The village’s school history, early twentieth-century church and presidential opening of its GAA grounds record successive investments in community life.
⊕Recorded locationBallinameen53.89723° N · 8.30193° WInteractive map supplied by OpenStreetMap.
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
Béal an Átha Mín· Irish · main form · validated name
Ballinameen· English · main form
Place & story
Three schools before a shared building
Ballinameen National School’s own history traces local teaching to a hedge school with seventy-five pupils on its roll in 1824. An official national school followed in 1844, with nearby Knockglass School entering the national system in 1845 and a female school opening in 1859. The three schools recorded more than five hundred pupils between them in 1862, although the school history cautions that enrolment figures do not establish daily attendance. A new building erected in 1897 brought boys and girls under one roof, admitting pupils the following year; dividing walls still maintained their separate school identities. A later amalgamation formed one school, and the present school site opened in 1967.[2]
Saint Attracta’s Church
Saint Attracta’s Catholic Church at Knockglass dates from about 1903 and is associated in the architectural inventory with W. H. Byrne. Its cruciform plan brings transepts off a short nave, while a limestone bellcote rises above the entrance. Limestone details stand against rendered walls, with paired pointed windows along the nave and three stepped lancets at the ends of the transepts. An open timber roof and a gallery above the western entrance complete an interior lit by stained glass and a tracery window.[3]
People & connections
A presidential opening in 1999
President Mary McAleese opened Ballinameen’s GAA pitch on 2 May 1999. Her speech acknowledged the fundraising behind the facilities and named club president Fr Frank McGauran, chairman Kieran Callaghan and secretary Anne McLoughlin among those responsible. She also presented medals to the 1998 county minor league winners, managed by Donal Costello and captained by Gary Hanly. McAleese noted that her cousin Jason McDermott had played on the team, giving the official visit a personal connection to the club’s recent success.[4]
Both counts use the 2016 settlement boundary, allowing like-for-like comparison. CSO supplies the 2022 count on this older boundary for comparison only. The official 2022 Built Up Area has different boundaries.
View population figures
Ballinameen — Census 2016 settlement footprint — census population
These figures use different area definitions. Read the boundary note before comparing them.
Ballinameen, Roscommon
Published census settlement populations
191people · 2016
Settlement boundaries changed during this period. Differences may reflect boundary changes as well as population change. Where a 2011 legal-town-and-environs count is shown, it has not been recalculated onto the 2016 settlement boundary.
placenames