| Ballinasloe Béal Átha na Sluaighe |
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| Location | ||
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| Irish grid reference M854307 |
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| Statistics | ||
| Province: | Connacht | |
| County: | County Galway | |
| Elevation: | 65 m (213 ft) | |
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Population (2006) |
6,051 563 |
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| Website: www.ballinasloe.com | ||
| Historical populations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Pop. | %± |
| 1821 | 1,811 | — |
| 1831 | 4,615 | 154.8% |
| 1841 | 4,934 | 6.9% |
| 1851 | 3,679 | −25.4% |
| 1861 | 3,909 | 6.3% |
| 1871 | 5,052 | 29.2% |
| 1881 | 4,772 | −5.5% |
| 1891 | 4,642 | −2.7% |
| 1901 | 4,904 | 5.6% |
| 1911 | 5,169 | 5.4% |
| 1926 | 5,245 | 1.5% |
| 1936 | 5,834 | 11.2% |
| 1946 | 5,421 | −7.1% |
| 1951 | 5,596 | 3.2% |
| 1956 | 5,489 | −1.9% |
| 1961 | 5,711 | 4.0% |
| 1966 | 5,828 | 2.0% |
| 1971 | 5,969 | 2.4% |
| 1981 | 6,481 | 8.6% |
| 1986 | 6,227 | −3.9% |
| 1991 | 5,812 | −6.7% |
| 1996 | 5,654 | −2.7% |
| 2002 | 6,101 | 7.9% |
| 2006 | 6,158 | 0.9% |
| [1][2][3][4][5] | ||
Ballinasloe (Irish: Béal Átha na Sluaighe, meaning "ford mouth of the sluagh")[6] is a town in the eastern extremity of County Galway in Ireland.
Ballinasloe was once a notorious bottleneck on the Galway-Dublin route, the town was bypassed on the 18th December 2009 by the M6 motorway.
The town developed as a crossing point on the River Suck, a tributary of the Shannon. The Irish placename — meaning the mouth of the ford of the crowds — reflects this purpose. The latter part of the name suggests the town has been a meeting place since ancient times. A new public marina has been developed on the river in recent years that allows traffic from the Shannon navigation to access the town.
The patron saint of Ballinasloe is Saint Grellan, whom tradition believes built the first church in the area at Kilcloony. A local housing estate, the branch of Conradh na Gaeilge, and formerly a school are named after him.
Contents |
October Fair and Festival
Every October, Ballinasloe is host to the ancient annual October Fair. Chiefly agricultural in the past, it is now focused on the horse. The Ballinasloe Fair is one of the oldest horse fairs in Europe; bathed in history it dates back to the 1700s. Today the ever popular fair is still held, along with a festival that attracts up to 100,000 visitors from all over the world. The town also boasts a successful summer festival called An tSúca Fiain.
Economy
The biggest local employers are Portiuncula and St. Brigid's hospitals and Gullanes hotel From its establishment in 1936, the Dubarry shoe manufacturing company has been based in the town, although manufacturing at the plant ceased in November 2004.[7]. The American pen manufacturing company A. T. Cross had a factory in the town for many years as did electrical components company Square D.
Transport
Ballinasloe railway station opened on 1 August 1851.[8] The town lies on the old Dublin to Galway road and is also served by the Dublin–Galway railway line. On 18th December 2009, the town was officially bypassed for the first time, when the M6 motorway opened as an upgrade to the N6. From 1828 to the 1960s, Ballinasloe was the terminus of the Grand Canal.
Sport
Ballinasloe itself harbours historically rich soccer, golf, and rugby clubs, whilst also containing the Duggan Park Gaelic Athletic Association grounds. Gaelic games are perhaps the most deeply entrenched and most popular sporting culture in the town, most of all in its surrounding hinterland. The local GAA clubs are Ballinasloe GAA (incorporating St Grellan's Gaelic football club and Ballinasloe Hurling Club) and Ballinasloe Camogie Club. Ballinasloe also has a proud boxing tradition and has two resident boxing clubs Emerald ABC[1] and Ballinasloe and District.
Schools
In Ballinasloe there are three national schools (Gaelscoil Uí Cheithearnaigh, Creagh National School and Scoil an Chroí Naofa) and two secondary schools (Garbally College and Ard Scoil Mhuire).
Twin towns
In 1988, it was twinned with Chalonnes-sur-Loire in France.
See also
External links
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Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Ballinasloe. |
- ballinasloe.com: Ballinasloe Town website with up-to-date local news and information on the town for visitors and residents alike
- ballinasloe.org: An independent site with articles on Ballinasloe's history as well as a tips on genealogical research.
- Tourist Information for Ballinasloe: Provides information on Ballinasloe's attractions, activities and businesses.
- ballinasloe.pl: Polskie Ballinasloe website for the town's Polish community
References
- ^ Census for post 1821 figures.
- ^ http://www.histpop.org
- ^ http://www.nisranew.nisra.gov.uk/census
- ^ Lee, JJ (1981). "On the accuracy of the Pre-famine Irish censuses". in Goldstrom, J. M.; Clarkson, L. A.. Irish Population, Economy, and Society: Essays in Honour of the Late K. H. Connell. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.
- ^ Mokyr, Joel; O Grada, Cormac (November), "New Developments in Irish Population History, 1700-1850", The Economic History Review Volume 37 (Issue 4): 473–488, doi:, http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120035880/abstract
- ^ Placenames Database of Ireland
- ^ "Case Study of Dubarry by Enterprise Ireland"
- ^ "Ballinasloe station". Railscot - Irish Railways. http://www.railscot.co.uk/Ireland/Irish_railways.pdf. Retrieved 2007-09-03.
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