Ballintra
{{short description |Village in County Donegal, Ireland}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Use Irish English|date=May 2019}}
{{Infobox settlement
|name = Ballintra
|native_name = {{Native name|ga|Baile an tSratha|paren=omit}}
|settlement_type = Village
|image_skyline = File:ballintra.JPG
|image_caption = Ballintra's main street
|pushpin_map = Ireland
|pushpin_label_position = left
|pushpin_map_caption = Location in Ireland
|subdivision_type = Country
|subdivision_name = Ireland
|subdivision_type1 = Province
|subdivision_name1 = Ulster
|subdivision_type3 = County
|subdivision_name3 = County Donegal
|established_title =
|established_date =
|unit_pref = Metric
|area_footnotes =
|area_total_km2 =
|population_as_of = 2022
|population_footnotes = {{cite web | title = Census Interactive Map – Towns: Ballintra | url = https://visual.cso.ie/?body=entity/ima/cop/2022&boundary=C04160V04929&guid=b3bf5534-9bfb-4f14-a500-21f430528887 | work = Census 2022 | publisher = Central Statistics Office | access-date = 16 February 2025}}
|population = 242
|population_urban =
|population_density_km2 =
|timezone1 = WET
|utc_offset1 = +0
|utc_offset1_DST = -1
|coordinates = {{coord|54.5749|-8.1234|dim:100000_region:IE|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|elevation_footnotes =
|elevation_m =
|blank_name = Irish Grid Reference
|blank_info = {{iem4ibx|G917700}}
|website =
|footnotes =
}}
Ballintra ({{Irish place name|Baile an tSratha}}){{cite web | url = https://www.logainm.ie/en/1414060 | title = Baile an tSratha/Ballintra | publisher = Placenames Database of Ireland | website = logainm.ie | access-date = 22 February 2022}} is a village in the civil parish of Drumhome in the south of County Donegal, Ireland, just off the N15 road between Donegal town and Ballyshannon. Ballintra lies on the northern bank of the Blackwater river (sometimes referred to as the Ballintra River).{{cite web|url = https://www.logainm.ie/en/116047 | website = Logainm.ie | publisher = Irish Placenames Commission | title = Abhainn Bhaile an tSratha / Ballintra River | access-date = 26 October 2018 }} The river rises in the hills that lie inland from the town, and flows through a number of small lakes before spilling over a small waterfall in a gorge behind the village.{{Citation needed|date=October 2018}}
The Irish meaning of Ballintra, Baile an tSratha, means town by the low-lying land along a river, the village is situated close to Rossnowlagh and Murvagh beaches.
The village is situated in a limestone area, and there are a number of quarries in the area.{{cite web|url = https://www.npws.ie/sites/default/files/publications/pdf/CP000115.pdf | publisher = National Parks and Wildlife Service | website = npws.ie | title = Report on Ballintra cSAC (candidate Special Area of Conservation) | date = 2006 | access-date = 26 October 2018 }}
History
=Built heritage=
Evidence of prehistoric settlement in the area include a number of ringforts (for example in nearby Moneymore townland) and a megalithic wedge tomb (in Ballymagrorty townland).{{cite web|url = https://www.archaeology.ie/sites/default/files/media/pdf/Archaeology-RMP-Donegal-Manual-(1996)-0011.pdf | publisher = National Monuments Service | website = archaeology.ie | title = Recorded Monuments Protected under Section 12 of the National Monuments (Amendment) Act - County Donegal | date = 1996 | access-date = 1 September 2020 }}
Much of the village itself was laid-out in the late 18th and early 19th century, with the town's bridges dating from the 1780s and 1790s,{{cite web|url = https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/40849018/ballintra-bridge-ballintra-ballitra-ballintra-county-donegal | publisher = National Inventory of Architectural Heritage | website = buildingsofireland.ie | title = Ballintra Bridge, Ballintra, County Donegal | access-date = 1 September 2020 }}{{cite web|url = https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/40849014/ballintra-ballitra-ballintra-county-donegal | publisher = National Inventory of Architectural Heritage | website = buildingsofireland.ie | title = Bridge, Ballintra, County Donegal | access-date = 1 September 2020 }} and Ballintra's Anglican, Catholic and Methodist churches dating to 1795, 1845 and 1896 respectively.{{cite web|url = https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/40849004/ballintra-church-of-ireland-lismintan-ballintra-county-donegal | publisher = National Inventory of Architectural Heritage | website = buildingsofireland.ie | title = Ballintra Church of Ireland, Ballintra, County Donegal | access-date = 1 September 2020 }}{{cite web|url = https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/40849002/st-bridgets-catholic-church-ballyruddelly-ballintra-county-donegal | publisher = National Inventory of Architectural Heritage | website = buildingsofireland.ie | title = St. Bridget's Catholic Church, Ballintra, County Donegal | access-date = 1 September 2020 }}{{cite web|url = https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/40849007/ballintra-methodist-church-main-street-lismintan-ballintra-county-donegal | publisher = National Inventory of Architectural Heritage | website = buildingsofireland.ie | title = Ballintra Methodist Church, Main Street, Ballintra, County Donegal | access-date = 1 September 2020 }}
=Irish language decline=
The 1911 census records only a handful of people in Ballintra who were Irish speakers. In his paper "Irish Speaking in the Pre-famine Period", Dr. Garret Fitzgerald remarks that "near Ballintra the language seems to have disappeared by the time of the Famine. Around Ballyshannon it also seems to have been almost extinct".{{cite journal | last = Fitzgerald| first = Garret | year = 2003 | title = Irish-Speaking in the Pre-Famine Period: A Study Based on the 1911 Census Data for People Born before 1851 and Still Alive in 1911 | journal = Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy: Archaeology, Culture, History, Literature | volume = 103C | issue = 5 | pages = 191–283 | doi = 10.3318/PRIC.2003.103.1.191 | jstor = 25506198 | doi-access = free }} As late as 1960, up to a few dozen native Irish speakers remained in Tamhnach a' Mhullaigh (known in English as Townawilly or Tawnawully). The Irish scholar and campaigner Máirtín Ó Cadhain visited the area in 1957 to record folklore stories in Irish from a family in the area.{{citation needed|date=October 2017}}
=Developments=
The 2016 census indicates that approximately 35% of homes in Ballintra were built in the early 20th century or prior, with a further peak in building (20% of homes) built in the 1970s.{{cite web | url = http://census.cso.ie/sapmap2016/Results.aspx?Geog_Type=ST2016&Geog_Code=4A8B8C6F-3961-4289-AB6C-6B5186F91B68 | work = Census 2016 | title = Sapmap Area - Settlements - Ballintra | publisher = Central Statistics Office | date = April 2016 | access-date = 4 June 2018}} The latter includes a number of social housing units built by Donegal County Council in the 1970s.{{fact|date=September 2020}} Other developments include a bypass road built in the early 1980s.{{citation needed|date=October 2018}}
In the 20 years between the 1996 and the 2016 census, the population of the village decreased by 12%, from 217 to 191 residents.{{cite web|url = http://citypopulation.de/en/ireland/towns/donegal/0078__ballintra/ | website = citypopulation.de | title = Ballintra (Ireland) Census Town | access-date = 1 September 2020}}
Amenities
File:Church of Ireland, Ballintra - geograph.org.uk - 913408.jpg]]
Ballintra has one public house, a grocery store, a takeaway, a hairdresser, two primary schools (St. Ernan's NS and The Robertson NS),{{cite web|url = http://www.robertson.ie | publisher = Robertson NS | website = robertson.ie | title = Robertson National School website | access-date = 26 October 2018 }} and three churches (Methodist, Church of Ireland, and Roman Catholic).
Sport
The Ballintra Races is an annual horse race run on a field close to the nearby Murvagh beach.{{cite web|url = https://www.donegaldemocrat.ie/news/sport/263782/fantastic-day-of-racing-on-the-cards-at-the-ballintra-races.html | publisher = Donegal Democrat | website = donegaldemocrat.ie | title = Fantastic day of racing on the cards at the Ballintra Races | date = 6 August 2017 | access-date = 26 October 2018 }} Proceeds from the event go to support amenities in the area.{{cite web|url = http://www.donegaldemocrat.ie/news/local/ballintra_laghey_23_07_09_1_1994827 | title = Ballintra / Laghey Notes | website = donegaldemocrat.ie | archive-url = https://archive.today/20120801062451/http://www.donegaldemocrat.ie/news/local/ballintra_laghey_23_07_09_1_1994827 |archive-date=1 August 2012 | publisher = Donegal Democrat | date = 23 July 2009}}
The local Gaelic Athletic Association club is called Naomh Bríd (a club which also takes players from Laghey).{{cite web | url = http://naomhbrid.ie/club-location/ | title = Naomh Bríd Club Location | publisher = Naomh Bríd GAA Club | website = naomhbrid.ie | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180916225740/http://naomhbrid.ie/club-location/ | archive-date = 2018-09-16 | access-date = 2018-10-26 | url-status = live }} The local association football (soccer) club is called Copany Rovers (and also represents Laghey).{{fact|date=September 2020}}
Transport
Ballintra railway station opened on 21 September 1905, but finally closed on 1 January 1960.{{cite web | title=Ballintra station | work=Railscot - Irish Railways | url=http://www.railscot.co.uk/Ireland/Irish_railways.pdf | access-date=2007-09-10| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070926042407/http://www.railscot.co.uk/Ireland/Irish_railways.pdf| archive-date= 26 September 2007 | url-status= live}} The station was on the County Donegal Railways Joint Committee network.
By road, Ballintra lies just off the N15 national primary route from Lifford to Sligo.
People
- Saint Assicus is buried in Ballymagroarty, Ballintra. He was St Patrick's blacksmith and was en route from Elphin to County Down when he died{{cite web|url = https://www.elphindiocese.ie/st-asicus/ | publisher = Elphin Diocese | website = elphindiocese.ie | title = St Asicus | access-date = 26 October 2018 }}
- Leonard Boyle, a Canadian scholar, was born in Ballintra{{cite web|url = https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-the-rev-leonard-boyle-1121904.html | work = The Independent| title = Obituary: The Rev Leonard Boyle | date = 2 November 1999 | access-date = 26 October 2018 }}
- Matt Gallagher, Gaelic footballer, All-Ireland winner with Donegal in 1992, played with Laghey-Ballintra club Naomh Bríd{{cite web|url=http://www.hoganstand.com/Donegal/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=71468|title=Gallagher, Matt|publisher=Hogan Stand|website=hoganstand.com|date=17 July 1992|access-date = 20 February 2019 }}
- Thomas Morrow, who became a politician in New South Wales, was born in Ballintra{{Cite NSW Parliament |id=1463 |name=Mr Thomas Howard Morrow (1888-1971) |former=Yes |access-date=23 June 2019}}
- David Walsh, inter-county Gaelic footballer, All-Ireland winner with Donegal in 2012, is a native of Ballintra{{cite web |url = https://www.pressreader.com/ireland/the-kerryman-south-kerry-edition/20140917/282303908343034 | publisher = Independent News & Media | work = The Kerryman | via = pressreader.com | title = Donegal Players Profile | date = 17 September 2014 | quote = David Walsh [,] The Ballintra native, who was once on Luton Town's books, first appeared for Donegal as a 25-year-old }}