Lanesborough–Ballyleague

Lanesborough–Ballyleague (Irish: Béal Átha Liag),^[2] more commonly known simply as Lanesborough, is a town in the midlands of Ireland. Lanesborough is on the County Longford (east) side and Ballyleague on the County Roscommon (west) side of the River Shannon, at the northern tip of Lough Ree.

Lanesborough–Ballyleague is on the

The river Shannon divides the two towns. As a result, the two towns are in two separate provinces (Leinster on the east and Connacht on the west); two separate counties (Longford on the east and Roscommon on the west); two separate Roman Catholic Dioceses (Ardagh and Clonmacnoise on the east and Elphin on the west) ; and two separate Roman Catholic parishes (Rathcline on the east and, Kilgefin which consists of Ballyleague, Ballagh and Curraghroe on the west).

The original name of the town, Athliag, means Ford of Stones – derived from the flagstones placed across the river to assist the crossing.

The first real bridge was built around 1000AD by

A further bridge was built in 1667 and survived till 1690 when it was destroyed by Colonel O'Reilly to stop the Williamite army under General Kirk.

In 1701 a ferry carrying 46 people to the fair capsized and 35 drowned. Parliament was petitioned for a new bridge, and a stone bridge was erected in 1706, 300' long, 15' wide with 9 arches. It was demolished to provide a new bridge in 1844 which contained a swivel arch to allow large boats to pass through. This was removed in the 1960s and replaced by a concrete span in 1971.

Amenities

The Lanesborough–Ballyleague area is known for its sports fishing,^[

.

Sport

The two towns have separate Gaelic Athletic Association football teams: Rathcline and St Faithleachs.

Lanesborough also has an Annual Triathlon which consists of a 750 m swim, 22 km cycling and 5 km run. It is organised by Lanesboro Triathlon Club.

Sailing

It is recorded that a Town Regatta took place in 1927. This regatta provided races for yachts and dinghies including Dublin Bay Water Wags. Trophies won in this regatta still exist.

The annual regatta was reinstated in the 2000s and racing takes place for the traditional Shannon-One-Design dinghies over a weekend every September. This regatta does not include the rowing races which were traditionally a feature of regattas at the towns (such as Athlone or Carrick-on-Shannon) on the River Shannon.^{[citation needed]}

Economy

The

Electricity Supply Board and Bord na Móna are among the largest employers in the area.^{[citation needed]} In 2016, the "Taste of the Lakelands Food Festival" brought a crowd of 6000 visitors to the town with the intent to bring a new focus on food tourism and food production in the area.^{[citation needed}

]

Twin town

• Lanesborough, Massachusetts, United States

Public transport

The town is served by three Bus Éireann routes. Route 425 (Longford-Galway) provides a daily (except Sunday) service each way to/from Galway via Roscommon. Route 467 provides two additional journeys each way to/from Longford on Wednesday, and route 65 provides a journey each way to/from Galway and Cavan on Fridays and Sundays.^[4]

See also

• List of towns and villages in the Republic of Ireland
• Earl of Lanesborough

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lanesborough-Ballyleague.

1. ^ "Interactive Data Visualisations: Towns: Lanesborough–Ballyleague". Census 2022. Central Statistics Office. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
2. ^ "Béal Átha Liag / Lanesborough". logainm.ie. Irish Placenames Commission. Archived from the original on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
3. ^ Lanesborough Public Library
4. ^ "Christmas & New Year Travel Arrangements - Travel anywhere in Ireland by bus or coach with Bus Éireann e.g. Dublin, Cork, Galway, etc". Archived from the original on 29 December 2010. Archived 25 August 2013 at the Wayback Machine