Ballingarry () is a village in

County Limerick County Limerick () is a western Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Reg ...

, Ireland. It is located near the village of Granagh and between the towns of

Rathkeale Rathkeale () is a town in west County Limerick, in Ireland. It is 30 km (18 mi) southwest of Limerick city on the N21 road to Tralee, County Kerry, and lies on the River Deel. The town is in a townland and civil parish of the same n ...

and

Kilmallock Kilmallock () is a town in south County Limerick, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, near the border with County Cork, 30 km south of Limerick city. There is a Dominican Priory in the town and King John's Castle (Kilmallock), King's Castle (or K ...

on the R518 road. Ballingarry lies in a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of the same name, and within the

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of Ballingarry-Granagh in the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Limerick The Diocese of Limerick ( Irish: ''Deoise Luimnigh'') is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in mid-western Ireland, one of six suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of Cashel and Emly. The cathedral church of the diocese is St ...

. The village had a population of 570 as of the 2022 census, up from 521 at the 2016 census.

History

Evidence of ancient settlement around Ballingarry includes several

ringfort Ringforts or ring forts are small circular fortification, fortified settlements built during the Bronze Age, Iron Age and early Middle Ages up to about the year 1000 AD. They are found in Northern Europe, especially in Ireland. There are ...

and

holy well A holy well or sacred spring is a well, Spring (hydrosphere), spring or small pool of water revered either in a Christianity, Christian or Paganism, pagan context, sometimes both. The water of holy wells is often thought to have healing qualitie ...

sites. A number of early medieval religious houses, including a

preceptory A preceptor (from Latin, "''praecepto''") is a teacher responsible for upholding a ''precept'', meaning a certain law or tradition. Buddhist monastic orders Senior Buddhist monks can become the preceptors for newly ordained monks. In the Buddhi ...

associated with the

Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there ...

, were founded nearby from the 12th century. On Knight Street, within the village, is the 15th century Ballingarry Castle. This Norman

tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, to command and defend strategic points ...

is traditionally associated with the

De Lacy de Lacy (Laci, Lacie, Lascy, Lacey, Lassey) is the surname of an old Norman family which originated from Lassy, Calvados. The family took part in the Norman Conquest of England and the later Norman invasion of Ireland. The name is first reco ...

family. The village's

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

church was built, in 1820, at the site of an earlier church and graveyard enclosure. The current

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church is dedicated to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception and opened in 1879. These churches are among seven buildings, in Ballingarry, included in the

Record of Protected Structures Conservation in the Republic of Ireland is overseen by a number of statutory and non-governmental agencies, including those with responsibility for Historic preservation, conservation of the built environment and Environmental protection, conservat ...

for County Limerick. Ballingarry had a significant weaving and linen industry until the Great Famine of the mid-19th century.

Sport

The local

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...

club,

Granagh-Ballingarry GAA Granagh-Ballingarry GAA () is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in west County Limerick, Ireland, within the jurisdiction of Limerick GAA. The club is situated near Knockfierna Hill, close to the villages of Granagh and Ballingarry, County ...

, is primarily involved in

hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...

and

camogie Camogie ( ; ) is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and worldwide, largely among Irish communities. A variant of the game "hurling" (which is played by men only), it is organised ...

. The club's hurling team won the

Limerick Intermediate Hurling Championship The Limerick Intermediate Hurling Championship is an annual hurling competition organised by the Limerick County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association for the third tier hurling teams in County Limerick, Ireland. The series of games are play ...

in 2023. The Granagh-Ballingarry camogie team won the

All-Ireland Senior Club Camogie Championship The All-Ireland Club Camogie Championship is a competition for club teams in the Irish women’s field sport of camogie. It is contested by the senior club champions of the leading counties and organised by An Cumann Camógaíochta. Trophy The t ...

in 1998, 1999 and 2003. The local

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

(soccer) club, Ballingarry A.F.C., won the Desmond League Premier Division in 2003/2004.

Notable people

* Anthony Forde (b.1993), footballer with

Wrexham A.F.C. Wrexham Association Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Wrexham, Wales. Formed in 1864, it is the oldest club in Wales and the third-oldest professional association football team in the world. The club compe ...

, is from the area. * Edward Joseph Hannan (1836–1891), priest and founder of Hibernian Football Club, was born in Ballingarry in 1836. * Patrick Walsh (1840–1899), a US Senator for

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, was born in Ballingarry in 1840. Appointed as a Democrat to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Alfred H. Colquitt; subsequently elected and served from April 1894 to March 1895.

References

Towns and villages in County Limerick {{Limerick-geo-stub

History

Sport

Notable people

See also

References