In 1606, Sir Thomas Coatch was granted the right to hold a market and fair in the village. The Ballinakill Cattle Fair continued until 1963.[3] In 1611, Ballinakill was acquired by Sir Thomas Ridgeway who invested heavily by building a castle and developing the local area.[4] From 1613 until the Acts of Union, the town was a parliamentary borough, electing two members to the Irish House of Commons.[5]
The town was besieged and plundered by Irish rebels, including the Earl of Castlehaven and Lord Mountgarret, during the 1641 Rebellion. When the castle and town surrendered much was robbed, including cattle, sheep and cloth. Remarkably, this information survives to us through an account from a native American Patagonian from present day southern Argentina/Chile 'but now a Christian' who had been a servant to Captain Richard Steele for twenty years and lived in Ballinakill.[6][dead link]
Landmarks
The gardens of the Heywood Estate lie just north of Ballinakill
The town square features a monument to men who died in the 1798 rebellion. The monument was erected in 1898. In 1998 a ceremony was held in Ballinakill to mark the bicentenary of the deaths.[citation needed]
A daily Town Link service, operated by Slieve Bloom Coaches, routes through the village between Portlaoise and Borris-in-Ossory.[citation needed] There is also a daily TFI Local Link service, route 822, from Mountrath to Carlow.[citation needed]
Recreation
Ballinakill has an outdoor swimming pool which is operated seasonally from June to September, Masslough lake on the edge of the village, and a playground which opened in 2022.[9][10]
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