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 Móir· Irish · main form · validated name
Ballinamore· English · main form
Place & story
A crossing becomes a canal town
Ballinamore developed at a crossing of the Yellow River between the surrounding lakes. The county development plan records the grant of the Manor of Ballinamore to Sir Fenton Parsons in 1621 during the plantation of Leitrim. The town served a farming hinterland as a market centre. In 1860 the Ballinamore and Ballyconnell Canal opened through it, attempting to connect the Shannon and Erne systems. Although the original navigation declined, its restoration brought a new purpose: the Shannon–Erne Waterway reopened in 1994 for recreational boating.[2]
The railway meeting of 1883
A public meeting in Ballinamore on 14 September 1883 helped launch the Cavan and Leitrim railway project. Its promoters wanted connections between Dromod, Mohill, Ballinamore, Ballyconnell and Belturbet, with a tramway towards the coal and iron districts around Arigna. Plans extending to Boyle were curtailed after financial guarantees were withdrawn in Roscommon. The Dromod–Belturbet line opened in October 1887, followed by the Ballinamore–Arigna route in May 1888. Livestock traffic became its main source of revenue, linking the railway's ambitious engineering with the practical business of local farming.[3]
The courthouse on Main Street
The former courthouse is one of Ballinamore's most substantial stone buildings. Dating from the nineteenth century, it stands back from Main Street behind a forecourt, with three bays and two storeys. An ashlar limestone front, recessed arched entrances and projecting end bays give it a formal presence. The architectural survey records a circular stone well behind the building and its later use as a research library. The courthouse's exterior preserves the architectural language through which public authority marked the centre of a small market town.[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
Ballinamore — Census 2016 settlement footprint — census population
Ballinamore, Leitrim — Census town, CSO 2006 report
2002–2006: census town
805people · 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
Ballinamore, Leitrim — Census town, CSO 2006 report — census population
Ballinamore, Leitrim — Census town, CSO 1996 report
1991–1996: census town
782people · 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
Ballinamore, Leitrim — Census town, CSO 1996 report — census population
Ballinamore, Leitrim — Census town, CSO 1986 report
1981–1986: census town
810people · 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
Ballinamore, Leitrim — Census town, CSO 1986 report — census population
These figures use different area definitions. Read the boundary note before comparing them.
Ballinamore, Leitrim
Published census settlement populations
914people · 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