "Book Review: The Kidnapping recalls the survival of Don Tidey after IRA abduction". Irish Examiner.
  26. ^ "Estate Record: Ormsby (Ballinamore)". Landed Estates Database. NUI Galway. 18 May 2011. Archived from the original on 13 August 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
  27. ^ "John Joe McGirl Memorial". Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  28. ^ "Watch: We are Ballinamore - Sean O'Heslin's make powerful video ahead of county final". www.leitrimobserver.ie. Archived from the original on 13 July 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  29. ^ "Ballinamore Sean O'Heslin's all set for County Final showdown - GALLERY". www.leitrimobserver.ie. Archived from the original on 14 July 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2020.

Secondary sources

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ballinamore.
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