Ballineen and Enniskean

Etymology

Ballineen derives its name from the Irish, Béal Átha Fhínín, meaning 'mouth of Fineen's ford'.

Enniskean derives its name from the Irish, Inis Céin, meaning 'island of Cian'. It takes this name from Cian Maol Muadh, a member of the O'Mahony family and local chieftain. Cian married Sábh, the daughter of the High King of Ireland Brian Boru, and resided at Castlelands, Enniskean. The priest and antiquarian John O'Mahony, born locally in 1844, noted that the "Irish-speaking people of that district always pronounced the word as if written in English, 'Inniskayn'". Other Anglicised spelling variations include Enniskeen (used, for example, in some twentieth century census records). Enniskeane is commonly used in the name of the Roman Catholic parish, in the name of the local camogie club and routinely in Cork County Council publications.

The combined census town has been labelled by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) as Ballineen/Enniskean and Ballineen-Enniskean.

History

Ballineen belonged first to the Earls of Cork and later to the Earls of Bandon. Francis Bernard, 3rd Earl of Bandon improved the village in the mid-19th century by building a market house, courthouse, Wesleyan Chapel, Gothic church and two schools in the area. Ballineen held monthly fairs until the mid-1960s.

Samuel Lewis wrote in his A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, published in 1837, that the village of Inniskeen or Enniskeen was sacked by rebels in the Irish Rebellion of 1641. In 1690, during the Williamite War in Ireland, it was threatened by one of the leaders of the army of James II. The following year it was sacked by 1,500 Irish rebels, who set fire to it, and every house was destroyed except the houses occupied by the garrison, consisting of 44 men. The garrison held out until reinforcements arrived from Bandon that surprised the rebels, and 72 of them were killed in the pursuit. In the same year, 1691, it was fortified by Governor Cox, who placed a garrison of militia in the village.{{cite book|last=Lewis|first=Samuel|author-link= Samuel Lewis (publisher)|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_dDQE_stxs-AC/page/22/mode/2up|volume=II|year=1837|publication-place=London|publisher=S. Lewis & Co. 87, Aldersgate Street|title=A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland |via=the Internet Archive|page=22}}

The Church of the Immaculate Conception, in the parish of Enniskeane and Desertserges, of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cork and Ross, was built in 1871. Father Daniel Coveney had persuaded the then Duke of Devonshire to donate land for a new church. He donated £250 towards the costs of construction and gave 17 acres for the building of the church, a presbytery, stable, and grazing for the priest's horse.

Located about a half-mile apart, each village was served by separate train stations on the Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railway, which opened in 1866. These two separate train stations were closed and replaced with a combined station, Ballineen and Enniskean railway station, which opened in 1891. A number of businesses, including a flax mill, were built close to the station, on the road between the two villages, ultimately "joining" the two. Ballineen and Enniskean station closed in April 1961.

Demographics

In the 30 years between the 1981 and the 2011 census, the population of the census town of Ballineen-Enniskean increased from 548 to 700 people. As of the 2022 census, it had a population of 766.

Economy

The main employers in the area include a large Carbery Group cheese and ingredients factory approximately 2 km west of Ballineen on the R586 road, and Grainger's Sawmills in Enniskeane. The Grainger Group sawmill is one of the largest in Ireland, and the Carbery cheese plant at Ballineen is the "largest cheese-making facility" in Ireland and produces one quarter of all Irish-made cheese, including the Dubliner Cheese brand.

Amenities

The villages have a Gaelic Athletic Association club called St. Mary's GAA club and a camogie club called Enniskeane Camogie Club. The clubs have previously undertaken joint fundraising activities.

The local association football (soccer) club, Riverside Athletic, plays its home games in Ballineen.

People

• Fernand Auberjonois (1910–2004), Swiss-American journalist, had a cottage at Enniskeane
• John Caulfield (b.1964), American-born footballer and manager of Galway United F.C., played for St. Mary's GAA and lived in Enniskeane and Ballineen
• Fiona Everard (b.1998) Irish national champion runner, from Enniskeane
• Phil Healy (b.1994) Irish national sprinting champion, from Ballineen
• John O'Mahony (1844–1912), antiquarian and Roman Catholic priest from Enniskean
• Joe Walsh (1943–2014), politician and TD for Cork South-West, was born in Ballineen

References

References

1. "Census Interactive Map – Towns: Ballineen-Enniskean". [[Central Statistics Office (Ireland).
2. "Béal Átha Fhínín / Ballineen". [[Placenames Database of Ireland]].
3. Cork County Council. (19 July 2022). "Mayor, Cllr. Danny Collins Officially opens the Ballineen and Enniskeane Community Walkway".
4. "Dunmanway Integrated Development Strategy 2007". Dunmanway Inter-Agency Committee.
5. "The Twin Villages of Ballineen and Enniskean".
6. "Inis Céin / Enniskean". [[Placenames Database of Ireland]].
7. "Cork Village Of Ballineen 1978". RTÉ Archives.
8. O'Mahony, John. (1908). "A history of the O'Mahony septs of Kinelmeky and Ivagha". Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society.
9. O'Mahony, Jeremiah. (1961). "West Cork and Its Story". Kerryman.
10. O'Mahony, John. (1913). "History of the O'Mahony septs of Kinelmeky and Ivagha". Guy & Company.
11. "1961 Census - Table 15 - Alphabetical List of Towns, with Populations, 1961". Central Statistics Office.
12. National Library of Ireland. (September 1810 – February 1882). "Enniskeane, Diocese of Cork and Ross Marriages".
13. National Library of Ireland. "Parish of Enniskeane".
14. "West Cork Municipal District". Cork County Council.
15. (12 March 2020). "Cork County Development Plan Review - Population and Housing - Background Document No. 2". Cork County Council.
16. "1981 Census - Table 19 - Alphabetical list of Towns with their population in 1981". Central Statistics Office.
17. Diocese of Cork and Ross. "Parish of Enniskeane & Desertserges".
18. (7 February 2017). "Founded on faith in Mary: building Enniskeane Church".
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20. "Irish Railways". Railscot.
21. "Ballineen and Enniskean Railway Station, Derrigra, Ballineen, Cork". National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
22. link. "Ballineen-Enniskean (Ireland) Census Town"
23. Kelpie, Colm. (26 April 2013). "Timber firms merge for €50m operation". Independent News & Media.
24. Pogatchnik, Shawn. (23 April 2020). "Mozzarella next on menu as Carbery grows in Asia and US". Independent News & Media.
25. McCarthy, Kieran. (9 February 2021). "Dual player Jason Collins (29) steps up off the field to take over as St Mary’s GAA Club chairman". Southern Star.
26. (5 April 2017). "Meet West Cork's comeback kings". Southern Star.
27. Auberjonois, Fernand. (1998). "Ballade Irlandaise". Editions Metropolis.
28. Murphy, Éamonn. (22 December 2014). "Caulfield: I can't wait to get cracking again". Evening Echo.
29. O'Riordan, Ian. (20 November 2023). "The startling running progress of Fiona Everard". Irish Times.
30. McCarthy, Kieran. (13 August 2021). "Olympic hero Phil Healy is home!".
31. Woods, C. J.. (October 2009). "O'Mahony, John". Royal Irish Academy.
32. (9 November 2014). "Former Fianna Fáil minister Joe Walsh dies aged 71". Irish Times.