Lanesborough–Ballyleague (), more commonly known simply as Lanesborough, is a town in the midlands of

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 ...

. Lanesborough is on the

County Longford County Longford () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Longford. Longford County Council is the Local government in the Republic ...

(east) side and Ballyleague on the

County Roscommon County Roscommon () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the province of Connacht and the Northern and Western Region. It is the List of Irish counties by area, 11th largest Irish county by area and Li ...

(west) side of the River Shannon, at the northern tip of

Lough Ree Lough Ree (), translated to English as ''King's Lake'' or ''King Lake'', is a lake in the midlands of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the second of the three major lakes on the River Shannon. Lough Ree is the second largest lake on the Shannon af ...

. Lanesborough–Ballyleague is on the N63 road at its junction with the R371 (at Ballyleague) and R392 (at Lanesborough). Longford town is 16 km north-east along the N63, Roscommon town is 15 km south-west along the N63, Ballymahon is 20 km south-east along the R392 and Strokestown is 15 km north-west along the R371.

Geography

The river Shannon divides the two towns. As a result, the two towns are in two separate provinces (

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

on the east and

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

on the west); two separate counties (Longford on the east and Roscommon on the west); two separate Roman Catholic Dioceses ( Ardagh and Clonmacnoise on the east and Elphin on the west) ; and two separate Roman Catholic parishes (Rathcline on the east and, Kilgefin which consists of Ballyleague, Ballagh and Curraghroe on the west). The original name of the town, Athliag, means Ford of Stones – derived from the flagstones placed across the river to assist the crossing. The first real bridge was built around 1000AD by Malachy, High King of Meath, and the

King of Connacht The Kings of Connacht were rulers of the ''cóiced'' (variously translated as portion, fifth, province) of Connacht, which lies west of the River Shannon, Ireland. However, the name only became applied to it in the early medieval era, being named ...

– built to link in the middle in their joint effort to defend against the

Vikings Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

. The first more permanent bridge was built in 1140 by Turlough O'Connor,

High King of Ireland High King of Ireland ( ) was a royal title in Gaelic Ireland held by those who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over all of Ireland. The title was held by historical kings and was later sometimes assigned anachronously or to leg ...

. A further bridge was built in 1667 and survived till 1690 when it was destroyed by Colonel O'Reilly to stop the

Williamite A Williamite was a follower of King William III of England (r. 1689–1702) who deposed King James II and VII in the Glorious Revolution. William, the Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, replaced James with the support of English Whigs. On ...

army under General Kirk. In 1701 a ferry carrying 46 people to the fair capsized and 35 drowned. Parliament was petitioned for a new bridge, and a stone bridge was erected in 1706, 300' long, 15' wide with 9 arches. It was demolished to provide a new bridge in 1844 which contained a swivel arch to allow large boats to pass through. This was removed in the 1960s and replaced by a concrete span in 1971.

Amenities

The Lanesborough–Ballyleague area is known for its sports fishing, and angling tourists coming to fish for bream, tench, rudd and pike on the Shannon. The Lough Ree Angling hub was set up in 2015 and has hosted the World Predator Boat Fishing championships and several other international angling events since then. The largest recorded pike ever caught in Ireland was caught in Lanesborough and weighed in at 62.5 lbs. The annual

Regatta Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wa ...

and the horse fair are important to the local economy. Lanesborough–Ballyleague is also a stop-over point for pleasure boats on the River Shannon navigation system.

is just to the south and stretches almost 30 km to

Athlone Athlone (; ) is a town on the border of County Roscommon and County Westmeath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located on the River Shannon near the southern shore of Lough Ree. It is the second most populous town in the Midland Region, Ir ...

: while upstream the Shannon meanders 40 km to Carrick on Shannon and beyond to the Shannon-Erne Waterway.

Sport

The two towns have separate

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 ...

football teams: Rathcline and St Faithleachs. Lanesborough also has an Annual Triathlon which consists of a 750 m swim, 22 km cycling and 5 km run. It is organised by Lanesboro Triathlon Club.

Sailing

It is recorded that a Town Regatta took place in 1927. This regatta provided races for yachts and dinghies including Dublin Bay Water Wags. Trophies won in this regatta still exist. The annual regatta was reinstated in the 2000s and racing takes place for the traditional Shannon-One-Design dinghies over a weekend every September. This regatta does not include the rowing races which were traditionally a feature of regattas at the towns (such as Athlone or Carrick-on-Shannon) on the River Shannon.

Economy

The Electricity Supply Board and Bord na Móna are among the largest employers in the area. In 2016, the "Taste of the Lakelands Food Festival" brought a crowd of 6000 visitors to the town with the intent to bring a new focus on food tourism and food production in the area.

Twin town

* Lanesborough, Massachusetts, United States

Public transport

The town is served by three Bus Éireann routes. Route 425 ( Longford-

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 ...

) provides a daily (except Sunday) service each way to/from

via

Roscommon Roscommon (; ; ) is the county town and the largest town in County Roscommon in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60 road (Ireland), N60, N61 road (Ireland), N61 and N63 road (Irelan ...

. Route 467 provides two additional journeys each way to/from Longford on Wednesday, and route 65 provides a journey each way to/from

and Cavan on Fridays and Sundays.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lanesborough-Ballyleague Towns and villages in County Longford Populated places on the River Shannon Former boroughs in the Republic of Ireland