Ballycassidy () is a small

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

and

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 orig ...

(of 83 acres) in

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of 1,691 km2 (653 sq mi) and has a population of 61,805 ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, 6.5 km north of

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from ga, Inis Ceithleann , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 13,823 a ...

on the eastern shore of Lower Lough Erne. It is situated 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 authorit ...

Trory Trory () is a townland (of 335 acres), small village and civil parish in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, 3 miles (5 km) north of Enniskillen. The townland is situated in the historic barony of Tirkennedy, but the civil parish covers ...

and the historic barony of

Tirkennedy Tirkennedy () is a barony in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. To its west lies Lower Lough Erne and south Upper Lough Erne, and it is bordered by seven other baronies: Clanawley and Magheraboy to the west; Lurg and Omagh East to the north; Clo ...

. In the 2001 Census it had (with Laragh and

) a population of 315 people. It is situated within

Fermanagh and Omagh Ulster Scots: ''Fermanay an Omey'' , settlement_type = District , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_type1 = Constituent country , subdivision_type2 = , subdivision_type3 = , subdivision_ty ...

district. Ballycassidy is a small rural community, consisting mainly of scattered homes, the Balcas Sawmill and rich farm land along the Ballycassidy River. There is no pub or grocery store, only a post office. The Ballycassidy River flows into Lower Lough Erne a short distance to the west.

History

In the 14th century, there was a church in Ballycassidy. A

holy well A holy well or sacred spring is a well, spring or small pool of water revered either in a Christian or pagan context, sometimes both. The water of holy wells is often thought to have healing qualities, through the numinous presence of its guar ...

in the area was associated with Saint Molaise who founded the monastery on nearby Devinish.

''Ballycassidy'' racehorse

There is also a racehorse called ''Ballycassidy'', named after the village, who was trained in Wales by Peter Bowen. The horse is notorious for a spectacular fall at Valentines Brook in the

2006 Grand National The 2006 Grand National (officially known as the John Smith's Brewery, John Smith's Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 159th official annual running of the Grand National Steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase which took place a ...

at Aintree. He won 16 races over his career and became a favourite with racing fans. He was retired from racing under rules in 2008, but did go on to race in Point to Points, ridden by the then amateur jockey Donal Devereux. ''Ballycassidy'' remains at the Peter Bowen stables.

Gallery

File:Cloughbally Mill, Ballycassidy - geograph.org.uk - 375195.jpg, Mill building

References

NI Neighbourhood Information System

Villages in County Fermanagh Townlands of County Fermanagh Civil parish of Trory Fermanagh and Omagh district {{Fermanagh-geo-stub