placenamesBallyconree
Baile Conraoi
Ballyconree, also recorded as Ballymaconry and Kingstown Glebe, has a history shaped by a Church of Ireland orphanage and its surrounding households. The institution’s destruction in 1922 led to the displacement of children whose later lives extended as far as Australia.
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 Conraoi · Irish · main form · non-validated name
- Ballyconree · English · main form · local name
- Ballymaconry · English · main form
Place & story
An institution within a small community
Galway’s county heritage account identifies the Kingstown orphanage in the 1901 census of Ballymaconry. By 1911, the townland’s five occupied houses included the orphanage and four private dwellings. The institution had a much larger accommodation range than its neighbours, with seventeen rooms and outbuildings including a dairy, workshop, laundry and farm buildings. Other households worked in farming, labouring and domestic service. This documentary picture places the orphanage within a small working community rather than treating it as an isolated building. [2]
Displacement in 1922
The boys’ orphanage was burned in June 1922 during the Civil War, and its occupants were evacuated to England. Research published by the Clifden and Connemara Heritage Society traces the subsequent movement of a group of boys to Burnside Presbyterian Homes at North Parramatta, Australia. Their reception followed contact between the Irish Church Mission and Burnside’s supporters. The account follows different later experiences rather than presenting migration as a simple happy ending. The orphanage in Connemara was not reopened by the mission. [3]
The surviving parish records
The Representative Church Body Library holds records for Ballyconree parish in the diocese of Tuam. Its catalogue lists preachers’ books for 1897–1907 and 1913–1952, a marriage register containing an entry for 1908, and baptismal material associated with the Sellerna register. These records preserve another strand of local religious life beyond the orphanage narrative. Their stated date ranges also show why the story of a parish and the operating years of one institution should be kept distinct. [4]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Galway
- Barony
- Ballynahinch
- Civil parish
- Omey
- Coordinates
- 53.51084, -10.11382
- Logainm ID
- 131043 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Ballyconree. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Ballymaconry: census and valuation research · Galway County Heritage Office / Connemara Roots
- The Ballyconree orphans in Australia, 26 November 2021 · Clifden and Connemara Heritage Society
- Records of Ballyconree parish, P.0160, catalogue revised 21 April 2016 · Representative Church Body Library
- Coastal view towards An Aird Mhóir, near Ballyconree illustration: based on a Above An Aird Mhóir by Jonathan Wilkins. AI-assisted watercolour and ink adaptation; cream paper margins added, incidental clutter omitted and fine details simplified. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2026-07-07. How this page was prepared.