Ballinasloe


Ballinasloe is a town in the easternmost part of County Galway in Connacht. It is one of the largest towns in County Galway with a population of 6,662 people as of the 2016 census.

History

The town developed as a crossing point on the River Suck, a tributary of the Shannon. The Irish placename – meaning the mouth of the ford of the crowds – reflects this purpose. The latter part of the name suggests the town has been a meeting place since ancient times. The patron saint of Ballinasloe is Saint Grellan, whom tradition believes built the first church in the area at Kilcloony. A local housing estate, a GAA club, the branch of Conradh na Gaeilge, and formerly a school are named after him.
Richard MĂłr de Burgh is credited with founding the town.

Economy

Fast-food restaurant Supermac's opened its first restaurant in Ballinasloe in 1978. The restaurant chain is now present in over 116 locations, including three stores in the town.
Ballinasloe was traditionally an agricultural economy, though the 1980s and 1990s saw a number of factories locate in the town. Local employers include Aptar, a manufacturing company, and Surmodics, a medical company who committed to creating 100 new jobs in Ballinasloe between 2016 and 2021. Both factories are located in the Business & Technology Park, which is a 39-acre site.
Another contributor to the local economy is the Enterprise Centre. Managed by the Ballinasloe Area Community Development, it is located on the outskirts of Ballinasloe along the Creagh Road. As of mid-2020, there were 26 enterprises based in the centre, with 9 more regularly using the training, meeting and hot-desk facilities.
Local business in the town centre focuses on stores and restaurants. Gullane's Hotel, a three-star hotel, has served the area since 1943. The Shearwater Hotel, a five-star hotel, is located at Marina Point, just across from Lidl.

Enterprise Town

In May 2017, a Bank of Ireland "Enterprise Town" weekend was hosted in Ballinasloe, the event being opened by Minister Denis Naughten, and Gavin Duffy of Dragons' Den.

Events

Ballinasloe hosts a number of annual events and festivals throughout the year.

October Fair

The Ballinasloe Horse Fair is held annually in October. It is reputedly the oldest horse fair in Europe and dates back to the 18th century. Chiefly agricultural in the past, it is now focused on the horse, and the associated festival attracts up to 80,000 visitors. A large market typically takes place, along with a number of events, fireworks, a dog show and a fun fair beside Ballinasloe's town theatre. The 2020 event, which would have been the 298th fair, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Larry Reynolds' Weekend

The Larry Reynolds' Weekend is a celebration of traditional Irish music. The event has run annually since 2014, in commemoration of Larry Reynolds, a late Ballinasloe native who emigrated to the United States in 1953 and brought the east Galway style of music to Boston. The festival sees a number of traditional music performances in the different bars around town.
What would have been the seventh event, due to have taken place from 10 September to 13 September 2020, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Other events

The Strings Festival, a music event focusing on stringed instruments, was hosted by Ballinasloe library in July 2017 and 2018. A "Zombie Walk" is held at Halloween on the grounds of the Garbally estate. First held in 2015, the event involves "zombie" tour-guides bringing groups through Garbally woods. In 2019, the Zombie Walk was dubbed "The Trail of Terror". It became the first time in its five-year history that it ran for one day only due to the fact that it was cancelled on the second day due to the weather "turning quite nasty".

Places of interest

Road

Once a notorious traffic jam on the old Galway to Dublin road, Ballinasloe is now by-passed by the M6 motorway. The motorway was opened on 18 December 2009 as the N6 was upgraded.
The town can also be accessed by public bus, with Bus Éireann and CityLink serving the town on their Limerick to Galway and Dublin to Galway routes.

Rail

The Ballinasloe railway station opened on 1 August 1851, and is served by the Dublin–Galway railway line.

Water

From 1828 to the 1960s, Ballinasloe was the terminus of the Grand Canal. Guinness Company used the town's canal stores to store and distribute the Guinness to the midlands. Grand Canal provided a route for Guinness barges to travel from Dublin to Shannon Harbour. A new public marina has been developed on the river in recent years that allows traffic from the Shannon navigation to access the town.

Local media

A number of regional newspapers circulate in the Ballinasloe area, such as Ballinasloe Life magazine, the Connacht Tribune, Galway Advertiser, Athlone Topic and the Roscommon Herald. As Ballinasloe sits on the border between two counties it is served by two local radio stations, Galway Bay FM and Shannonside FM. Local radio from other neighbouring counties such as Midlands 103 and Tipp FM are also received in the area.

Sport

Ballinasloe has soccer, golf, and rugby clubs, alongside Duggan Park Gaelic Athletic Association grounds. The local GAA clubs are Ballinasloe GAA, Derrymullen Handball Club and Ballinasloe Camogie Club. The soccer club, Ballinasloe Town AFC, plays its games at The Curragh Grounds in the town. Ballinasloe also has two resident boxing clubs. There is also a Tennis Club and Athletics Club.
The facilities in the town include: a golf club, GAA grounds, tennis club, two swimming pools, 40x20 Handball Alley, rugby grounds, soccer grounds, driving range, and a running track.

Education

In Ballinasloe there are four national schools and two secondary schools.

Twin towns

Ballinasloe has been twinned with Chalonnes-sur-Loire, in Maine-et-Loire, France, since 1988.

Notable people

From the Annals of Lough CĂ©: