Ballybofey
| Ballybofey Bealach Féich
|
|
|---|---|
| — Town — | |
 |
|
 Ballybofey
|
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| Coordinates: 54°48′00″N 7°47′24″W / 54.8°N 7.790°WCoordinates: 54°48′00″N 7°47′24″W / 54.8°N 7.790°W | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Ulster |
| County | County Donegal |
| Elevation | 30 m (100 ft) |
| Population (2006) | |
| • Urban | 4,176 |
| Time zone | WET (UTC+0) |
| • Summer (DST) | IST (WEST) (UTC+1) |
| Irish Grid Reference | H194946 |
| Website | www.ballybofeystranorlar.com |
| Historical populations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
| 1821 | 1,671 | — |
| 1831 | 1,515 | −9.3% |
| 1841 | 1,167 | −23.0% |
| 1851 | 1,297 | +11.1% |
| 1861 | 1,404 | +8.2% |
| 1871 | 1,349 | −3.9% |
| 1881 | 1,429 | +5.9% |
| 1891 | 1,219 | −14.7% |
| 1901 | 1,203 | −1.3% |
| 1911 | 1,189 | −1.2% |
| 1926 | 1,250 | +5.1% |
| 1936 | 1,198 | −4.2% |
| 1946 | 1,256 | +4.8% |
| 1951 | 1,274 | +1.4% |
| 1956 | 1,586 | +24.5% |
| 1961 | 1,878 | +18.4% |
| 1966 | 1,942 | +3.4% |
| 1971 | 2,214 | +14.0% |
| 1981 | 2,928 | +32.2% |
| 1986 | 2,964 | +1.2% |
| 1991 | 2,972 | +0.3% |
| 1996 | 3,047 | +2.5% |
| 2002 | 3,603 | +18.2% |
| 2006 | 4,176 | +15.9% |
| [1][2][3][4][5] | ||
Ballybofey (Irish: Bealach Féich, meaning "Fiach's pass" or alternatively Bailebo Fiach meaning "Fiach's bailebo") is a town located on the south bank of the River Finn, County Donegal, Ireland. Along with the smaller town of Stranorlar on the north side of the River Finn, Ballybofey makes up the Twin Towns.
The town grew rapidly in the 19th and 20th centuries. Ballybofey also plays host to the Twin Towns Festival which takes place annually. The centrepiece of the festival is a parade on the Sunday. The last of these took place on 19 August 2007.[6] There are no schools or churches in the town of Ballybofey itself, with all these amenities lying either across the bridge in Stranorlar or outside the town limits. This is due to laws during plantation times when certain Catholic buildings were not allowed within a specified range of Protestant towns, in this case Stranorlar.
Just a few miles west of Ballybofey, on the main road to Fintown (the R252), is the Glenmore Estate, located at Welchtown. The estate formerly included Glenmore Lodge, a country house that stood on the opposite, southern bank of the River Finn, very near Glenmore Bridge. The house was originally built in the Georgian-style in the mid- to late-eighteenth-century. It was re-worked for Sir William Styles in the neo-Tudor-style in the early twentieth-century. The house was demolished in the 1990s. The private estate is now famous for its fishing and hunting.[7]
Contents |
[edit] Sport
- Ballybofey is home to Finn Park where League of Ireland side Finn Harps play their home games.[8]
- Seán MacCumhail Park is also located in Ballybofey, where Donegal GAA play their home games
[edit] People
- Conal Gallen, singer and comedian
- The Rev. Prof. Ernan McMullin, philosopher
[edit] Transport
- Ballybofey railway station opened on 3 June 1895, but finally closed on 15 December 1947.[9]
[edit] See also
- List of towns in the Republic of Ireland
- List of towns in Northern Ireland
- Market Houses in the Republic of Ireland
[edit] References
- ^ "Census for post 1821 figures.". Cso.ie. http://www.cso.ie/census. Retrieved 2012-02-18.
- ^ "The Online Historical Population Reports Website". Histpop. http://www.histpop.org. Retrieved 2012-02-18.
- ^ "Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency - Census Home Page". Nisranew.nisra.gov.uk. http://www.nisranew.nisra.gov.uk/census. Retrieved 2012-02-18.
- ^ Lee, JJ (1981). "On the accuracy of the Pre-famine Irish censuses". In Goldstrom, J. M.; Clarkson, L. A.. Irish Population, Economy, and Society: Essays in Honour of the Late K. H. Connell. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.
- ^ Mokyr, Joel; O Grada, Cormac (November 1984). "New Developments in Irish Population History, 1700-1850". The Economic History Review 37 (4): 473–488. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0289.1984.tb00344.x. http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120035880/abstract.
- ^ "Donegal Direct". Donegal Direct. http://www.donegaldirect.com/ws_events.aspx?Section=Festivals+%26+Events&Region=Stranorlar. Retrieved 2012-02-18.
- ^ Rowan, Prof. Alistair (1979). Buildings of Ireland: North West Ulster.. London: Penguin Books. p. 564. ISBN 0300096674.
- ^ "Finn Harps". Finn Harps. http://www.finnharps.com. Retrieved 2012-02-18.
- ^ "Ballybofey station" (PDF). Railscot - Irish Railways. http://www.railscot.co.uk/Ireland/Irish_railways.pdf. Retrieved 2007-09-10.
