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 Átha na gCarr· Irish · main form · validated name
Bellanagare· English · main form
Ballanagare· English · main form · local name
Place & story
A family house established in 1727
After prolonged litigation, the O’Conors recovered about 800 acres in the early 1720s and built a house at Bellanagare in 1727. Relatives living there included Bishop Thaddeus O’Rourke and Isabella O’Rourke, who had known the exiled Jacobite court. The household also received harpers and traditional scholars. Charles O’Conor’s diaries recorded visiting musicians, including Turlough O’Carolan, placing music and manuscript learning within the everyday life of the family home.[2]
People & connections
Charles O’Conor and the study of Ireland
Charles O’Conor (1710–91), born at Kilmactranny in County Sligo, became closely identified with Bellanagare. A collector and reader of Irish manuscripts, he published his Dissertations on the Antient History of Ireland in 1753 and became a foundation member of the Royal Irish Academy in 1785. He also campaigned for Catholic civil rights. His work brought Irish-language historical sources into wider scholarly debate, and his correspondence connected this Roscommon household with readers and researchers elsewhere.[2]
Retirement at the Hermitage
After his son Denis took over the family lands in 1760, O’Conor withdrew to a smaller house he called his Hermitage, continuing his literary work and occasional visits to Dublin.[2]
Landed Estates research identifies the Hermitage at nearby Ballaghcullia and dates it to about 1760. By Griffith’s Valuation, a later Charles O’Conor was leasing the property to Honoria O’Conor; it was valued at £10. This was a separate residence from the earlier Bellanagare house.[3]
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
Bellanagare — Census 2016 settlement footprint — census population
Bellanagare, Roscommon — Census town, CSO 2006 report
2002–2006: census town
134people · 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
Bellanagare, Roscommon — Census town, CSO 2006 report — census population
These figures use different area definitions. Read the boundary note before comparing them.
Bellanagare, Roscommon
Published census settlement populations
153people · 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