Ballaghnatrillick (), locally Ballintrillick, is a village in

County Sligo County Sligo ( , gle, Contae Shligigh) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the Border Region and is part of the province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in the county. Sligo County Council is the local ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Local attractions include the three stones (from which the village gets its name). It also has a church dedicated to St Brigid. Ballintrillick, as the area is locally known, was once one of the main sources for the mineral

barytes Baryte, barite or barytes ( or ) is a mineral consisting of barium sulfate ( Ba S O4). Baryte is generally white or colorless, and is the main source of the element barium. The ''baryte group'' consists of baryte, celestine (strontium sulfate), a ...

in western Europe. It is approximately 20 minutes north from

Sligo Sligo ( ; ga, Sligeach , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of approximately 20,000 in 2016, it is the List of urban areas ...

Mining

The carboniferous uplands of the Dartry mountain range have been associated with the mining of

ore for more than 120 years. Barytes ore is a very heavy inert mineral which makes it useful for products such as paints and pottery and its inertness the fact it blocks radiation makes it useful in nuclear power stations. The first recorded barytes mining operation in Ballintrillick was in 1858. Between then and 1979, six separate companies worked the ore. While there are deposits remaining, they are currently viewed as uneconomic to mine. The ore was transported by the use of a narrow gauge railway to the nearby fishing village of Mullaghmore from where much of the ore was exported.Gerry Foley,2009, Barytes Mining in Benbulbin

References

Towns and villages in County Sligo {{Sligo-geo-stub