Ballindine () is a village in

County Mayo County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the Taxus baccata, yew trees") is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Conn ...

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 ...

. It is located along the

Western Railway Corridor The Western Railway Corridor is a term, used since , for a partly disused railway line running through the west of Ireland. Currently two sections of the line, from Limerick via Ennis to Athenry and from Collooney to Sligo, see regular servic ...

, 6.5 km (4 miles) south of

Claremorris Claremorris (; ) is a town in County Mayo in the west of Ireland, at the junction of the N17 and the N60 national routes. It is the fastest growing town in the county. There was a 31% increase in the town's population between 2006 and 2011 an ...

. The N17 road passes through the village, carrying over 10,000 vehicles daily, and it connects to the R328 road on the south side of town.

History

The remains of a possible fort are located in a field next to the National School. Folklore states that Ballindine got its name from this fort—''Baile an Daingin'' meaning "Town of the Fortress" and that the

souterrain ''Souterrain'' (from French ''sous terrain'', meaning "under ground") is a name given by archaeologists to a type of underground structure associated mainly with the European Atlantic Iron Age. These structures appear to have been brought northw ...

, just outside it, was connected underground to the ruins of the old church in Cloonmore about 2 km (1.25 miles) to the east and also to the ruins of the old church in Garryduff, 5 km (3 miles) west. Ballindine is in the Roman Catholic parish of Kilvine. Church records are held at the South Mayo Family Research Centre in

Ballinrobe Ballinrobe () is a town in County Mayo in Ireland. It is located on the River Robe, which empties into Lough Mask two kilometres to the west. As of the 2016 census, the population was 2,786. History Foundation and development Ballinrobe is c ...

. Old school records dating to the 1800s are held in the present National School.

Events and community

The village has had a monthly cattle and sheep fair since the 1960s and the Ballindine September fair was well known in West of Ireland. The July fair was also called 'The Gooseberry Fair' and Ballindine marked this tradition with an annual 'Gooseberry Festival' until 2002. The Western Alzheimer's Foundation is headquartered in Ballindine.

Sport

The Ballindine

Gaelic footballer Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

s join with Irishtown to form the Davitts team who play in red and black. The combined Davitts club plays in Division 1A league and Senior Championship. In 2011 Davitts won the Intermediate County Championship after beating Burrishoole in the final. They went on to win the Intermediate Connacht Championship after defeating Padraig Pearses.

Transport

Ballindine railway station Ballindine railway station is a disused railway station close to the village of Ballindine in County Mayo, Ireland. The station was originally opened by the Waterford, Limerick and Western Railway in 1894 on the route between Limerick and Clar ...

was opened on 30 April 1894, and closed on 17 June 1963. The N17 passes through the village. However, as of 2010, the village was due to be bypassed as part of the Claremorris–Tuam dual-carriageway which (as of 2012) was in the early stages of planning.

Notable people

Sabina Coyne Sabina Mary Higgins (née Coyne; born 1941 or 1942) is an Irish actress, political activist and the wife of the current president of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins. Early life Sabina Coyne grew up on a small farm in Cloonrane, Milltown near the G ...

, actress and wife of the

President of Ireland The president of Ireland ( ga, Uachtarán na hÉireann) is the head of state of Republic of Ireland, Ireland and the supreme commander of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Irish Defence Forces. The president holds office for seven years, and can ...

Michael D. Higgins Michael Daniel Higgins ( ga, Mícheál Dónal Ó hUigínn; born 18 April 1941) is an Irish politician, poet, sociologist, and broadcaster, who has served as the ninth president of Ireland since November 2011. Entering national politics throug ...

, is a native of Cloonrane, a

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic origi ...

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 = ...

one kilometre south of Ballindine. *

Pippa Hackett Pippa Hackett is an Irish Green Party politician who has served as a Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine since June 2020. She is one of three Ministers of State in attendance at cabinet, but without a vote. S ...

, Green Party) Senator. *

Pat Rabbitte Pat Rabbitte (born 18 May 1949) is an Irish former Labour Party politician who served as Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources from 2011 to 2014, Leader of the Labour Party from 2002 to 2007 and a Minister of State from 19 ...

, former leader of the Labour Party, was born in Woodstock, a townland near the village, and still owns a family home there.

References