placenamesBallymacurly
Baile Mhic Thorlaigh
Ballymacurly’s eighteenth-century house and the career of retailer Thomas Charles Beirne connect this Roscommon settlement with estate history and emigration.
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 Mhic Thorlaigh · Irish · main form · validated name
- Ballymacurly · English · main form
- Ballymacurley · English · main form · local name
Place & story
The house and its occupiers
Andrew McDermott was farming at Ballymackeriley in Cloonygormican parish in 1749, according to the University of Galway’s estate research. The database identifies Michael Nolan as the occupier of Ballymacurly in 1837 and again during the 1850s, when he held it from Hugh O’Byrne. These records place the house within a succession of farming, residence and landlord relationships extending across the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. [2]
A Georgian composition
Ballymacurly House, in Ballymacurly South, dates from about 1750. The five-bay, two-storey building has an attic and a hipped roof, with pavilions linked to it by screen walls. These lower elements extend the composition on either side of the main block. A coach house survives behind it, with a central carriage arch and tooled limestone surrounds, while remains of a walled garden preserve another part of the domestic estate. [3]
Thomas Charles Beirne
Thomas Charles Beirne was born at Ballymacurly in 1860. After an apprenticeship in drapery at Strokestown, he built a retail business in Australia. Queensland’s parliamentary register identifies him as founder of the T. C. Beirne company and records his service in the Legislative Council from 1905 until its abolition in 1922. He also served as warden of the University of Queensland between 1928 and 1941, giving his birthplace a notable connection with Australian public and commercial life. [4]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Ballymacurly. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Ballymacurly, property1310 · University of Galway, Landed Estates Database
- Ballymacurly House, NIAH31935003 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
- Former member: Thomas Charles Beirne · Queensland Parliament
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.