placenamesBallynamallaght
Baile na Mallacht
Ballynamallaght’s records connect an old crossing of the Burn Dennet with later changes in landholding and the maintenance of its road bridge.
The name
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
- Baile na Mallacht · Irish · main form
- Ballynamallaght · English · main form
Place & story
Joyce’s account of the ford
In his nineteenth-century study of Irish place names, P. W. Joyce connected Ballynamallaght with an older ford on the Burn Dennet, subsequently spanned by the village bridge. He interpreted the name as referring to a ford associated with curses. This is a documented historical interpretation, rather than evidence of a particular curse or an identified event at the crossing. [2]
Land purchase in the 1930s
A 1933 Belfast Gazette notice identifies part of Ballynamallaght among the lands sold from Doctor Andrew McFarland's estate. The transaction also involved neighbouring Tyrone townlands, including Binbuniff and Aghafad. The notice concerned the final handling of charges against the sale proceeds under the Land Purchase Acts, documenting a change in the financial and ownership arrangements governing local farmland. [3]
Repairs to the bridge
The Department for Infrastructure's 2017 roads report records parapet repairs to Ballynamallaght Bridge on Lisnarragh Road, the B48. This is the modern road crossing associated with the settlement, maintaining the river passage that earlier accounts identified as a ford. The report documents completed maintenance during 2016–17, rather than supplying a construction date for the bridge itself. [4]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Ballynamallaght. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- The origin and history of Irish names of places,second series,1875,p.449 · Patrick Weston Joyce
- Estate of Doctor Andrew McFarland,BelfastGazette27January1933,p.663 · Court of the Land Purchase Commission,Northern Ireland
- Annualreport2017,completedbridgeworks2016–17,p.53 · Department for Infrastructure,Roads Western Division
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2009-01-27. How this page was prepared.