Ballymacnab (from meaning ''"son of the abbot / McNab's town"'') is a

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic orig ...

and

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

County Armagh County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...

. It is within the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

of Kilclooney, four miles south of the City of

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , " Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the ...

on the road towards

Newtownhamilton Newtownhamilton is a small town and civil parish in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It lies predominantly within Tullyvallan townland. The civil parish is within the historic barony of Fews Upper. In the 2011 Census it had 2,836 inhabitants. ...

. It is within the

Armagh City and District Council Armagh City and District Council was a district council in County Armagh in Northern Ireland. It merged with Banbridge District Council and Craigavon Borough Council in May 2015 under local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland to bec ...

area.

Geography and history

Local buildings and amenities include Saint Patrick's

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

Church, Foley primary school, and Ballymacnab Hall. The local pub, O'Toole's Bar, was originally used a

safe house A safe house (also spelled safehouse) is, in a generic sense, a secret place for sanctuary or suitable to hide people from the law, hostile actors or actions, or from retribution, threats or perceived danger. It may also be a metaphor. Histori ...

for

priests A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

and is over 200 years old. It was named Northern Ireland Pub of The Year in 2009. Seagahan Lake Reservoir is located to the east of the village, and includes the nearby dam and Seagahan Water Treatment Works.

Angling Angling is a fishing technique that uses a fish hook or "angle" (from Old English ''angol'') attached to a fishing line to tether individual fish in the mouth. The fishing line is usually manipulated via a fishing rod, although rodless techni ...

is permitted at the reservoir, subject to certain restrictions. In May 2008, Northern Ireland Water commenced a £6.6 Million project to upgrade water treatment technology and infrastructure at the plant in order for it to comply with a new EU directive on water quality. The closest settlements are Granemore to the west, Clady to the south, Corran to the south-west, Keady to the south-west, Armagh to the north and Mullaghbrac to the east. The townland was previously part of lands confiscated from Catholic landowners and thereafter ceded to the Earl of Charlemont during the

plantation of Ulster The Plantation of Ulster ( gle, Plandáil Uladh; Ulster-Scots: ''Plantin o Ulstèr'') was the organised colonisation ('' plantation'') of Ulstera province of Irelandby people from Great Britain during the reign of King James I. Most of the se ...

, for example James Caulfeild, 3rd Earl of Charlemont. The lands were worked by tenant farmers under the

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more ...

and con-acre system. The majority Catholic population of Ballymacnab was reduced by emigration in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Many of the emigrants settled in the west of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

and in particular,

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

The Troubles

For more information see The Troubles in Keady; The Troubles in Armagh and

Provisional IRA South Armagh Brigade The South Armagh Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) operated during the Troubles in south County Armagh. It was organised into two battalions, one around Jonesborough and another around Crossmaglen. By the 1990s, the South Ar ...

Culture

In common with much of County Armagh, the area is referred to in local history and folklore. One famous story concerns the ‘Bull’s Track’. This is a landmark at the junction of the main Armagh/Newtownhamilton road and the Ballymacnab Road that leads to Seagahan Dam. A large stone marks the spot where it is claimed a large black bull landed after having been flung from neighbouring Armaghbreague Mountain by an angry Saint Patrick, after the same bull had knocked down the church he was building in Armaghbreague for the third consecutive night. A mark which resembles the imprint of a Bull's Foot remains to this day, and recent refurbishment work to the landmark has attempted to highlight the Bull's Track as a tourist attraction.

Sport

Ballymacnab is home to

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by ki ...

club Ballymacnab Round Towers GAC, which plays its home games at Pairc na nGael. Ballymacnab is also home to the successful Saint Brenda's

camogie Camogie ( ; ga, camógaíocht ) 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 of hurling (which is played by men only ...

club.

References

Bibliography

* Connolly, S.J. (Ed); (2004). ''The Oxford Companion to Irish History''. . * Burrowes, J; (2003). ''Irish: The Remarkable Saga of a Nation and a City''. . * Coogan, T.P; (2002). ''Wherever Green Is Worn: The Story of the Irish Diaspora''. * Guinnane, T (1997). ''The Vanishing Irish: Households, Migration, and the Rural Economy in Ireland''. . * Sloan, W. Cummings & Devine (Eds) (1997). ''Employment Opportunities and Migrant Group Assimilation: the Highlanders and Irish in Glasgow, 1840-1900'' in ''Proc. Industry, Business & Society''.

External links

Ballymacnab Gaelic Football Club
- Official Site of the local GAA football club.
Saint Brenda's Ballymacnab Camogie Club
- Official Site of the local Camogie club.
Ballymacnab Community Development Association
- Local social, economic and cultural association.
Seagahan Lake Reservoir
- Discover Northern Ireland tourism webpage.

- Extracts from a book Entitled: Country Cracks: Old Tales from the County of Armagh by T. G. F. Paterson, curator of Armagh County Museum. {{authority control Villages in County Armagh Townlands of County Armagh