Ballintubber

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Ballintubber Baile an Tobair

Map
WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 53.7333° N 9.3000° W Irish Grid Reference M142767
Town population:	N/A
Rural population:	345 (2002)
Elevation:	64m
County:	Mayo
Province:	Connacht

Coordinates: 53.7333° N 9.3000° WBallintubber or Ballintober (Baile an Tobair in Irish) is an ancient village in County Mayo, Ireland, famous for its abbey which was founded in 1216. The Irish translation is "Town of the Well".

Set against the backdrop of the Partry Mountains, the unspoiled countryside of Ballintubber is rich in history and historical sites including Ballintubber Abbey, Mayo Abbey and the round tower at Aghagower.

The history of Ballintubber goes back to pre-Christian times, when people came from the east, through Ballintubber, on their way to the holy mountain on the West Coast now called Croagh Patrick.

When St Patrick brought Christianity to Ireland in c.441AD, he founded a church at Ballintubber. The present Ballintubber Abbey was founded in 1216 by King Cathal O'Conor. It is the only church in Ireland still in daily use which was founded by an Irish king.

There is another Ballintubber or Ballintubbert, in County Laois, Ireland, where Cecil Day-Lewis, English Poet Laureate (1968-72) and father of actor Daniel Day-Lewis, was born in 1904, in the Rectory. This house was later owned by the actor John Hurt. This Ballintubber is 7 kilometers from the town of Athy.

There is also a Ballintubber, in County Roscommon, Ireland, 6 kilometers from the town of Castlerea. It contains a reasonably well preserved remains of a stone castle first mentioned in writing in 1311. It is not recorded who built the castle, it was probably either the Normans, or the O'Conor family who ruled Connaught at various times during the last two millennia.

Church records for Balintubber and Burriscarra parish commenced in 1839 and are held at the South Mayo Family Research Centre in Ballinrobe.