Baile Uí Laithín

Ballylaneen

Ballylaneen Baile Uí Laithín
Statistics
County:	County Waterford

Ballylaneen (Irish: Baile Uí Laithín) is a small village in County Waterford, Ireland, approximately halfway between the villages of Kilmacthomas and Bunmahon on a hill by the River Mahon.

Features

The village features a Catholic church (St. Annes, built in 1924), a bar (The Bally Inn) and St. Anne's Holy Well. The village was larger in the 19th century and was a parish of its own. It is now part of Stradbally parish. There was also a large mill east of the village on the river Mahon, whose ruin is still standing. There are two graveyards in Ballylaneen. The newer of the two, adjacent to St Anne's church has a flat horizontal tombstone commemorating Mark Anthony of Carrigcastle (1786 – 1 June 1867) who was an officer in the 19th century Royal Navy and served in the battle of Trafalgar. The old graveyard (rarely used nowadays) is outside the current village on the Kilmacthomas road. It is the burial place of the poet Tadhg Gaelach (see below). The village had a primary school, originally established under the British National School system. It was closed down in the 1950s, after which pupils from the area went to Seafield. The old school building is still there, adjacent to the old graveyard. The best-known teacher at the National School was Tomas Breathnach (Tom Walsh). While he taught in Ballylaneen, children from other school catchment areas attended, e.g. John Kiely of Stradbally (later FRCSI) and David Hill of Kilmacthomas (later MPSI). These children were in attendance around 1910.

People

It is the burial place of the poet . His stone is a flat upright monument with a curved top and a latin inscription on the front. The image on the right is the Irish translation of the Latin epitaph on the gravestone of Tadhg Gaelach. The original Latin epitaph was composed by the poet Donncha Rua mac Conmara (buried in Newtown, 4 miles away). The Irish translation on this black plastic plaque was done by Tom Walsh (see above), the teacher in Ballylaneen Old National School in early 1900s.

See also

Coordinates: 52°10′N 7°24′W / 52.167°N 7.4°W

Retrieved from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballylaneen