Ballinamallard

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Ballinamallard
Béal Átha na Mallacht

Location

Statistics

Fermanagh and South Tyrone

Dialling code:

028, +44 28

Population (2001)

1340

Website: www.fermanagh.gov.uk

Ballinamallard (Irish: Béal Átha na Mallacht) is a small village in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland to the north of Enniskillen. It had a population of 1,340 people in the 2001 Census. It lies within the Fermanagh District Council area.

The village has won several "best kept village" titles, and has a fountain to mark the honour. There are three schools in Ballinamallard - two primary schools: Ballinamallard Controlled Primary School and Shanmullagh Primary School, and one secondary school: Duke of Westminster High School.

1 History
2 Economy
3 Transport
4 Sport
5 People
6 2001 Census
7 References
8 See also

[edit] History

In the early 20th century, thousands of Cooneyites or ’Dippers’, followers of Edward Cooney, who baptised converts by immersing them totally in Lough Erne or tributary rivers, flocked to religious Conventions at Crocknacrieve House near Ballinamallard.

[edit] Economy

Ballinamallard contains many family businesses run by families. In the 1970s the Development Association initiated some useful projects. The old Great Northern Railway station was restored to become the Rascal’s Playstation, a purpose-built child care centre, while the Commons was transformed into a children’s playground and industrial units were established on the Enniskillen road.

Ballinamallard’s best known family are the Fishers, whose firm, Fisher Engineering, has brought substantial employment to the village. The company, which specialises in agricultural engineering and building construction, was founded by the late Thomas Fisher when he returned from World War II. Today Fishers are one of the foremost steel construction firms in the British Isles servicing such projects as The Waterfront Hall and the Odyssey Arena in Belfast.

[edit] Transport

Ballinamallard railway station opened on 19 August 1854, but was finally closed on 1 October 1957.^[1]

[edit] Sport

The village is the home of Ballinamallard United, which plays in the Irish Football League 2nd Division. Roy Carroll, a former Manchester United goalkeeper used to play for Ballinamallard United.
The area is particularly noted for its trout fishing, with Erne tributaries flowing through and around the village.
Birthplace of Rally driver Bertie Fisher

[edit] People

Writer Rudyard Kipling, former United Kingdom Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin and noted painter, Sir Edward Burne-Jones all trace their heritage directly back to Ballinamallard man the Rev. James McDonald who himself was a pioneer Methodist minister and contemporary of John Wesley
On 21 January 2001, when returning from a family holiday, the helicopter which Bertie Fisher was piloting crashed killing him, his daughter Emma and his son Mark. His wife Gladys and son Roy survived.

[edit] 2001 Census

Ballinamallard is classified as a village by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (ie with a population between 1,000 people and 2,250 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 1,340 people living in Ballinamallard. Of these:

24.9% were aged under 16 and 14.9% were aged 60 and over
49.3% of the population were male and 50.7% were female
3.4% were from a Catholic background and 95.6% were from a Protestant background
3.2% of people aged 16-74 were unemployed.

For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service