BALLYNAHINCH, NIR - Postcode - BT24 7FS

Description of Ballynahinch

Ballynahinch is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. Its name, derived from the Irish for "settlement on the island/water-meadow," is Baile na hInse. In the most recent count, from 2011, there were 5,703 people living there.

Ballynahinch's market, which has been held in the town square every Thursday for centuries, is one of the few remaining remnants of the town's original purpose. You may find this city in close proximity to Newcastle on the major A24 highway that connects Belfast and Clough. Among the town's amenities is a recreation center. Redevelopment of the city and its neighboring Spa and Drumaness neighborhoods have been the focus of a recently established committee.

History of Ballynahinch

The McCartan family had ruled the lands around Ballynahinch since before the 17th century. Patrick McCartan, a Catholic military officer, overran a stronghold at Downpatrick held by the Parliamentarians during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Following his capture and execution in 1653, McCartan's estate was sold to Sir George Rawdon, a friend of Sir William Petty, and a member of the Parliament. Before his death in 1678, Petty leased his share of the former McCartan estates that Rawdon had purchased; Rawdon then developed the town of Ballynahinch with a market square and ordered the construction of two gristmills on the estate. King Charles II of England awarded Ballynahinch a royal patent in 1683 authorizing the town to organize two annual fairs on the first of February and the last day of June. 

Since the influx of people from lowland Scotland, Ballynahinch has flourished as a marketplace where goods such as livestock, corn, potatoes, and increasingly flax are traded. Montalto House in Ballynahinch was purchased by Sir John Rawdon, a descendant of Sir George and the current Earl of Moira. The estate and town both benefited greatly from his efforts to expand the linen trade and build Ballynahinch Market House. By the end of the 1800s, the market was bringing in about £300 per week in revenue, and the town as a whole was thriving. 

In 1798, a group calling themselves the Society of United Irishmen began a rebellion. After starting in Leinster, it rapidly expanded to Ulster. In 1791, a group of liberal Protestants in Belfast formed what would become known as the United Irishmen. It sought to bring together Catholics and Protestants in order to establish a secular republic in Ireland. Many of its leaders and members in northwestern Ulster were Protestant, even though the majority of its members were Catholic. On June 12, 1798, a government army led by George Nugent attacked around 4,000 United Irishmen stationed at Ballynahinch, beginning the Battle of Ballynahinch. It took a whole day of cannon fire from Nugent's forces to force the United Irishmen to evacuate from the town. As a result, 63 homes in Ballynahinch and the surrounding area were destroyed by the occupying troops' fires. Henry Munro, leader of the United Irishmen, was betrayed, imprisoned, and executed soon after. In 1802, David Ker Esq. purchased Montalto and Ballynahinch and began developing the medicinal spa wells located about two miles outside of town to cater to the growing trend of "taking the waters" among wealthy travelers. After that, the town grew even larger. In the middle of 1920, the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) barracks in Ballynahinch were bombed by the Irish Republican Army (IRA). On October 16, 1986, the Ulster Freedom Fighters murdered Catholic civilians Terence Mullan, age 31, and Kathleen Mullan, age 79, in their home on Dromore Road in Ballynahinch. In December of 1996, then-British Prime Minister John Major paid a visit to the town of Ballynahinch. Montalto Estate, Montalto House, and The Carriage Rooms are located in Ballynahinch. The latter was the location chosen by Disney for The Lodge.