Ballybofey ( , ; ) is a town located on the south bank of the River Finn,

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...

, Ireland. Together with the smaller town of

Stranorlar Stranorlar () is a town, townland and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in the River Finn (County Donegal), Finn Valley of County Donegal, in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Stranorlar and Ballybofey (located on the other side of the River F ...

on the north side of the River Finn, the towns form the twin towns of Ballybofey-Stranorlar. The twin towns, a

census town In India and some other countries, a census town is designated as a town that satisfies certain characteristics. India In India, a census town is one which is not statutorily notified and administered as a town, but nevertheless whose population ...

, had a population of 5,406 in 2022.

History

A few miles west of Ballybofey, on the main road to Fintown (the R252), is the Glenmore Estate, located at Welchtown. The estate formerly included Glenmore Lodge, a

country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

that stood on the opposite, southern bank of the River Finn, near Glenmore Bridge. The house was originally built in the Georgian-style in the mid-to-late-18th-century. It was reworked for Sir William Styles in the neo-Tudor-style in the early 20th century. The house was demolished in the 1990s. The private estate is now known for its fishing and hunting. The town grew rapidly in the 19th and 20th centuries. There are no schools or churches in the town of Ballybofey itself, with all these amenities lying either across the bridge in

or outside the town limits. This is due to laws during plantation times when certain Catholic buildings were not allowed within a specified range of Protestant towns, in this case

, though Stranorlar now has both a Roman Catholic and a Church of Ireland church.

Events

Ballybofey previously played host to an annual Twin Towns Festival. The last of these took place in August 2007. The Balor Arts Centre is a 300-seat arts and theatre complex, and Butt Drama Circle is a local amateur drama group.

Sport

Ballybofey is home to

Finn Park Finn Park () is a football stadium in Ballybofey, County Donegal in Ireland. The home ground of League of Ireland team Finn Harps, it has a 'safe capacity' of 4,200 with 351 seats. The first recorded Finn Harps game in Finn Park was in May 1954 ...

where

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

side

Finn Harps Finn Harps Football Club is an Irish football club that play in the First Division of the League of Ireland, as of 2023. The club was founded in 1954 and elected to the league in 1969. They hail from Ballybofey, County Donegal and play their ho ...

play their home games. Seán MacCumhaill Park is also located in Ballybofey, where the Donegal senior football team have their county office and play most of their home games.

Transport

Ballybofey railway station opened on 3 June 1895, but closed on 15 December 1947.

Bus Éireann Bus Éireann (; "Irish Bus") is a state-owned bus and coach operator providing services throughout Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with the exception of Dublin, where bus services are provided by sister company Dublin Bus. It is a subsidiary of C ...

routes 64 (

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

) and 480 (Ballybofey/Derry) pass through the town.

TFI Local Link TFI Local Link, or simply Local Link, is a set of local bus services in Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided ...

route 264 (

Ballyshannon Ballyshannon () is a town in County Donegal, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located at the southern end of the county where the N3 road (Ireland), N3 from Dublin ends and the N15 road (Ireland), N15 crosses the River Erne. The town was inc ...

Letterkenny Letterkenny ( , meaning "hillside of the O'Cannons"), nicknamed the Cathedral Town, is a large town in County Donegal, Ireland, on the River Swilly in the north-west of Ulster. Along with the nearby city of Derry, Letterkenny is a regional eco ...

), 288 (Ballybofey/Derry) and 290 (Ballybofey/Letterkenny) all service the town. The town is on the N15 road. The N15 has a junction with the N13 road in Stranorlar.

People

Isaac Butt Isaac Butt (6 September 1813 – 5 May 1879) was an Irish barrister, editor, politician, Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, economist and the founder and first leader of a number of Irish nationalist par ...

(1813–1879) – politician, leader of the

Home Rule League The Home Rule League (1873–1882), sometimes called the Home Rule Party, was an Irish political party which campaigned for home rule for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, until it was replaced by the Irish Parliam ...

, born a short distance away in Glenfin, where the Isaac Butt Memorial Hall stands * John Dunleavy (born 1991) –

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

* Conal Gallen (born 1955) – singer and comedian. * Oisín Gallen – footballer * Jimmy Kelly (1911–1970) – footballer * Ernan McMullin (1924–2011) – philosopher * Joseph Barclay Pentland (1797–1873) – geographer, natural scientist, and traveller. *

Jason Quigley Jason Quigley is an Australian rules football field umpire in the Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was origi ...

(born 1991) – boxer

References

External links

Ballybofey/Stranorlar
{{Authority control Towns and villages in County Donegal Twin cities