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· Irish · main form · validated name
Ballina· English · main form
Ballinea· English · main form · local name
Place & story
A working river town
In 1837 Lewis described Ballina as the county’s principal port, with the Moy carrying trade towards the sea. Tobacco and snuff manufacture, brewing, milling and the curing of provisions formed part of its economy. Salmon were caught at weirs and farther downriver in nets, then sent to Dublin and Liverpool. The river connected the town’s food industries with distant buyers as well as supplying one of its most distinctive local resources.[2]
The French pass through
General Humbert’s expedition landed at Kilcummin on 22 August 1798. The French occupied Killala before moving through Ballina towards Castlebar, gathering Irish recruits on the way. Their march continued along the western side of Lough Conn. Ballina thus belonged to a moving military campaign whose early success was followed by defeat at Ballinamuck in September. Mayo County Library’s historical exhibition follows that route through named places.[3]
The Maid of Erin
The rebellion returned to the town’s streets through commemoration. The Maid of Erin monument, sculpted by T. H. Denning, was unveiled in Ballina in 1898 by Maud Gonne MacBride for the rebellion’s centenary. Its creation records the continuing political force of the memory of 1798 a century after Humbert’s troops had passed through. The monument is a later public response to those events.[3]
People & connections
Mary Robinson’s Ballina beginning
Mary Robinson was born in Ballina on 21 May 1944. A barrister and university professor, she served in Seanad Éireann before becoming Ireland’s seventh president in December 1990. She left the presidency in September 1997 to take up the post of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Her Ballina birthplace links the town with a career spanning Irish constitutional life and international human rights work.[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
Ballina — Census 2016 settlement footprint — census population
Ballina Legal Town, Mayo — Legal town, CSO 2006 report
2002–2006: legal town
10,056people · 2006
These are the historical areas published in the 2006 census report. Boundaries may differ between censuses and from modern settlements. Legal towns, environs and suburbs are shown separately; none has been combined into a modern settlement total.
View population figures
Ballina Legal Town, Mayo — Legal town, CSO 2006 report — census population
Ballina Environs, Mayo — Town environs only, CSO 2006 report
2002–2006: town environs only
353people · 2006
These are the historical areas published in the 2006 census report. Boundaries may differ between censuses and from modern settlements. Legal towns, environs and suburbs are shown separately; none has been combined into a modern settlement total.
View population figures
Ballina Environs, Mayo — Town environs only, CSO 2006 report — census population
Ballina Legal Town, Mayo — Legal town, CSO 1996 report
1991–1996: legal town
6,852people · 1996
These are the historical areas published in the 1996 census report. Boundaries may differ between censuses and from modern settlements. Legal towns, environs and suburbs are shown separately; none has been combined into a modern settlement total.
View population figures
Ballina Legal Town, Mayo — Legal town, CSO 1996 report — census population
Ballina Environs, Mayo — Town environs only, CSO 1996 report
1991–1996: town environs only
1,910people · 1996
These are the historical areas published in the 1996 census report. Boundaries may differ between censuses and from modern settlements. Legal towns, environs and suburbs are shown separately; none has been combined into a modern settlement total.
View population figures
Ballina Environs, Mayo — Town environs only, CSO 1996 report — census population
Figures cover the historical town area printed in the 1986 report. Boundaries may have changed between censuses. Legal town, environs and suburb totals remain separate and differ from modern settlement boundaries.
View population figures
Ballina, Mayo — Legal town, CSO 1986 report — census population
Ballina, Mayo — Town environs only, CSO 1986 report
1981–1986: town environs only
1,476people · 1986
Figures cover the historical town area printed in the 1986 report. Boundaries may have changed between censuses. Legal town, environs and suburb totals remain separate and differ from modern settlement boundaries.
View population figures
Ballina, Mayo — Town environs only, CSO 1986 report — census population
These figures use different area definitions. Read the boundary note before comparing them.
Ballina, Mayo — 2011 legal town and environs; 2016 census settlement
Published census settlement populations
10,171people · 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.
View population figures
Ballina, Mayo — 2011 legal town and environs; 2016 census settlement — census population
Saint Muredach's Cathedral, Ballina, County Mayo illustration: based on a St. Muredach's Cathedral in Ballina by Gareth James. AI-assisted watercolour and ink adaptation; cream paper margins added, incidental clutter omitted and fine details simplified. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
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