Ballymote

Updated on Dec 02, 2024

Edit

Comment

Country Ireland Time zone WET (UTC+0) Elevation 76 m Province Connacht		County County Sligo Irish Grid Reference G662150 Local time Wednesday 3:11 AM

Weather 3°C, Wind W at 14 km/h, 87% Humidity

Ballymote county sligo ireland

Ballymote (Irish: Baile an Mhóta, meaning "town of the motte/mound") is a market town in southern County Sligo in the province of Connacht, in the north-west of Ireland.

Map of Ballymote, Co. Sligo, Ireland

It is a historic town, with Ballymote Castle, the last and the mightiest of the Norman castles in Connacht. This castle, dating from 1300, was built by Richard de Burgh. It also has a Market House, a three-bay, two-story building currently used by the South County Sligo Community Mental health service of the Health Service Executive.

Eagles flying irish raptor research centre ballymote county sligo

Transport

Ballymote lies on regional roads R293, R295 and R296, and on the main Dublin to Sligo railway line. Ballymote railway station opened on 3 December 1862.

Demography

In 1900 Ballymote had a population of 1145, compared to 1539 in 2011.

Sport

A number of sports are played in the town, including Gaelic football at Corran park, soccer at Brother Walfrid Memorial park and athletics at the track around Corran Park. Numerous other sports are played, particularly at under-age level. Golf is played at a nine-hole course on the outskirts of the town.

September 11 memorial

The Mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg unveiled Ireland's national monument to the 69th Infantry Regiment (aka The Fighting 69th) and Michael Corcoran in Ballymote on 22 August 2006. At the foot of the monument is a piece of steel from the World Trade Center in New York, which was attacked on September 11, 2001. The steel was donated by the family of a local man who died in the attack.

People

Some well-known people from Ballymote and the surrounding areas include:

Brother Walfrid, the founder of Glasgow Celtic Football Club

Francis Taaffe, 3rd Earl of Carlingford, who rose to the rank of field marshal in the Austrian Army, was born here in 1639

Michael Corcoran, brigadier general of the 69th Infantry Regiment during the American Civil War

John Perry, a Teachta Dála and Minister of State for Small Business in the 31st Dáil

Eamon Scanlon, a Teachta Dála in the 32nd Dáil, previously a Senator in the 22nd Seanad

Sophia McColgan, a Person of the Year award winner for her courage in bringing a familial abuse story to public attention. (Her father, Joseph McColgan, had been sentenced to 238 years imprisonment in 1995 for sexual and physical abuse of his children, and in 2010 for possession of child pornography. In 1997, the family took a civil case against the North Western Health Board for its failure to protect them.)

References

Ballymote Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA