Ballinasloe

History

The town developed as a crossing point on the River Suck, a tributary of the Shannon, which forms the boundary between counties Galway and Roscommon. The part of Ballinasloe east of the river lies in the civil parish of Creagh, County Roscommon, while the larger part west of the river is in Kilclooney, County Galway. The Irish placename – meaning the 'mouth of the ford of the crowds' – reflects this purpose. The patron saint of Ballinasloe is Saint Grellan, who tradition believes built the first church in the area. A local housing estate, a GAA club, the branch of Conradh na Gaeilge, and formerly a school are named after him. While there is evidence of more ancient settlement in the area (including crannog and ringfort sites in Garbally Demesne), Richard Mór de Burgh (c.1194–c.1242) is credited with founding the town in the early 13th century. A castle was built in Ballinasloe on the east bank of the Suck in the 12th or early 13th centuries. Ballinasloe is historically known for its limestone which was used in many public buildings in the town. The local Garda (police) station, built c.1840 as a terraced three-storey house, is built of cut limestone which indicates the relative prosperity of the town in the 19th century. A courthouse in the town, built c.1840, features roofs and walls built of limestone. Much of Ballinasloe's town centre was laid out in the 18th and early 19th centuries. During the Great Famine, a workhouse was opened in the town in 1842 at a cost of £9,500. The building's chimney stacks, sills and walls were partially built of limestone. It was designed to house a maximum capacity of 1,000 people, but the 1851 census showed that the building housed 2,487 inmates. During the mid-1840s, a 64-bed fever hospital was built at the northeast of the…