Ballyhaunis

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Ballyhaunis
Béal Átha hAmhnais

Location

WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates:
53.7667° N 8.7667° W

Irish Grid Reference
M498794

Statistics

73 m

Population (2002)
- Town:
- Rural:

1,381
2,149

Ballyhaunis (Irish: Béal Átha hAmhnais) is a town in set in the landscape of grassy fields, lakes, and wild bog in County Mayo, Ireland. It is situated at the crossroads of national routes N60 and N83 and on the railway line connecting Dublin to Westport and Ballina.

It is thought that the town grew up around St Mary's Augustinian Friary, founded in 1348. The town and the surrounding hinterland is steeped in history and contains one of the highest concentrations of megalithic monuments in the West of Ireland.^{[citation needed]}

The population of Ballyhaunis today is about 2,000. The town is a mixed community where farming, private business and industry are the main sources of employment.

Over the years, Ballyhaunis has become a cosmopolitan area. Even prior to Ireland's recent period of economic growth, there were children of at least seven nationalities attending schools in the town. These included Pakistani, Syrian, Russian, English, Polish and Lithuanian. In recent times more nationalities have been attracted to Ballyhaunis, with immigrants from several countries in Africa and Eastern Europe now settled in the area. This is illustrated by the fact that, as well as two Catholic churches, the town is also home to Ireland's only purpose built mosque outside Dublin, which is the most westerly mosque in Europe. Much of the land in the town, "Tracts", are owned by the O'Connor family.