Ballinrobe
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| Ballinrobe Baile an Róba |
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| Town population: | 1,626 (2002) |
| Rural population: | 2,536 (2002) |
| Elevation: | 45 m |
| County: | Mayo |
| Province: | Connacht |
Ballinrobe (Irish: Baile an Róba) is a town in County Mayo, Republic of Ireland. Ballinrobe is located on the River Robe, which empties into Lough Mask two kilometers to the west.
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[edit] History
[edit] Early history
Dating back to 1390, Ballinrobe is said to be the oldest town in South Mayo. The registry of the Dominican friary of Athenry contains a mention to the monastery de Roba, an Augustinian friary whose recently restored ruins are one of the historical landmarks of the town today. The District Courtroom is housed in the old Market House, a marketing center for local produce established in 1752.
[edit] The Union Workhouse
In 1839 the Union Workhouse of the Poor Law Union of Ballinrobe was founded. And as with other law unions of Ireland, Ballinrobe suffered greatly during The Great Famine of 1845 to 1849. With 2000 inmates at the height of the famine, the Workhouse was so overcrowded that on March 23, 1847, The Mayo Constitution reported:
In Ballinrobe the workhouse is in the most awfully deplorable state, pestilence having attacked paupers, officers, and all. In fact, this building is one horrible charnel house, the unfortunate paupers being nearly all the victims of a fearful fever, the dying and the dead, we might say, huddled together. The master has become the victim of this dread disease; the clerks, a young man whose energies were devoted to the well-being of the union, has been added to the victims; the matron, too, is dead; and the respected, and esteemed physician has fallen before the ravages of pestilence, in his constant attendance on the diseased inmates. This is the position of the Ballinrobe house, every officer swept away, while the number of deaths among the inmates is unknown; and we forgot to add that the Roman Catholic chaplain is also dangerously ill of the same epidemic. Now the Ballinrobe board have complied with the Commissioner's orders, in admitting a houseful of paupers and in striking a new rate, which cannot be collected; while the unfortunate inmates, if they escape the awful epidemic, will survive only to be the subjects of a lingering death by starvation!
Ninety-six people died in just one week in April of 1849. The dead were buried in unmarked, shallow graves, located just outside the boundary on the southwest of the ruins. In 1922, during the Irish Civil War, a great deal of the structure was burned, although some portions remain to this day, a testament of the tragedy there.
[edit] Lituanica II
In 1935, Feliksas Vaitkus, the sixth person who had a successful flight over Atlantic Ocean with a single engine single seat airplane, landed at Ballinrobe. Vaitkus flew his transatlantic flight with Lituanica II. Vaitkus had to fight the worst possible weather conditions and was helped considerably by hourly broadcasts from an Irish radio station. He learned that Dublin was fogged in, as well as all areas heading east as far as the Baltic Sea. He knew that he could not make it to Kaunas due to his low fuel supply, and being exhausted after a 23-hour struggle fighting the elements, he felt it was best to come down somewhere in Ireland. He spotted an open field at Ballinrobe and came down, with the airplane suffering extensive damage. He was lucky to be alive without suffering any injuries. Lituanica II was crated for shipment to Lithuania, where it would be restored. By ship and by train he made his way to Kaunas where he was given a hero’s welcome [1].
[edit] Ballinrobe today
Ballinrobe today is once again a thriving market town. Its recent growth is attributable to the Irish construction boom and its development as a dormitory town for both Galway and Castlebar. It also has received many immigrants from the new EU member states.
Ballinrobe boasts the only race course in Mayo. There is also an 18-hole golf course nearby, as well as numerous renovated, historic structures in and around the town.
Genealogical records (Church of Ireland, Roman Catholic, Civil, Gravestone Inscriptions, etc) for this area are held at the South Mayo Family Research Centre on Main Street in Ballinrobe.[1]
