Ballybofey
| Ballybofey Irish: Bealach Féich | |
| County Donegal | |
|---|---|
 Ballybofey | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | H194946 |
| Location: | 54°48’-0"N, 7°47’24"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 4,852 (2016) |
| Local Government | |
| Website: | ballybofeystranorlar.com |
Ballybofey is a wee town on the south bank of the River Finn in County Donegal. Together with the smaller town of Stranorlar on the north side of the River Finn, the towns form the 'Twin Towns of Ballybofey-Stranorlar'.
The name of the town is from the Irish Bealach Féich, meaning 'Fiach's pass'.
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 Stranorlar or outside the town limits. This is due to laws during plantation times when certain Roman Catholic buildings were not allowed within a specified range of Protestant towns, in this case Stranorlar, although Stranorlar now has both a Roman Catholic and a Church of Ireland church.
History
A few miles west of Ballybofey, on the main road to Fintown (the R252 regional road), is the Glenmore Estate, located at Welchtown. The estate formerly included Glenmore Lodge, a country house 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 re-worked for Sir William Styles in the neo-Tudor-style in the early 20th-century. The house was demolished in the 1990s and the private estate is now known for its fishing and hunting.[1]
Events
Ballybofey previously played host to an annual Twin Towns Festival. The last of these took place in August 2007.[2]
The Balor Arts Centre is a 300-seat arts and theatre complex[3]
Butt Drama Circle is a local amateur drama group.[4]
Sport
- Football: Finn Harps F.C., who play at Finn Park
- Gaelic sports: Donegal GAA's senior football team, who play at Seán MacCumhaill Park.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Ballybofey) |
References
- ↑ Rowan, Prof. Alistair (1979). Buildings of Ireland: North West Ulster.. London: Penguin Books. p. 564. ISBN 0-300-09667-4. https://archive.org/details/buildingsofirela00rowa.
- ↑ "Donegal Direct". Donegal Direct. http://www.donegaldirect.com/ws_events.aspx?Section=Festivals+%26+Events&Region=Stranorlar.
- ↑ Balor Arts Centre: Donegal Diaspora
- ↑ "Butt Drama Circle to perform Brian Friel classic" (in en-US). 2017-02-20. https://donegalnews.com/2017/02/butt-drama-circle-perform-brian-friel-classic/.