Ballinakill () is a small village in

County Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medie ...

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 ...

on the R432 regional road between

Abbeyleix Abbeyleix (; ) is a town in County Laois, Ireland, located around south of the county town of Portlaoise. Abbeyleix was formerly located on the N8, the main road from Dublin to Cork. At one point, up to 15,000 vehicles passed along the town' ...

Ballyragget Ballyragget () is a small town on the river Nore in the north of County Kilkenny in Ireland. Ballyragget is on the N77 north of Kilkenny. As of the 2016 census, it had a population of 1,082 people. Toponymy The name 'Ragget' is Anglo-Norm ...

and

Castlecomer Castlecomer (Irish: ''Caislean an Chumai'' meaning "the castle at the confluence of the waters") is a town in the north of County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is positioned at the meeting of N78 and R694 roads about north of Kilkenny city. At the ...

County Kilkenny County Kilkenny ( gle, Contae Chill Chainnigh) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the South-East Region. It is named after the city of Kilkenny. Kilkenny County Council is the local authority for the cou ...

. As of the 2016 census, there were 445 people living in Ballinakill.

History

From 1613 until the Act of Union, the town was a

parliamentary borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

, electing two members to the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fra ...

. The town was besieged and plundered by Irish rebels, including the Earl of Castlehaven and Lord Mountgarret, during the 1641 rebellion. When the castle and town surrendered much was robbed, including cattle, sheep and cloth. Remarkably, this information survives to us through an account from a native American Patagonian from present day southern Argentina/Chile 'but now a Christian' who had been a servant to Captain Richard Steele for twenty years and lived in Ballinakill.

Landmarks

Oval Garden, Heywood Estate (geograph 4685034)

The town square features a monument to men who died in the

1798 rebellion The Irish Rebellion of 1798 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1798; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ''The Hurries'') was a major uprising against British rule in Ireland. The main organising force was the Society of United Irishmen, a Irish republicanism, ...

. The monument was erected in 1898. In 1998 a ceremony was held in Ballinakill to mark the bicentenary of the deaths.

Heywood House Gardens Heywood House Gardens, generally Heywood Gardens, form the grounds of a now-vanished house in County Laois, Ireland. The estate was developed in the late 18th century by Michael Frederick Trench, a politician, landowner and architect. He built a ...

, located just north of Ballinakill, is a formal garden on the former Heywood Estate which was designed by

Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memori ...

and

Gertrude Jekyll Gertrude Jekyll ( ; 29 November 1843 – 8 December 1932) was a British horticulturist, garden designer, craftswoman, photographer, writer and artist. She created over 400 gardens in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States, and wrote ...

in the early 20th century. The gardens are now managed by the

Office of Public Works The Office of Public Works (OPW) ( ga, Oifig na nOibreacha Poiblí) (legally the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland) is a major Irish Government agency, which manages most of the Irish State's property portfolio, including hundreds of ow ...

and open to the public.

Sport

Ballinakill GAA Ballinakill GAA is a hurling and Gaelic football club in Ballinakill, County Laois, Ireland. The club colours are maroon and white and the club grounds are in Ballinakill village near the border with County Kilkenny. History In 1888, th ...

and

Spink GAA Spink Gaelic Athletic Association Club is a gaelic football club in Spink, County Laois, Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great B ...

are local

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...

clubs.

History

Landmarks

Sport

See also

References

Further reading