Ballaghnatrillick Explained

Ballaghnatrillick
Native Name:Irish: Béal Átha an Trí Liag
Native Name Lang:ga
Settlement Type:Village
Pushpin Map:Ireland
Pushpin Label Position:right
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Ireland
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:Ireland
Subdivision Type1:Province
Subdivision Name1:Connacht
Subdivision Type3:County
Subdivision Name3:County Sligo
Unit Pref:Metric
Population Density Km2:auto
Utc Offset1:+0
Timezone1 Dst:IST (WEST)
Utc Offset1 Dst:-1
Coordinates:54.4033°N -8.4042°W
Elevation M:140
Blank Name:Irish Grid Reference

Ballaghnatrillick ([1]), locally Ballintrillick, is a village in County Sligo, Ireland.

Local attractions include the three stones (from which the village gets its name).[2] It also has a church dedicated to St Brigid. Ballintrillick, as the area is locally known, was once one of the main sources for the mineral barytes in western Europe. It is approximately 20 minutes north from Sligo.

Mining

The carboniferous uplands of the Dartry mountain range have been associated with the mining of barytes ore for more than 120 years. Barytes ore is a very heavy inert mineral which makes it useful for products such as paints and pottery and its inertness the fact it blocks radiation makes it useful in nuclear power stations. The first recorded barytes mining operation in Ballintrillick was in 1858. Between then and 1979, six separate companies worked the ore. While there are deposits remaining, they are currently viewed as uneconomic to mine. The ore was transported by the use of a narrow gauge railway to the nearby fishing village of Mullaghmore from where much of the ore was exported.[3]

References

  1. A. D. Mills, 2003, A Dictionary of British Place-Names, Oxford University Press
  2. Jackie Warnock,2004, The Ballintrillick Bulletin
  3. Gerry Foley,2009, Barytes Mining in Benbulbin