Ballinamore

Template:Infobox Irish Place Ballinamore (Irish: Béal an Átha Móir) is a small town in County Leitrim, Ireland, Template:Km to mi from the border with Northern Ireland. It is located on the R202 regional road where it is joined by the R199 and R204. Béal an Átha Móir means ‘mouth of the big ford’. This is because it was the main crossing point of the Yellow River which flows past the town. This waterway become known as the Ballinamore-Ballyconnell canal, built to link the Rivers Erne and Shannon in the 1840s. It reopened as the Shannon-Erne Waterway in 1994.

Ballinamore Main Street-August 2006

History

The history of Ballinamore has enabled it to grow through the centuries as a town with a large variety of trades and tradesmen. In the 18th century, settlers from County Down were dispossessed by landowners travelled to the west of Ireland looking for new habitats. They stopped in an area of land they found suitable notably for its location near the rivers Shannon and Erne. This was the origins of Ballinamore. These dispossessed people brought with them numerous skills such as blacksmiths, tinsmiths, skilled craftsmen and farmers. This abundance of skills became a distinctive feature of the town through the 19th and 20th Centuries.

Buildings of note

• Ballinamore Market House is a 3 bay 2 story building currently used as a library.

Transport

Ballinamore railway station opened on 24 October 1887, but finally closed on 1 April 1959. It was part of the narrow gauge Cavan and Leitrim Railway and was the hub of the line, with the locomotive depot and works. It was the point where the line from Dromod through Mohill and Ballinamore to Belturbet branched to Kiltubrid, Drumshanbo and Arigna.

External links

• Official website