Ballybofey

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Town in County Donegal, Ireland

title: "Ballybofey" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["ballybofey", "towns-and-villages-in-county-donegal", "twin-cities"] description: "Town in County Donegal, Ireland" topic_path: "geography" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballybofey" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Town in County Donegal, Ireland ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

FieldValue
nameBallybofey
native_name
native_name_langga
settlement_typeTown
image_skylineBallybofey.jpg
image_captionThe N15 road passes through Ballybofey
pushpin_mapIreland
pushpin_label_positionright
pushpin_map_captionLocation in Ireland
subdivision_typeCountry
subdivision_nameIreland
subdivision_type1Province
subdivision_name1Ulster
subdivision_type3County
subdivision_name3County Donegal
subdivision_type4Main townland
subdivision_name4Ballybofey
unit_prefMetric
population_as_of2022
population_footnotes
population_total5,406
population_density_km2auto
timezone1WET
utc_offset1+0
timezone1_DSTIST (WEST)
utc_offset1_DST+1
coordinates
elevation_m30
blank_nameIrish Grid Reference
blank_info
website
::

| name = Ballybofey | native_name = | native_name_lang = ga | settlement_type = Town | image_skyline = Ballybofey.jpg | image_caption = The N15 road passes through Ballybofey | pushpin_map = Ireland | pushpin_label_position = right | pushpin_map_caption = Location in Ireland | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = Ireland | subdivision_type1 = Province | subdivision_name1 = Ulster | subdivision_type3 = County | subdivision_name3 = County Donegal | subdivision_type4 = Main townland | subdivision_name4 = Ballybofey | established_title = | established_date = | unit_pref = Metric | area_footnotes = | area_total_km2 = | population_as_of = 2022 | population_footnotes = | population_total = 5,406 | population_density_km2 = auto | timezone1 = WET | utc_offset1 = +0 | timezone1_DST = IST (WEST) | utc_offset1_DST = +1 | coordinates = | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = 30 | blank_name = Irish Grid Reference | blank_info = | website = | footnotes = |1821|1671 |1831|1515 |1841|1167 |1851|1297 |1861|1404 |1871|1349 |1881|1429 |1891|1219 |1901|1203 |1911|1189 |1926|1250 |1936|1198 |1946|1256 |1951|1274 |1956|1586 |1961|1878 |1966|1942 |1971|2214 |1981|2928 |1986|2964 |1991|2972 |1996|3047 |2002|3603 |2006|4176 |2016|4852 |2022|5406 |footnote={{cite book |last=Lee|first=J. J.| author-link =J. J. Lee (historian)|editor-last=Goldstrom|editor-first=J. M.|editor2-last=Clarkson |editor2-first=L. A.|title=Irish Population, Economy, and Society: Essays in Honour of the Late K. H. Connell |year=1981|publisher=Clarendon Press|location=Oxford, England |chapter=On the accuracy of the Pre-famine Irish censuses}}{{Cite journal | last = Mokyr | first = Joel | author-link = Joel Mokyr | last2 = Ó Gráda | first2 = Cormac | author2-link = Cormac Ó Gráda | title = New Developments in Irish Population History, 1700–1850 | journal = The Economic History Review | volume = 37 | issue = 4 | pages = 473–488 |date=November 1984 | url = http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120035880/abstract | archive-url = https://archive.today/20121204160709/http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120035880/abstract | url-status = dead | archive-date = 2012-12-04 | doi = 10.1111/j.1468-0289.1984.tb00344.x | hdl = 10197/1406 | hdl-access = free | url-access = subscription }} ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/McElhinneys_Ballybofey_-geograph.org.uk-_1376874.jpg" caption="McElhinney's Department Store"] ::

Ballybofey ( , ; ) is a town located on the south bank of the River Finn, County Donegal, Ireland. Together with the smaller town of Stranorlar on the north side of the River Finn, the towns form the twin towns of Ballybofey-Stranorlar. The twin towns, a census town, had a population of 5,406 in 2022.

History

A few miles west of Ballybofey, on the main road to Fintown (the R252), is the Glenmore Estate, located at Welchtown. The estate formerly included Glenmore Lodge, a country house that stood on the opposite, southern bank of the River Finn, near Glenmore Bridge. The house was originally built in the Georgian-style in the mid-to-late-18th-century. It was reworked for Sir William Styles in the neo-Tudor-style in the early 20th century. The house was demolished in the 1990s. The private estate is now known for its fishing and hunting.

The town grew rapidly in the 19th and 20th centuries. There are no schools or churches in the town of Ballybofey itself, with all these amenities lying either across the bridge in Stranorlar or outside the town limits. This is due to laws during plantation times when certain Catholic buildings were not allowed within a specified range of Protestant towns, in this case Stranorlar, though Stranorlar now has both a Roman Catholic and a Church of Ireland church. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Sculpture_at_Bridge,Ballybofey-geograph.org.uk-_967466.jpg" caption="'The Matrimony Tree' sculpture"] ::

Events

Ballybofey previously played host to an annual Twin Towns Festival. The last of these took place in August 2007.

The Balor Arts Centre is a 300-seat arts and theatre complex, and Butt Drama Circle is a local amateur drama group.

Sport

Ballybofey is home to Finn Park where League of Ireland side Finn Harps play their home games. Seán MacCumhaill Park is also located in Ballybofey, where the Donegal senior football team have their county office and play most of their home games.

Transport

Ballybofey railway station opened on 3 June 1895, but closed on 15 December 1947.

Bus Éireann routes 64 (Derry/Galway) and 480 (Ballybofey/Derry) pass through the town.

TFI Local Link route 264 (Ballyshannon/Letterkenny), 288 (Ballybofey/Derry) and 290 (Ballybofey/Letterkenny) all service the town.

The town is on the N15 road. The N15 has a junction with the N13 road in Stranorlar.

People

References

References

  1. (2016). "Sapmap Area – Settlements – Ballybofey-Stranorlar". [[Central Statistics Office (Ireland).
  2. "Census for post 1821 figures.". CSO.
  3. "The Online Historical Population Reports Website". Histpop.
  4. "Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency – Census Home Page". Nisranew.nisra.gov.uk.
  5. "Census Interactive Map – Towns: Ballybofey-Stranorlar". [[Central Statistics Office (Ireland).
  6. Rowan, Prof. Alistair. (1979). "Buildings of Ireland: North West Ulster.". Penguin Books.
  7. "Donegal Direct". Donegal Direct.
  8. "Balor Arts Centre {{!}} Donegal Diaspora".
  9. (2017-02-20). "Butt Drama Circle to perform Brian Friel classic".
  10. "Finn Harps website". Finn Harps F.C..
  11. "Sean Mac Cumhaills".
  12. "Ballybofey station". Railscot – Irish Railways.
  13. "Expressway Timetable Route 64, Galway - Derry - Bus Éireann - View Ireland Bus and Coach Timetables & Buy Tickets".
  14. "Bus Éireann Timetable Route 480, Derry - Donegal - Ballyshannon - Sligo - Bus Éireann - View Ireland Bus and Coach Timetables & Buy Tickets".
  15. "123968 SITT TT 264 Ballyshannon to Letterkenny 4pg DL".
  16. "426-288-Stranorlar-to-Derry-2.jpg".
  17. "290-988-Ballybofey-Cloghan-to-Letterkenny-TT.jpg".
  18. Reid, Colin W.. (2014). "'An Experiment in Constructive Unionism': Isaac Butt, Home Rule and Federalist Political Thought during the 1870s". [[The English Historical Review]].
  19. (24 March 2022). "Barnet sign John Dunleavy on loan from Wolves". BBC Sport.
  20. (12 October 2011). "Conal set to leave them laughing in TG4 series". [[Donegal Democrat]].
  21. (13 December 2023). "Oisín Gallen wins Gradam Shéamuis Mhic Géidigh". [[Ocean FM (Ireland).
  22. (10 February 2011). "Sad Passing of Brilliant Donegal Priest Who Became Professor Emeritus of Philisophy[sic] at Amercian[sic] University".
  23. "Joseph Barclay Pentland". Dictionary of Ulster Biography.
  24. (3 June 2021). "'When he said 'from Ballybofey, Donegal'... The legs went". Journal Media Ltd.
  25. (18 November 2021). "Amazing Mural of Jason Quigley Unveiled in Twin Towns".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

ballybofeytowns-and-villages-in-county-donegaltwin-cities