Ballinrobe is a town in
County MayoCounty Mayo is one of the traditional counties of Ireland and is located within the province of Connacht. It was named after the village of Mayo . Mayo is the secondlargest of Ireland’s 32 counties in area and 15th largest in terms of population...
,
IrelandIreland is a country in north-western Europe. The modern sovereign state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned on 3 May 1921. It is a parliamentary democracy and a republic...
. Ballinrobe is located on the River Robe, which empties into
Lough MaskLough Mask is a limestone lough of 22,000 acres in County Mayo, Ireland, north of Lough Corrib. Lough Mask is the upper of the two lakes, which empty into the Corrib River, through Galway, into Galway Bay. The lake is visited for its trout fishing. Lough Mask feeds into Lough Corrib through an...
two kilometres to the west.
Dating back to
1390, Ballinrobe is said to be the oldest town in South Mayo. The registry of the Dominican friary of
AthenryAthenry is a town in County Galway, Ireland. It lies east of Galway city, and one of the attractions of the town is its medieval castle. The town is also well-known by virtue of the song "The Fields of Athenry"....
contains a mention to the monastery de Roba, an Augustinian friary whose recently restored ruins are one of the historical landmarks of the town today.
Ballinrobe is a town in
County MayoCounty Mayo is one of the traditional counties of Ireland and is located within the province of Connacht. It was named after the village of Mayo . Mayo is the secondlargest of Ireland’s 32 counties in area and 15th largest in terms of population...
,
IrelandIreland is a country in north-western Europe. The modern sovereign state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned on 3 May 1921. It is a parliamentary democracy and a republic...
. Ballinrobe is located on the River Robe, which empties into
Lough MaskLough Mask is a limestone lough of 22,000 acres in County Mayo, Ireland, north of Lough Corrib. Lough Mask is the upper of the two lakes, which empty into the Corrib River, through Galway, into Galway Bay. The lake is visited for its trout fishing. Lough Mask feeds into Lough Corrib through an...
two kilometres to the west.
Early history
Dating back to
1390, Ballinrobe is said to be the oldest town in South Mayo. The registry of the Dominican friary of
AthenryAthenry is a town in County Galway, Ireland. It lies east of Galway city, and one of the attractions of the town is its medieval castle. The town is also well-known by virtue of the song "The Fields of Athenry"....
contains a mention to the monastery de Roba, an Augustinian friary whose recently restored ruins are one of the historical landmarks of the town today. The District Courtroom is housed in the old Market House, a marketing center for local produce established in
1752-Births:*30 July - Valentine Quin, 1st Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl, peer .*Leonard Macnally, informant against members of the Society of United Irishmen ....
.
Its development into an important economic center in south west Mayo was due to a Royal Patent granted to the people of Ballinrobe on December 6, 1606 by King James. This Patent allowed the town to hold fairs and markets. It was necessary to obtain the approval of the king to hold a market or fair in any town in Ireland or England. Obtaining a market charter was an important step in the economic development of a town and required having a spokesperson who was in the king's favor. Once a market charter was obtained it virtually assured that the town would become the largest and most important in the area. In addition to the exchange of money and goods the market brought, it also increased the local economy because all the people traveling to market from any distance needed a place to stay and food to eat. It was the custom to retire to the pub for a drink to seal a deal on the purchase of cattle or other livestock. The established market day in Ballinrobe was Monday. Each commodity had its special place in the town. Well into the mid 1900s, "Turf" or peat, hay, potatoes, turnips, and cabbage were sold on Abbey Street, poultry on Glebe Street, calves on Bridge Street, cloth, flannel, woolen socks, lace, wheat, oats, and barley outside the Market House. There were special live stock fairs held a different times of the year for pigs, cattle, and sheep. Perishable goods such as butter, meat, and bread were sold in the lower part of the Market Hall. The upper floor was used as a meeting hall. In 1698 it was the site of a "Commission of Inquiry" which among other things, relocated property from Catholic to Protestant landlords. In 1716 the County Assizes (Civil and Criminal Courts) were held in Ballinrobe, most likely in the Market Hall.
In 1704 a law was passed that required the registration of all Catholic priests. The Catholic Church was suppressed throughout all of Ireland. There are no records for any Catholic rites in the area before 1831. There were, however, priests who continued to perform the rites in secret. The name of at least one of the local priests is known. Fr. Duffy ministered in Ballinrobe from 1696 until 1712. He was captured and deported to Spain where he died. There also appears to have been a number of priest between 1649 and 1875 who where associated with the Augustine Abbey.
The Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829 allowed the Catholics to freely practice their religion. It wasn't until 1847, however, that the first curate, Fr. Conway, was appointed Curate of Ballinrobe. He was the minister to both Ballinrobe and
PartryPartry is a parish in County Mayo, Ireland. Partry is an ideal place for people with an interest in fishing to stay. It is located between Loughs Carra and Mask and is on the N84 between the towns of Castlebar and Ballinrobe....
for a number of years. He was responsible, after long negotiations with Colonel Knox in obtaining permission to start the construction of St. Mary's Catholic Church on Main Street. The church was stated under Fr. Conway in 1853. Subsequent curates were Fr. Hardiman and Dean Ronayne. Fr. Hardiman is credited with bring the Mercy Order of Nuns to Ballinrobe in 1851 and Dean Ronayne is credited with bring the Christian Brothers to Ballinrobe in 1876. The Sisters of Mercy Convent in Ballinrobe was founded from Westport in 1851. Their mission included the education of children, visitation and care of the sick, and helping the poor.
The Union Workhouse
In 1839 the Union Workhouse of the
Poor LawThe English Poor Laws were a system of poor relief which existed in England and Wales that developed out of late medieval and Tudor laws before being codified in 1587–98...
Union of Ballinrobe was founded. And as with other law unions of Ireland, Ballinrobe suffered greatly during The Great Famine of 1845 to 1849. With 2000 inmates at the height of the famine, the Workhouse was so overcrowded that on March 23 1847,
The Mayo Constitution reported:
In Ballinrobe the workhouse is in the most awfully deplorable state, pestilence having attacked paupers, officers, and all. In fact, this building is one horrible charnel house, the unfortunate paupers being nearly all the victims of a fearful fever, the dying and the dead, we might say, huddled together. The master has become the victim of this dread disease; the clerks, a young man whose energies were devoted to the well-being of the union, has been added to the victims; the matron, too, is dead; and the respected, and esteemed physician has fallen before the ravages of pestilence, in his constant attendance on the diseased inmates. This is the position of the Ballinrobe house, every officer swept away, while the number of deaths among the inmates is unknown; and we forgot to add that the Roman Catholic chaplain is also dangerously ill of the same epidemic. Now the Ballinrobe board have complied with the Commissioner's orders, in admitting a houseful of paupers and in striking a new rate, which cannot be collected; while the unfortunate inmates, if they escape the awful epidemic, will survive only to be the subjects of a lingering death by starvation!
Ninety-six people died in just one week in April 1849. The dead were buried in unmarked, shallow graves, located just outside the boundary on the southwest of the ruins. In 1922, during the
Irish Civil WarThe Irish Civil War was a conflict that accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State as an entity independent from the United Kingdom within the British Empire....
, a great deal of the structure was burned, although some portions remain to this day.
Lituanica II
In 1935,
Feliksas VaitkusFelix Waitkus was an American pilot and the sixth pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic.- Biography :His parents came from Lithuania in 1904, settling in the old "Lithuanian Downtown" in Chicago's Bridgeport neighborhood where Vaitkus was born three years later...
, the sixth person to make a successful
flight over Atlantic OceanTransatlantic flight is the flight of an aircraft, whether fixed-wing aircraft, balloon or other device, which involves crossing the Atlantic Ocean — with a starting point in North America or South America and ending in Europe or Africa, or vice versa....
with a single engine single seat airplane, landed at Ballinrobe. Vaitkus flew his transatlantic flight with
Lituanica II. Vaitkus had to fight the terrible weather conditions and was helped considerably by hourly broadcasts from an Irish radio station. He learned that
DublinDublin is the largest city and capital of Ireland. It is officially known in Irish as Baile Átha Cliath or Áth Cliath ; the English name comes from the Irish Dubh Linn meaning "black pool". It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the...
was fogged in, as well as all areas heading east as far as the
Baltic SeaThe Baltic Sea is a brackish inland sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and the...
. Vaitkus knew that he could not make it to
KaunasKaunas Kaunas Kaunas and Vilnius-Klaipėda (A1)...
due to his low fuel supply, and being exhausted after a 23-hour struggle fighting the elements, felt it was best to come down somewhere in Ireland. He spotted an open field at Ballinrobe and came down, with the airplane suffering extensive damage, but he himself suffered no injuries.
Lituanica II was crated for shipment to
LithuaniaLithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the southernmost of the three Baltic states. Situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, it shares borders with Latvia to the north, Belarus to the southeast, Poland, and the Russian exclave of...
, where it would be restored. By ship and by train he made his way to
KaunasKaunas Kaunas Kaunas and Vilnius-Klaipėda (A1)...
where he was given a hero’s welcome.
Ballinrobe today
Ballinrobe today is once again a thriving market town. Its recent growth is attributable to the Irish construction boom and its development as a dormitory town for both
GalwayGalway is the fastest growing and is the fifth largest city in Ireland and the only city in the province of Connacht. The city is located on the west coast of Ireland...
and
CastlebarCastlebar is the county town of, and at the centre of, County Mayo in Ireland. It is Mayo's largest town by population, though Ballina is geographically a larger urban area. The towns population exploded in the late 1990s, increasing by 1 third in just six years, though this massive growth has...
. It also has received many immigrants from the new EU member states. The 2006 census results showed that more than 25% of the town's residents are from overseas.
There are numerous renovated, historic structures in and around the town. Genealogical records (Church of Ireland, Roman Catholic, Civil, Gravestone Inscriptions, etc) for this area are held at the South Mayo Family Research Centre on Main Street in Ballinrobe.
Transport
Ballinrobe lies some 48 km north of Galway, on the N84 road which connects Galway to Castlebar. The town has become a bottleneck in recent years and is awaiting a bypass.
A bus service running three times a day between Galway and
BallinaBallina may refer to:*Ballina, County Mayo, Ireland*Ballina, County Tipperary, Ireland*Ballina, New South Wales, Australia**Electoral district of Ballina is an electoral district in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, based around the area....
passes through Ballinrobe and
CastlebarCastlebar is the county town of, and at the centre of, County Mayo in Ireland. It is Mayo's largest town by population, though Ballina is geographically a larger urban area. The towns population exploded in the late 1990s, increasing by 1 third in just six years, though this massive growth has...
.
Ballinrobe railway station was opened on 1 November 1892, closed to passenger traffic on 1 June 1930 and finally closed altogether on 1 January 1960. Ballinrobe was a branch line from
ClaremorrisClaremorris , is a town in County Mayo in the west of the Ireland, at the junction of the N17 and the N60 national routes. It has a population of approximately 3,180....
.
Sport
- Ballinrobe boasts the only race course in Mayo.
- There is also an 18-hole championship golf course nearby.
- Flanagen Park is one of the only pitches with floodlights in Mayo.
See also
- List of towns and villages in Ireland
- Market Houses in Ireland
Market Houses are a notable feature of many Irish towns with varying styles of architecture, size and ornamentation making for a most interesting feature of the streetscape. Originally there were three, four or even five bays on the ground floor which were an open arcade. An upper floor was...
External links