Ballinamore Béal an Átha Móir | |
|---|---|
Town | |
 Main Street-High Street, Ballinamore | |
  Ballinamore Location in Ireland | |
| Coordinates:54°03′07″N7°48′07″W / 54.052°N 7.802°W /54.052; -7.802 | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Connacht |
| County | County Leitrim |
| Barony | Carrigallen |
| Area | |
• Total | 1.206 km2 (0.466 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 74 m (243 ft) |
| Population | |
• Total | 1,112[1] |
| • Density | 922.2/km2 (2,388/sq mi) |
| • Ethnicity (2022 census)[2] | Ethnic groups
|
| Irish Grid Reference | H131112 |
| Website | www |
Ballinamore (Irish:Béal an Átha Móir, meaning "mouth of the big ford")[3] is a small town in the south-east ofCounty Leitrim inIreland.
Béal an Átha Móir, corruptedBellanamore, 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 baileÁtha na Chuirre ("homestead of ford of the afflictions") because a hospital-house stood near the bridge in the 13th century.[4][5]
Ballinamore is in the south-east ofCounty Leitrim in the North Midlands of Ireland, the town being 19 km (12 mi) from the county boundary withCounty Fermanagh. The town is built on the Yellow River. TheR202regional road intersects theR199 andR204 roads here. A historic barge waterway, built in the 1840s to connect theErne andShannon rivers, was reopened for boat traffic in 1994 as theShannon–Erne Waterway. Ballinamore has daily Local-link bus services to Carrick-on-Shannon and Dromod railway station, Monday to Saturday.
After the 5th century, theConmaicne settled this area, displacing and absorbing an older tribe named the "Masraigh".[6] These Conmhaícne ancestors were called the "Cenel Luachán". This is the origins of Ballinamore.
In 1244, the town (Irish:baile) was namedÁth na Chuirre ("ford of the afflictions") because, according to theIrish Annals, a hospital dedicated toSaint 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.[7][4][5]
In 1256, theBattle of Magh Slecht occurred nearby, leading to the division ofBréifne between the O'Rourkes of North Leitrim and the O'Reillys ofEast Bréifne (modern-dayCounty Cavan).[7]
In 1621, the name 'Ballinamore' is first mentioned, when under thePlantation of Leitrim, the "Manor of Ballinamore" was granted to Sir Fenton Parsons with 600 acres (2.4 km2) of arable land.[8]
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 ofpig iron, mine and coals.[8][9][a 1] The native Irish forests bounding the parish were exhausted for this mining.[10]
In the 18th century, dispossessedCatholics fromCounty 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 thenarrow gaugeCavan and Leitrim Railway and was the hub of the line, with the locomotive depot and works. It was the point where the line fromDromod throughMohill and Ballinamore toBelturbet branched toKiltubrid,Drumshanbo andArigna.[11] The railway line was used until closure on 1 April 1959.[12]
In the 19th, and early 20th centuries, annualfairs were held at Ballinamore on- 12 May, and 12 November.[13][14]
In 1925, Ballinamore town comprised 163 houses, approximately 28 being licensed to sellalcohol.[15]
In 1994, the Ballinamore and Ballyconnell Canal was reopened as theShannon–Erne Waterway and marketed as a tourist/cruising waterway.
Various Irish Annals mention thebaile ofÁth na Cuirre, i.e. Ballinamore,[4][5] in 1244 AD. AConnachta army marched from nearbyFenagh towards thebaile, 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.[16][17][18]
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;".[19]
[text:Annals of Lough Cehttps://celt.ucc.ie/published/T100010A/text010.html][19]
In 1983, members of theProvisional IRA kidnappedQuinnsworthmanaging directorDon Tidey, holding him captive in Derrada Woods, outside of the town.[20]GardaGary Sheehan (police officer) andPrivatePatrick Kelly were murdered during a rescue attempt.[21][22][23][24][25] Historians believe localSinn Féin politicianJohn Joe McGirl assisted the kidnappers in holding Tidey at the location.[20][26]
The localChurch 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.[27] Elizabethan settlers located at first inCounty Sligo, from where they spread into CountiesMayo,Roscommon andGalway. The Ballinamore branch were descended from the Ormsby of Comyn or Cummin in County Sligo.[citation needed]
There is a monument to theIRAChief of Staff,TD, and local councillorJohn Joe McGirl[28] on an island on theShannon-Erne Waterway.
Ballinamore Seán O'Heslin's GAA are the localGaelic games club.[29][30]
Christy Moore released a song calledThe Ballad of Ballinamore in 1984, giving the writing credits to Fintan Vallely. Later compilations have referred to the song as simplyBallinamore. The song was a parody of an earlierIrish rebel song calledThe Man from the Daily Mail. It was written after anRTÉ investigation in the Ballinamore area for evidence of the abducted racehorseShergar (believed to be abducted by theProvisional IRA) found several locals refusing to say anything other than "no comment".[citation needed]
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