School: Ball Áluinn (Balla) (roll number 1146)

Location:
Balla, Co. Mayo
Teacher:
P. Ó Maolanaigh
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The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0095, Page 172

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The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0095, Page 172

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  1. Balla
    Called after Balla a wall or as some say from St Cronan calling it Ball Áluinn. Old name was Ros Darbhtha. There is a very old ruin of a church, an imperfect round tower and a blessed well. The well is called St Cronan's Well. Pilgrimages are made to this every year. A record made by an engineer who visited the local landlord - Blosse Lynch - over 100 years ago give a large amount of data about the town of Balla. Its rentals the population and stock of every landowner are given in great detail. It is now in the possession of St. Louis nuns in Balla. It states that 5000 pilgrims usually visited Balla between the two Lady days.
    All the houses in Balla are the same height. The town now belongs to the Land Commission. It had the second largest fairs in the province. In the Fenian days Balla was a very active spot. The house that was built in a day is about two miles away. It was built by the followers of the Land League.
    Two lakes that had Crannogues are in the vicinity of Balla. Moat is the name of the landlord's demesne.
    The graveyard in Balla is very old. Many old tombstones have latin inscriptions. Nine pilgrimages to the blessed well in Balla were said to be equal to one to Lough Derg or three to Croagh Patrick.

    Leegaun
    In this village there is one remarkable stone. It is several tons in weight.
    (continues on next page)
    Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.
    Topics
    1. place-space-environment
      1. local lore, place-lore (~10,595)
    Language
    English
    Location
    Balla, Co. Mayo
    Collector
    P. Ó Maolanaigh
    Gender
    Male