Ballylinan

{{Short description|Town in County Laois, Ireland}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox settlement |name = Ballylinan |native_name = {{lang|ga|Baile Uí Laigheanáin}} |native_name_lang = ga |settlement_type = Town |image_skyline = The_main_street_of_Ballylynan_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1431306.jpg |image_caption = Main Street |pushpin_map = Ireland |pushpin_label_position = right |pushpin_map_caption = Location in Ireland |subdivision_type = Country |subdivision_name = Ireland |subdivision_type1 = Province |subdivision_name1 = Leinster |subdivision_type3 = County |subdivision_name3 = County Laois |established_title = |established_date = |unit_pref = Metric |area_footnotes = |area_total_km2 = |population_as_of = 2022 |population_footnotes = <ref name="cso2022">{{cite web|title=Census 2022 - F1015 Population|work=Central Statistics Office Census 2022 Reports |publisher=Central Statistics Office Ireland |date=August 2023 |url=https://data.cso.ie/table/F1015 |access-date=16 September 2023 }}</ref> |population_total = 1167 |population_density_km2 = auto |timezone1 = WET |utc_offset1 = +0 |timezone1_DST = IST (WEST) |utc_offset1_DST = -1 |coordinates = {{coord|52.9436|-7.0422|dim:100000_region:IE|format=dms|display=inline,title}} |elevation_footnotes = |elevation_m = |blank_name = Irish Grid Reference |blank_info = {{iem4ibx|S644885}} |website = |footnotes = }} '''Ballylinan''' or '''Ballylynan''' ({{Irish place name|Baile Uí Laigheanáin}})<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.logainm.ie/1416670.aspx | publisher = Irish Placenames Commission | website = logainm.ie | title = Baile Uí Laigheanáin / Ballylynan | date = | accessdate = 25 January 2020 | archive-date = 25 December 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211225023357/https://www.logainm.ie/ga/1416670 | url-status = live }}</ref> is a town in County Laois, about {{convert|3|km|mi}} from the border with County Kildare in Ireland. The name means "Lynan's town", though exactly who Lynan was is now forgotten.

==Transport== A 12-mile railway line linking Ballylinan to the nearby towns of Athy, County Kildare and Wolfhill, County Laois was opened in September 1918 by the British government during WW1 to aid the supply of coal. It was closed at the end of 1929 but the section connecting Ballylinan to Athy was retained for sugar beet traffic until 1963, when it was fully closed. Some of the trackbed still exists around the Athy area. <ref>{{cite web |url=http://eiretrains.com/Photo_Gallery/Railway%20Stations%20B/Ballylinan/Irish%20Railway%20Stations.html |title=Railway Stations, Ballylinan |accessdate=15 August 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130122001038/http://eiretrains.com/Photo_Gallery/Railway%20Stations%20B/Ballylinan/Irish%20Railway%20Stations.html |archivedate=22 January 2013 }}</ref>

==Development and amenities== {{Historical populations |1991|431 |1996|406 |2002|430 |2006|754 |2011|1084 |2016|1101 |2022|1167 | footnote=<ref name="census2016">{{cite web|url = http://census.cso.ie/sapmap2016/Results.aspx?Geog_Type=ST2016&Geog_Code=8269D366-4B08-4A93-A813-B71B72D3D062 | publisher = Central Statistics Office | work = Census 2016 | title = Sapmap Area - Settlements - Ballylinan | date = April 2016 | accessdate = 25 January 2020 }}</ref><ref name="citypop">{{cite web | url = https://www.citypopulation.de/en/ireland/towns/laois/0119__ballylinan/ | publisher = | website = City Population | title = Ballylinan (Ireland) Census Town | accessdate = 25 January 2020 | archive-date = 25 January 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200125021748/https://www.citypopulation.de/en/ireland/towns/laois/0119__ballylinan/ | url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="cso2022"/> }} Ballylinan is mainly a farmland area with no significant industrialisation, although the building of a number of housing developments has mirrored an increase in the area's population.<ref>{{cite web|title=Laois residents raise concerns for their village ahead of meeting on County Development Plan|publisher=Laois Today|url=https://www.laoistoday.ie/2022/01/24/laois-residents-raise-concerns-for-their-village-ahead-of-meeting-on-county-development-plan/|date=January 2022|access-date=21 September 2023}}</ref> In the 14 years between the 2002 and 2016 census, the population of the town increased nearly three-fold, from 430 people to 1,101 inhabitants.<ref name="census2016"/><ref name="citypop"/>

The town has a number of shops, a church, a Garda (police) station, school, garage, park, Pharmacy (just opened), and pub. Most of these are on the one road, the N78.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://freepages.family.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mjbrennan/ballylynan.htm |title=Ballylinan, Co. Laois in 1967 |accessdate=15 August 2012 |archive-date=4 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120904095603/http://freepages.family.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mjbrennan/ballylynan.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

The National Ploughing Association is based in Ballylinan.

==Sport== Ballylinan GAA is the local Gaelic football club.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ballylinan/Baile Uí Laígheanaín |url=https://laoisgaa.ie/clubs/ballylinan/ |publisher=Laois GAA |access-date=6 December 2024}}</ref>

==People== *William Russell Grace (1832–1904), the first Roman Catholic mayor of New York and the founder of W. R. Grace and Company, was born in Ballylinan.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.irishmidlandsancestry.com/content/laois/people/grace_william-russell.htm |title=The Honourable William Russel Grace, Mayor of New York |accessdate=15 August 2012 |url-status=usurped |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100113125339/http://www.irishmidlandsancestry.com/content/laois/people/grace_william-russell.htm |archivedate=13 January 2010 }}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Towns and villages in County Laois Category:Townlands of County Laois