Ballinlough, Cork
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Ballinlough () is a mainly residential
townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...
and suburb on the southside of
Cork city Cork ( ; from , meaning 'marsh') is the second-largest city in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the county town of County Cork, the largest city in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the List of settlements on the island of Ireland ...
, in
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
. It is located between
Ballintemple Ballintemple () is a suburb of Cork city, Ireland. The village is situated on the east side of the city with its limits extending to the River Lee and the village of Blackrock further to the east. Originally, Ballintemple was a separate village ...
and the larger suburbs of
Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...
and
Blackrock BlackRock, Inc. is an American Multinational corporation, multinational investment company. Founded in 1988, initially as an enterprise risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager ...
. While previously separated from Cork city, Ballinlough is now within the Cork City Council administrative boundary and zoned as a suburban residential area. As of 2022, it had amongst the most expensive residential properties in Ireland, outside of Dublin, based on the price of a three-bed semi-detached house.


History

Among the earliest written references to the townland and then village of Ballinlough date from 1601 (as "Ballinlogha") in the Calendar to Fiants of reign of Henry VIII, and from 1655 (as "Ballinloghy") in the
Down Survey The Down Survey was a cadastral survey of Ireland, carried out by English scientist William Petty in 1655 and 1656. It was created to provide for precise re-allocation of land confiscated from the Irish. The survey was apparently called the "Do ...
. These Irish language names (, the town of the lake) reflected the position of the village focal-points (including Ballinlough House and the original Ballinlough school), close to
Lough Mahon Lough Mahon () is a sea lough in the north-western part of Cork Harbour. Its area is about . Several Cork suburbs, such as Mahon, Douglas, Rochestown, Blackrock and Ballinlough as well as the town of Passage West are on its southern and wes ...
and the Douglas River Estuary. The Ballinlough Stone, a
standing stone A menhir (; from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large upright rock (geology), stone, emplaced in the ground by humans, typically dating from the Eur ...
(gallaun) near Ballinlough House, was surveyed by antiquary
Thomas Crofton Croker Thomas Crofton Croker (15 January 1798 – 8 August 1854) was an Irish antiquary, best known for his ''Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland'' (1825–1828), and who also showed considerable interest in Irish song and music ...
in the early 19th century. Later archaeological surveys of the stone question whether its origins are
prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins  million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...
, or if it is a less ancient
boundary marker A boundary marker, border marker, boundary stone, or border stone is a robust physical marker that identifies the start of a land Border, boundary or the change in a boundary, especially a change in direction of a boundary. There are several ...
. In the 19th century,
land use Land use is an umbrella term to describe what happens on a parcel of land. It concerns the benefits derived from using the land, and also the land management actions that humans carry out there. The following categories are used for land use: fo ...
in the area was mainly focused on farming and
market garden A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. The diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically from under to s ...
ing. The larger farms were managed from
estate house An estate is a large parcel of land under single ownership, which generates income for its owner. British context In the United Kingdom, historically an estate comprises the houses, outbuildings, supporting farmland, tenanted buildings, and ...
s including Ballinlough House, Ardfallen House, Thorn Hill House, and LakeVille/Ravenscourt. From the early 20th century, with Cork city expanding east, and the village expanding west, the area became more suburbanised. This included the building of housing developments during the 1920s and 1930s in the neighbouring and sub-townlands of Browingstown, Coppingers Stang, and Knockrea. Early 20th century censuses however still recorded 17 market gardeners in the area. With the construction of a new church in 1938, two additional schools in 1944 and 1965, and a later community centre, the focal-points of the (now) suburb shifted westward towards the city. Previously separated by remaining
green belt A green belt or greenbelt is a policy, and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wilderness, wild, or agricultural landscape, land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts ...
s and outside the city's administrative area, Ballinlough is now within the
Cork City Council Cork City Council () is the local authority of the city of Cork in Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. Before 1 January 2002, the council was known as Cork Corporation. The council is responsible for ho ...
administrative boundary and zoned as a suburban residential area.


Amenities

The community centre in Ballinlough includes a public park and a number of buildings which host community activities. The main building hosts a
Montessori school The Montessori method of education is a type of educational method that involves children's natural interests and activities rather than formal teaching methods. A Montessori classroom places an emphasis on hands-on learning and developing ...
, bowls and bingo events. The 38th/40th Cork Scout Group (a member of
Scouting Ireland Scouting Ireland () is one of the largest youth movements on the island of Ireland, a voluntary educational movement for young people with over 45,000 members, including over 11,000 adult volunteers . Of the 750,000 people between the ages of 6 ...
) is also based on the community centre site, as is the youth club (which is affiliated with Ógra Chorcaí). Ballinlough Tennis Club has five outdoor courts in the community centre complex, and is accredited to
Tennis Ireland Tennis Ireland is the governing body for tennis for the island of Ireland, with responsibilities for clubs and competitions. It was founded in 1908 and has almost 180 affiliated clubs and with approximately 80,000 players. Tennis Ireland is divi ...
's "gold" standard for facilities and club management. The
Gus Healy Augustine Anthony Healy (20 May 1904 – 10 July 1987) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. A dental laboratory proprietor, Healy was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cork Borough constituency at the 1957 ...
Municipal Swimming Pool is also in Ballinlough, and the
Páirc Uí Rinn Páirc Uí Rinn (), also known as Páirc Chríostóir Uí Rinn, is a Gaelic Athletic Association stadium located between Ballinlough and Ballintemple in Cork. It was previously known as Flower Lodge and was used as an association football ...
Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...
grounds and the
Cork Constitution The Cork Constitution (CC) is a rugby union club based in Cork, playing in Division 1A of the All-Ireland League. It was founded by staff of the '' Cork Constitution'' newspaper. Since the paper did not publish on Sundays, the staff were lo ...
rugby club lie on the border between Ballinlough and Ballintemple. Ballinlough is an independent Roman Catholic parish of the Cork and Ross Catholic Diocese and is home to Our Lady of Lourdes Church. It is also the location of the Wesley chapel of the Cork Methodist Church - which also operates a sheltered housing complex from the grounds of Ardfallen House.


Education

There are three primary schools in Ballinlough: St. Anthony's Boys National School, Eglantine Girls National School, and Our Lady of Lourdes Girls National School. Rockboro School, a private primary school off the Boreenmana Road on the boundary with South Parish, closed in 2023. Singer Mary Hegarty and a number of Olympic athletes, including Louise Shanahan and Margaret Cremen, are past pupils of Eglantine Girls National School. Past pupils of St. Anthony's Boys National School include actors
Cillian Murphy Cillian Murphy ( ; born 25 May 1976) is an Irish actor. His works encompass both stage and screen, and his accolades include an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Golden Globe Award. He made his professional debut in Enda Walsh's 1996 pl ...
and Cillian O'Sullivan, rugby players
Peter Stringer Peter Alexander Stringer (born 13 December 1977) is an Irish former rugby union player who played at scrum-half. He played 13 seasons with Irish province Munster from 1998 to 2011; he then played seven seasons from 2011 to 2018 in England wit ...
, Patrick Campbell, Niall Scannell, Rory Scannell, and Billy Scannell, hurlers
Shane Kingston Shane Kingston (born 25 August 1997) is an Irish hurling, hurler who plays as a left wing-forward, full-forward and left corner-forward for club side Douglas GAA, Douglas and at inter-county level with the Cork senior hurling team. Early life ...
, Alan Cadogan, Robbie Cotter, Brian Hayes and Cathal Cormack, Gaelic footballers Michéal Aodh Martin,
Mark Cronin Mark Cronin is an American television producer and writer. Biography Cronin grew up in the Philadelphia suburb of Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Upper Darby High School and the University of Pennsylvania. At the later, h ...
and Kevin O'Donovan, and Olympic rower
Ronan Byrne Ronan Byrne (born 17 April 1998) is an Irish national representative rower. He is an Olympian, was a silver medallist at the 2019 World Rowing Championships The 2019 World Rowing Championships were held in Ottensheim, Austria from 25 Augus ...
.


Notable residents

*
Ray Cummins Maurice Raymond "Ray" Cummins (born 9 November 1948) is an Irish former hurler and Gaelic footballer whose dual league and championship career with the Cork senior teams spanned fifteen years from 1967 to 1982. Born in Ballinlough on the so ...
, and his brothers Brendan and
Kevin Kevin is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; ; ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant ''Kevan'' is anglicised from , an Irish diminutive form.''A Dictiona ...
, are former Cork
hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...
and
Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...
players from Ballinlough *
Micheál Martin Micheál Martin (; born 16 August 1960) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician serving as Taoiseach since January 2025, having previously held the position from 2020 to 2022. Martin served as Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Min ...
, leader of
Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland. Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...
and 15th
Taoiseach The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...
* Alf McCarthy, broadcaster * Josephine McCoy, spy during the
War of Independence Wars of national liberation, also called wars of independence or wars of liberation, are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) ...
who married IRA intelligence officer
Florence O'Donoghue Florence O'Donoghue (22 July 1894–18 December 1967) was an Irish revolutionary who served as head of intelligence of the Cork No. 1 Brigade of the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence. While opposed to the Anglo-Iris ...
and later lived at Eglantine Park *
Donncha O'Callaghan Donncha O'Callaghan (born 24 March 1979) is an Irish retired rugby union player. He spent most of his career with his home province Munster, spending 17 seasons with the province and winning five major trophies, before finishing his career with ...
, retired international rugby player, lived in Ballinlough before moving to
Rochestown Rochestown is a primarily residential area in Cork City, Ireland. Originally a somewhat rural area in County Cork, housing developments in the 20th and 21st centuries have connected the area to Douglas, Cork, Douglas and nearby suburbs. The area ...
* Cillian O'Sullivan, actor * Eimear Ryan, author *
Pearse Wyse Pearse Wyse (2 March 1923 – 28 April 2009) was an Irish politician, a long-serving member of Fianna Fáil who was later an early member of the Progressive Democrats. He was born in Cork in 1923, son of John Wyse (or Wise), pawnbroker's clerk, ...
, politician and community activist, lived in Ballinlough until his death in 2009


References

{{Cork City Geography of Cork (city)