placenamesBallyheelan
Bealach an Chaoláin
Sheelin Park and a family mushroom-growing business place Ballyheelan within the sporting and agricultural life of southern Cavan.
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
- Bealach an Chaoláin · Irish · main form · validated name
- Ballyheelan · English · main form
Place & story
A parish football tradition
Ballymachugh’s local sports history traces Gaelic football to the Finea Knights of Freedom in 1888 and the Carrick Friendly Sons of St Patrick. It also records interruptions: there was no parish club between 1945 and 1957. A new branch of Muintir na Tíre made reviving the football club an early objective in 1957, with Paddy Flood and Francie Sheridan taking the leading offices. Home matches moved between borrowed fields before the club secured its later ground at Ballyheelan. [2]
Opening Sheelin Park
Sheelin Park opened on 9 May 1993 with an ecumenical blessing by Fr Brendan Gibbons and the Rev Alan Chalmers. Former chairman Pat Kiernan recalled the occasion as the culmination of years of work. Fundraising included ticket sales and whist drives, while volunteers worked on the field and contributed to a commemorative book. Support also came from relatives and friends in Britain and America, linking the Ballyheelan ground with the wider parish community. [2]
Mushrooms at Cappagh
Cappagh Mushrooms began at Ballyheelan in 1988 with three growing tunnels. In the growers’ account published by their producer organisation, brothers Declan, Gary and Aiden describe starting the business alongside other work, packing and casing mushrooms by hand in the evenings and at weekends. The operation later expanded, with a new shelving system in 2001 and three additional tunnels in 2010 bringing the total to ten. It records a modern agricultural enterprise built up in stages by a local family. [3]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Cavan
- Barony
- Clanmahon
- Civil parish
- Ballymachugh
- Within
- Ballyheelan
- Coordinates
- 53.83968, -7.34671 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 1412170 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Ballyheelan. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Ballymachugh125: Sport Chapter,13April2012, including PatKiernan’s recollections · Ballymachugh parish history project / Pat Kiernan
- Our Growers: Cappagh Mushrooms, Ballyheelan · CMP International / Cappagh Mushrooms
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.