Ballinderreen () is a village located on the N67 route between Kilcolgan and

Kinvara Kinvara or Kinvarra () is a sea port village in the southwest of County Galway, Ireland. It is located in the Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of Kinvarradoorus in the north of the Barony (Ireland), barony of Kiltartan. Kinvarra is also ...

in south

County Galway "Righteousness and Justice" , anthem = () , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg , map_caption = Location in Ireland , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = ...

, in

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 ...

Location and name

Ballinderreen village is approximately 22 km south of Galway City and is a part of the townland of Ballinderreen. Ballinderreen is both the name of the Catholic diocesan parish of Galway and the townland where the village is situated. It takes its name from oak trees in the village. The Irish name of the village, ''Baile an Doirín'', means "town of the little derry or little oakwood", suggesting the area may once have been more heavily forested with oak trees. It contains the early Christian settlement of Surney of Drumacoo. The parish of Ballinderreen covers a larger area, taking in part of the village of Kilcolgan on the N18 and borders Clarinbridge,

and

Ardrahan Ardrahan () is a village in County Galway, Ireland. History Richard de Burgo conquered Galway in 1236, and granted the land to Maurice Fitzgerald who built the castle whose ruins still stand today. The churchyard wall contains the remains ...

. Ballinderreen townland lies in the barony of Dunkellin (''Dún Coillín'' in Irish) and in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

of Drumacoo (''Droim Mucú'').

Amenities

The village of Ballinderreen has a pub, a primary school, a church (Roman Catholic, St. Colman's), a creche, several sports pitches (mainly used for

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

and athletics), a nursing home, and a community centre. A small shopping centre including a fuel station, convenience store, hairdressers, and take away restaurant opened in 2009. Between 2000 and 2010 Ballinderreen saw the construction of new houses and several small residential developments. This has resulted in an increase in the village's population.

Geography

Ballinderreen is located close to Galway City, to the neighbouring villages of Clarinbridge and

, is located on the shores of Galway Bay (the village itself is approximately 1.5 km from the shore). Nearby locations within the bay include Brandy Harbour and Dunbulcaun Bay to the north and Kinvara Bay to the west. Aran Pier, Mulroog Pier and Tarrea Pier shelter some private pleasure crafts on these shores. Public transport to the village includes two to three services per day passing through the village. Bus Éireann and CityLink operate services frequently through Kilcolgan, five minutes away, to Galway, Limerick, Cork and Shannon Airport. The Ballinderreen area itself has sometimes referred to by locals as the "mini-Burren" due to its turlough and

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

pavement. A lake with extensive reed beds is present about 1 km west of the village.

Education

Residents of Ballinderreen typically send their children to the national school in the village, which is one of the oldest national schools in the country, having been built in 1857. Other primary schools in the area include the Irish Language ''Gaelscoil de hÍde'' in nearby Oranmore and Educate Together in Kilcolgan. Secondary schools in Kinvara (Seamount College) and Gort (Gort Community School) cater for the older children.

Music

A community of local musicians and singers known as ''Ceoltóirí an Doirín'' has formed a nonprofit organisation aimed at providing facilities for learning and playing traditional Irish music in Ballindereen. This group organise lessons and instrument rental to encourage traditional music and have recorded examples of local musicians and produced several musical events in the area. The tradition of Mummers is also alive in the Ballinderreen area with regular visits by

Wrenboys Wren Day, also known as Wren's Day, Day of the Wren, or Hunt the Wren Day ( ga, Lá an Dreoilín), is an Irish celebration held on 26 December, St. Stephen's Day in a number of countries across Europe. The tradition consists of "hunting" a wren ...

() frequent on St. Stephen's Day (26 December) and Mummers calling door to door at Halloween.

Sport

Ballinderreen hurling club was founded in 1884, and has had relatively little success in terms of silverware at the older age level but did win the minor B in 1987. The club plays at the senior level. It won the Galway Intermediate hurling championship in 2017, beating Meelick Eyrecourt by 1-14 to 0-13 in the final. Players from the club have included Noel Lane,

Joe McDonagh Joseph McDonagh (November 1953 – 20 May 2016) was an Irish hurler and, later, Gaelic games administrator, who served as the president of the Gaelic Athletic Association from 1997 until 2000. He played hurling with his club Ballinderree ...

, and Mick Gill. The Ballinderreen GAA colours are two vertical stripes of green and white. Other sporting activities in the area include a golf society, a camogie club which caters for teams from U'8 up to Junior, and a variety of water sports, including boating, canoeing and swimming at the local pier at Killeenaran.

External links

Ballinderreen Community Website

References

{{Roman Catholic Diocese of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora Towns and villages in County Galway