Ballyglass

Ballyglass is a charming rural village in south Mayo, equidistant from the towns of Claremorris, Ballinrobe and Castlebar. Ballyglass - in Irish 'An Baile Glas' means the Green Village, indicative of the green fertile land in the area.

Facilities

Ballyglass boasts an impressive amount of facilities for a village of its size and population. These include a post office, shop and petrol station, 2 pubs, a national school, a creche & childcare facility, a garda station, a community centre and a football club.

Community Centre

Ballyglass Community Centre, formerly the National School - is a popular amenity for the area and is much used for a variety of community meetings and activities, card games, keep fit classes, Writers Club, Over 55's and more. A voluntary Community Council have worked hard over the years to foster and provide facilities for all members of the Ballyglass community. A tennis court has been developed, with the help of grant aid, at the back of the Community Centre and is open for use of the local community free of charge.

Ballyglass Heritage Club was founded in 2007 and actively promotes a number of vintage events annually including: a Vintage Show on the June Bank Holiday Sunday, a Tractor Road Run in August and a number of other Charity Runs during the year.

In bygone times, Ballyglass was a significant stopping post for the Bianconi cars which predated railways.

Continuing the tradition, overnight facilities for the popular horse drawn caravans are available locally.

Sport in Ballyglass

From as far back as the 1940's Ballyglass has been renowned for the spirit of sportsmanship existing within the community. The annual Ballyglass Sports were held annually on 'The Turlough' and were a much anticipated event locally and throughout many parts of the county. They later moved to a bigger sportsground and the 44th annual Sports took place on August 23 1995, after which there was a break for a number of years, until its revival again in 2010.

Soccer

Ballyglass enjoys a deserved reputation for excellence in soccer. Ballyglass FC was founded in 1975 and has gone from strength to strength over the years with splendid modern facilities today including a floodlit training pitch, an astro turf pitch, clubhouse and changing rooms, meeting and function rooms, storage shed and ample car parking.

• The official opening of the new Ballyglass FC grounds took place in 1989 by the then President of Ireland, Mary Robinson

• In 2009 the Club dedicated its pitch to one of its founding members - Michael Keaveney Park - the unveiling of the plaque was performed by President of the FAI, David Blood

History & Archaeology

There are many historical and archaeological sites of interest in the area including:

Bronze Age burial mound in Curlisduane

• 3 Turloughs - the main one in Carrowhall - steeped in natural history
• Ringforts
• Rosslee graveyard
• Old IRA monument
• Towerhill House
• Castlelucas Castle
• Old Garda Barracks and Jail
• RIC Barracks and Courthouse
• Bianconi Coaches stops
• Hedgeschool sites
• Congested District Board houses
• Mountpleasant House
• Summerhill House
• Within Easy Reach

Other notable historic features and places nearby include:

• Ballintubber Abbey
• Mayo Abbey
• Burriscarra Abbey
• Castlecarra Castle
• Church Island
• Lough Carra and Moorehall
• Croagh Patrick Heritage Trail
• Croagh Patrick
• Clogher Walks
• Eviction Cottage, Belcarra