Ballina (in Irish, Béal an Átha or Béal Átha an Fheadha, meaning mouth of the ford) is a large town in north County Mayo. It lies at the entrance of the River Moy, near Killala Bay, in the Moy valley, with the Ox Mountain range to the east and the Nephin Beg mountains to the west. The town occupies two Baronies; Tirawley on the west bank of the Moy River, and Tireragh, a Barony within the County of Sligo, on its east banks.
The recorded population of Ballina's urban area is 10,500. Census 2006 figures showed that Ballina had the highest rate of unemployment amongst large towns in the Republic of Ireland. Some 15.8% of Ballina's population was out of work. Unlike neighbouring towns such as Castlebar and Sligo, it is claimed that Ballina suffered from a lack of government investment for many years because it was not effectively represented in Dáil Éireann - (Government).
According to Encyclopaedia Britannica the first signs of settlement on the site of the town dates from around 1375 when an Augustinian friary was founded. Belleek, now part of the town, pre-dates the town’s formation, and can be dated back to the late 15th, or early 16th century. However, what is now known as Belleek Castle was built in 1831. Ballina was officially established as a town in 1723 by O'Hara, Lord Tyrawley.
The Belleek estate once occupied lands from the Moy River to the modern-day Killala Road. This included part of the ‘Old French Road’ which General Humbert marched on from Killala, and beside part of which in the Killala Road-Belleek area was Belleek’s reservoir – presumably destroyed in the construction of Coca-Cola’s ‘Ballina Beverages’ factory; the ‘Old French Road’ is now closed off at that point, with what amounts to diversion road signs claiming Humbert marched where he did not.
Maud Gonne, a famous Irish woman, unveiled the monument. At the
event she famously poured water over another speaker's (an IRB
member) head. The monument was moved to its current location on Humbert
Street in 1987, where is was re-dedicated by Maud Gonne's son, Seán
MacBride.
The Dolmen of the Four Maols is located on 'Primrose Hill' behind Ballina's Railway Station. The dolmen dates from circa 2,000 B.C. and is sometimes called locally the 'Table of the Giants'. Legend has it that the dolmen is the burial place of the four Maols. They murdered Ceallach, a 7th century Bishop of Connacht and were hung at Ardnaree - the Hill of Executions. Tradition says that their bodies were buried under the dolmen.
The streets of Ballina consist mainly of three
and four storey Georgian and Victorian buildings, though the structures
of several buildings are actually far older.
It has many listed buildings including Georgian Housing on the
Banks of the Moy, and the Ice House Building which has been converted into
an exclusive hotel. The former Provincial Bank building now houses the
Jackie Clarke Museum.
This is one of the most important Irish collections in the world. Its breadth and importance, once only known to its creator, is now available to all.
Jackie Clarke. Spanning nearly 400 years of Irish history, its earliest documents date from the early 1600s, its final documents were collected by Jackie Clarke in 2000, the year of his death, aged 72.