placenamesBallymullen
Baile an Mhuilinn
Ballymullen developed beside Tralee through military construction, brewing and distilling, with barracks records also revealing the pressures of the famine years.
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 an Mhuilinn · Irish · main form · validated name
- Ballymullen · English · main form
Place & story
Building a garrison
Work began on Ballymullen Barracks on 11 August 1810, following a public tender issued that June. The fifteen-and-a-half-acre site became the principal British garrison in Kerry. The Dorset Militia arrived from Limerick in September 1813, before construction was completed by 1815. The barracks gave Ballymullen a military role that reached beyond the immediate suburb and shaped its relationship with Tralee. [2]
Industry beside the barracks
In 1837 Samuel Lewis identified Ballymullen as a developing suburb within Tralee’s borough limits. Alongside the infantry barracks and county gaol, he named Newell and Grant’s distillery and Bender’s brewery. Houses were being built in the gap towards Tralee. His account captures a place combining military and institutional buildings with production, trade and residential growth, rather than a barracks standing alone. [3]
Health and the famine years
After the Connaught Rangers arrived in October 1847, reports described Ballymullen Barracks as unhealthy, with a high mortality rate. In August 1848 the army acquired ground for soldiers’ burials at nearby Killierisk. Troops in Tralee also guarded workhouses and consignments of Indian meal during the famine. The military history of Ballymullen therefore includes disease and relief logistics as well as the movement of regiments. [2]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Kerry
- Barony
- Trughanacmy
- Civil parish
- Ratass
- Coordinates
- 52.25658, -9.69900 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 1412425 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Ballymullen. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Ballymullen: Tralee’s Bulwark, An Cosantóir, December 2014–January 2015, page 32 · Robert Tangney
- Ratass: A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, 1837 · Samuel Lewis
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.