| Ballylinan | |
| Native Name: | Irish: Baile Uí Laigheanáin |
| Native Name Lang: | ga |
| Settlement Type: | Town |
| Pushpin Map: | Ireland |
| Pushpin Label Position: | right |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Ireland |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Ireland |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | Leinster |
| Subdivision Type3: | County |
| Subdivision Name3: | County Laois |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Population Footnotes: | [1] |
| Population: | 1167 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Utc Offset1: | +0 |
| Timezone1 Dst: | IST (WEST) |
| Utc Offset1 Dst: | -1 |
| Coordinates: | 52.9436°N -7.0422°W |
| Blank Name: | Irish Grid Reference |
Ballylinan or Ballylynan [2] is a village in County Laois, about 3km (02miles) from the border with County Kildare in Ireland. The name means "Lynan's town", though exactly who Lynan was is now forgotten.
A 12-mile railway line linking Ballylinan to the nearby towns of Athy, County Kildare and Wolfhill, County Laois was opened in September 1918 by the British government during WW1 to aid the supply of coal. It was closed at the end of 1929 but the section connecting Ballylinan to Athy was retained for sugar beet traffic until 1963, when it was fully closed. Some of the trackbed still exists around the Athy area.[3]
Ballylinan is mainly a farmland area with no significant industrialisation, although the building of a number of housing developments has mirrored an increase in the area's population.[4] In the 14 years between the 2002 and 2016 census, the population of the town increased nearly three-fold, from 430 people to 1,101 inhabitants.
The town has a number of shops, a church, a Garda (police) station, school, garage, park, Pharmacy (just opened), and pub. Most of these are on the one road, the N78.[5]
Ballylinan GAA is the local Gaelic football club.
The National Ploughing Association is based in Ballylinan.