Tourist Attractions
It has something to offer everyone be it golfing, fishing, sightseeing, shopping or dining out in one of our superb restaurants and award winning pubs. Ballina also has modern sports and leisure complexes and is just 30 minutes from Dublin and 60 minutes from London (via Ireland West Airport Knock).
Angling
Ballina and The Moy Valley Region is one of Europe’s top angling destinations. The famous River Moy runs through the town of Ballina and is renowned for its Salmon fishing. Salmon catches to the rod of over 7000 have been recorded over the years 2001 – 2006. The variety of fishing on the river Moy includes top class fly water, worming and spinning. The Ridge Pool is one of the world’s most sought-after salmon angling pools.
For more detailed information on fishing in North Mayo, contact the NWRFB Angling Officer, Tel: 096-22788, or visit www.northwestfisheries.ie.
Historical Places to See in Ballina
St. Muredach's Cathedral
St. Muredach's Cathedral is the Cathedral Church of the Diocese of Killala. Work on the Cathedral started in 1827. The stone was carried up the Moy and was quarried locally at Moyne, the roof and ceiling were completed before the Great Famine of 1845. The spire was completed in 1855 and by 1875 the organ had been commissioned.
Augustinian Abbey
The remains of the Augustinian Abbey adjoins the grounds of St. Muredach’s Cathedral and was built in 1427. Little remains of the Abbey apart from the beautiful arched doorway. The monastery was active until its dissolution under Elizabeth I. The Augustinians, however, did not leave and Priors of the Abbey were appointed continuously to 1835 though the Abbey was in ruin and much like it is at present.
St. Michael's Church
St Michael's Church of Ireland , Ardnaree was erected in 1738 just fifteen years after the town was founded by Lord Tyrawley. The original Church consisted of a simple nave chancel and tower. The building was altered into a T-shape by Thomas Ham. Both the graveyard and the church contain interesting memorials.
Ballina Workhouse
Little of the original workhouse now remains. Most of the original building was demolished in the 1934 to make way for the present District Hospital. The workhouse was completed just before the Famine and at one point was the fifth largest workhouse in the country. The foundations were laid in 1840 by local landowner, Edward Howley, of Ballina House. The first occupants were admitted on November 3rd, 1847.
The population of Ballina at the beginning of the Great Famine has been estimated at about 7,000 and the workhouse which was built to accommodate 1,200 - 1,400 people was vastly overcrowded during the famine years. The year 1847 was the peak of the famine in Ballina. Poor victims were buried without coffins in two pits and many of the corpses of the victims were black as a result of the fever. When Mercy Park was being transformed into a playground some years ago, many skeletons were unearthed. In 1934 the Workhouse was demolished to make place for the new District Hospital at a cost of £30,000. One of the old Workhouse buildings still survives on the Crossmolina Road in the grounds of St.Joseph's Hospital.
The Dolmen (Primrose Hill)
The Dolmen of the Four Maols is located at the back of Ballina's Railway Station. The Dolmen dates from about 2,000 B.C. and is sometimes called locally the 'Table of the Giants'. The Dolmen is said to mark the grave of four foster brothers. Guaire Aidhne was King of Connaght but not the rightful heir, the rightful heir was a man named Ceallach who had abandoned the world to become a priest and eventually Bishop of Kilmoremoy (Ballina). The Brothers of Guaire, The Four Maols, murdered Ceallach whose tuition they were under, they were brought to trial and hanged at Ardnaree (Ard na Riadh) - the Hill of Executions then buried on Primrose Hill.
Pearse Street
The original name for Pearse St was Knox Street. The Knox’s and Knox-Gores were major landlords in the area during the last century. Pearse Street is the busy commercial centre of Ballina with banks and offices.
Walsh Street (off Pearse Street/beside Quattro Hotel)
This street is called after Patrick Walsh who was executed in Walsh Street by English troops on the eve of the French entry into Ballina in August 1798.
Humbert Monument
The Humbert Monument at Humbert St. was erected originally at the junction of Pearse St. with Humbert St. in 1898 to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the French landing at Killala in 1798. The monument was originally sculptured by a Dublin craftsman. The figure on the monument is not Humbert but Mother Ireland. It was moved to its present position in 1987. The legendary Maud Gonne McBride unveiled the monument as part of the centenary celebrations in 1897 and it was re-dedicated by her son the late Sean MacBride (S.C., Nobel and Lenin Peace Prize winner) in 1987. Part of the inscription on the monument reads:
In memory of General Humbert
Sarrazin, Louis Octave Fontaine
Bartolomew Teeling, Matthew Tone,
Henry O'Keon, Father Conroy, Patrick Walsh,
And all the other gallant patriots
who sacrificied their lives
for the freedom of their country
After the landing of the French at Killala 1798
St. Patrick's Well
The Shrine on the Killala Road is dedicated to St. Patrick. It was here according to tradition that St. Patrick baptised a local Prince Eochaid and first preached on his visit to the area. The Shrine was a place of pilgrimage until recent times. On the opposite side of the road is the rock from which St. Patrick is said to have preached.
Belleek Manor (Belleek Castle Hotel)
Belleek Manor is now a hotel and is situated in wooded parkland on the outskirts of the town. The Manor House was built by the Knox-Gore family in the 1830s. The impressive cut stone Manor House has been beautifully restored and is a fitting place to relax at the end of an Introductory Historical Tour of our town.
Presbyterian Church
The church was founded in 1846. The church building, or meeting house, is located in Walshe Street. During the Great Famine of 1845-49 and in the subsequent decades the premises were the centre of a great relief effort, coordinated by Rev Thomas Armstrong. The building to the left of the church was formerly an orphanage attached to the congregation. The church is T-shaped, a typically Presbyterian design. The congregation meets for worship in the upper storey of the building. The ground floor, once a schoolhouse, now comprises a suite of halls.
Rosserk Friary
The ruins of two friaries can be seen on "the Moyne road" from Ballina to Killala
Rosserk friary was founded around 1441 by a man named Joyce for the Observantine Franciscans who, being unable to be monks and nuns because they were married, still wanted to live in a monastic community. It was burned by Sir Richard Bingham Governor of Connaught in 1590. The nave, chancel, domestic buildings, and several carvings are well preserved.
The Creteboom, Concrete Ship, River Moy.
During the first World War, steel was scarce and a number of concrete ships were built. A steel cage was built first, sheets of wood were placed inside and outside this cage and the space between was filled with concrete to make the hull of the ship. The Creteboom was towed to Ballina and scuttled to force the water down close to the right hand bank to prevent the quay silting up.
Moyne Abbey
Moyne Abbey is a Francisan Monastery which has a well preserved cloister and tower, and is set on the mouth of the river Moy overlooking Bartra Island 3.5 kilometres from Killala Town.
It was founded by permission of Pope Nicholas for the Observantine Franciscans in 1460. The Church has a rectangular nave and chancel with an eastward extension. The west doorway was built in the 17th century. The cloisters were added in the 15th century. The various buildings surrounding it include a sacristy next to the church with a chapter house beside it, and on the side opposite the church there is a kitchen and refectory, under which a stream flows. The Friars stayed here long after the Dissolution. It was burned by Sir Richard Bingham Governor of Connaught in 1590. An unnamed widow owned it in 1617 but allowed the remaining 6 friars to live here.
Ballina Salmon Capital of Ireland:
Tànaiste Mary Coughlan officially launched Ballina as Salmon Capital of Ireland and a Marketing Fund of €100,000 that will be used to promote tourism in Ballina and North Mayo at the Shelburne Hotel on Tuesday the 17th of June. This campaign is spearheaded by Ballina Chamber and the fund is made up of contributions from local hotels, Ballina Town Council, Mayo County Council, the North Western Regional Fisheries Board and other local tourism service providers such as golf clubs and restaurants with matching funds provided by Fàilte Ireland. This launch and campaign is the result of much hard work by the Chambers Tourism committee made up of Marcus Muller (NWRFB), Rachel Moylett (Downhill House Hotel), Shane Maloney (Mount Falcon), John Rafferty (Downhill Inn), Suzanne Rowe (Ice House), Cllr. Johnnie O Malley and Sandra Cribben (Ballina Chamber). The launch went well and we hope that the resulting publicity will help further develop tourism in the town; it was great that so many of our partners travelled to Dublin to partake in the launch and it signifies the importance that they place in the project.
