BALLYHANE, or BALLYHEAN, a parish

Samuel Lewis

A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland

1837

BALLYHANE, or BALLYHEAN, a parish, in the barony of CARRA, county of MAYO, and province of CONNAUGHT, 4 ½ miles (S. by W.) from Castlebar; containing 3734 inhabitants. This parish is situated on the road from Castlebar to Ballinrobe, and is principally under tillage; it contains Kilboyne House, the residence of Sir S. O'Malley, Bart. Fairs are held on July 4th, and Aug. 20th. It is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Tuam, and forms part of the union of Burriscarra, the church of which, a neat plain edifice, is situated in this parish, and has been lately repaired by a grant of £269 from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners: the tithes amount to £165. In the R. C. divisions it is part of the union or district of Castlebar: the chapel is a good slated building. At Drumrathcahil is a school of 76 boys and 40 girls; and there are two pay schools. At Kinturk are the ruins a fine old castle, formerly one of the residences of Grace O'Malley.

Search Topographical Dictionary of Ireland »

Featured Books

An American widow’s account of her travels in Ireland in 1844–45 on the eve of the Great Famine:

Ireland’s Welcome to the Stranger

Sailing from New York, she set out to determine the condition of the Irish poor and discover why so many were emigrating to her home country.

Mrs Nicholson’s recollections of her tour among the peasantry are still revealing and gripping today.

The author returned to Ireland in 1847–49 to help with famine relief and recorded those experiences in the rather harrowing: Annals of the Famine in Ireland.

See more of our books »

The Ocean Plague: or, A Voyage to Quebec in an Irish Emigrant Vessel is based upon the diary of Robert Whyte who, in 1847, crossed the Atlantic from Dublin to Quebec in an Irish emigrant ship. His account of the journey provides invaluable eyewitness testimony to the trauma and tragedy that many emigrants had to face en route to their new lives in Canada and America. The book is also available in Kindle.

The Irish in America by John F. Maguire provides a substantial and invaluable account of the extreme difficulties faced by pioneer Irish immigrants in North America during the 19th Century. The book is also available in Kindle.

The Scotch-Irish in America tells the story of how the hardy breed of men and women, who in America came to be known as the ‘Scotch-Irish’, was forged in the north of Ireland during the seventeenth century. It relates the circumstances under which the great exodus to the New World began, the trials and tribulations faced by these tough American pioneers and the enduring influence they came to exert on the politics, education and religion of the country.

Show fewer titles