Ballyagran's growth centred on its church. Its later history includes the amalgamation of four parish schools and a local connection with David Keane, Bishop of Limerick from 1923 to 1945.
⊕Recorded locationBallyagran52.40323° N · 8.78111° WInteractive map supplied by OpenStreetMap.
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 Grean· Irish · main form · validated name
Ballyagran· English · main form
Place & story
The small village on the Charleville road
Samuel Lewis recorded 172 inhabitants in Ballyagran in 1837. The village lay on the Charleville–Ballingarry road and consisted chiefly of thatched homes around a small Catholic chapel. Although the settlement itself was modest, it gave its name to a wider Catholic district.[2]
Saint Michael's and its memorials
Saint Michael's Church originated in the early nineteenth century, was renovated in 1837 and rebuilt in 1964 under parish priest John White. Inside, a Pietà commemorates Sister M. Kevin Keane of the Charleville Convent of Mercy, who died in 1910; her sister provided the statue. Other monuments remember priests who served the parish. These memorials give individual names and family connections to a building whose fabric has changed substantially since the small chapel described by Lewis.[3]
The 1974 school amalgamation
The present national school opened on 1 July 1974, bringing together Ballyagran, Castletown, Colman's Well and Killacolla schools. Séamus Quill became principal, with teachers transferred from the four institutions. School transport connected children from the outlying catchment areas to their new classrooms. One early visitor was the Liam MacCarthy Cup, following Limerick's 1973 All-Ireland hurling victory. The school's own account preserves that small celebratory detail alongside a major change in how the parish's children were educated.[4]
People & connections
David Keane's parish connection
David Keane, a native of the parish, studied at Saint Colman's in Fermoy, Saint Munchin's in Limerick and Maynooth. His work took him to Jersey before he returned to Saint Munchin's, becoming its president in 1909. He later served as parish priest of Glin and succeeded Denis Hallinan as Bishop of Limerick in 1923. He remained bishop until his death in 1945. His career connects this rural parish with the diocese's educational institutions and administration.[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
Ballyagran — Census 2016 settlement footprint — census population
Ballyagran, Limerick — Census town, CSO 2006 report
2002–2006: census town
183people · 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
Ballyagran, Limerick — Census town, CSO 2006 report — census population
Ballyagran, Limerick — Census town, CSO 1996 report
1991–1996: census town
215people · 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
Ballyagran, Limerick — Census town, CSO 1996 report — census population
These figures use different area definitions. Read the boundary note before comparing them.
Ballyagran, Limerick
Published census settlement populations
179people · 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