Welcome to Ballina!
Ballina in County Tipperary, in spite of its small size, has accommodations available to visitors, including a bed and breakfast and a hotel that are both perfect places to stay in this scenic part of Ireland.
Top Hotels
Downhill House Hotel & Eagles Leisure Centre Ballina
The Downhill House Hotel is a family-run hotel set in its own magnific...
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Downhill Inn Ballina Ballina
The Downhill Inn is amongst Mayo’s gems. Priding itself on offering va...
» more info- Downhill House Hotel & Eagles Leisure Centre Ballina
The Downhill House Hotel is a family-run hotel set in its own magnific...
» more info
Ballina (Irish: Béal an Átha, which means “mouth of the ford”) is a small village that sits on the River Shannon in the Irish county of Tipperary. On the eastern shore of Lough Derg, the third largest lake in Ireland, Ballina in County Tipp is not to be confused with the Ballina in County Mayo, perhaps the more famous of the two towns. So too make sure you don’t confuse the Lough Derg on the Shannon with the other Lough Derg in County Donegal, which is a smaller lake but famed for the pilgrimages held there.
A Brian Boru Festival is held in early July in the town. Boru was the High King of Ireland who lost his life at the Battle of Clontarf in Dublin in the eleventh century. The festival has community based games such as hurling, a sport of Gaelic origins.
The sister town of Ballina is Killaloe, in County Clare, on the western side of the lake. The twin towns are linked via a bridge across the lake. The bridge itself had no form of traffic control for vehicles for a long time, and while cars could pass with relative ease, trucks and goods vehicles could not get passed each other. This resulted in a traffic lights system to be introduced across the bridge. Naturally, at rush hour it leads to some delays, but safety and traffic flow in general has been ameliorated somewhat. Due to preservation orders on the current bridge, expansion of its width is not allowed. Plans have been put in place to build a new bridge. North Tipperary County Council has sought tenders from contractors for the new bridge to be designed and built.
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Achill Golf Club
Achill Island, Co. Mayo
Achill Island, on Ireland's wild Atlantic coast, boasts a 9-hole links course in a spectacular location on the sandybanks in Keel. This golf course is open to the public, with reasonable green fees and also a weekly rate available for holiday makers.
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Ballina Golf Club
Ballina, Co. Mayo
18 hole parkland course close to Ballina Town. Very scenic. Green fees welcome. Membership available.
- Tel: +353 (0)96 21050
- Email: ballinagc@eircom.net
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Ballinrobe Golf Club
Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo
18 hole scenic parkland golf course will offer a challenge to any golfer with its mature trees, man-made lakes, lush fairways and traditional stone walls. Designed by Eddie Hackett, Ballinrobe looks like a golf course that has been in existence for 100 years.
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Ballyhaunis Golf Club
Co. Mayo
Hilly 9 hole course
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Carne Golf Club
Belmullet, Co. Mayo
Mayo's premier links course, located on the Mullet peninsula, just 2.5 km from Belmullet.
- Tel: +353 (0)97 82292
- Email: carngolf@iol.ie
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Castlebar Golf Club
Co. Mayo
18 hole parkland course
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Claremorris Golf Club
Claremorris, Co. Mayo
A splendid new 18 hole Parkland Course set amongst the ancient oak, elm and ash trees. Green fees €23 (week day).
- Tel: +353 (0)94 71527
- Email: claremorrisgc@ebookireland.com
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Clew Bay Golf Club
Clew Bay, Co. Mayo
Clew Bay 9-hole Golf Course is open to the public and plays 2,500 metres, Par 35. The Golf Course is located in an area of outstanding scenic grandeur with magnificent panoramic views of Clew Bay, its islands and Croagh Patrick.
- Tel: +353 (0) 98 41730
- Email: clewbaygc@eircom.net
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Cross Par 3 Golf Course
Cross, Co. Mayo
Mayo's Premier Par 3 Golf Course. Tranquil Country setting. Historic site. Excellent facilities.
- Tel: +353 (0)92 46203
- Email: dowagh@iol.ie
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Mulranny Golf Club
Co. Mayo
9 hole course
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Swinford Golf Club
Co. Mayo
9 hole parkland course
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Westport Golf Club
Clew Bay, Co. Mayo
Renown 18 Hole championship parkland course. Located amongst the panoramic scenery of Clew Bay, in the shadow of Croagh Patrick, and is an outstanding example of Hawtree design. Westport has hosted the Irish Close and Ladies Home Internationals, among others.
- Tel: +353 (0)98 28262
- Email: wpgolf@eircom.net
Mayo Tourist Attractions
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Ballintubber Abbey - Claremorris
This 13th century abbey is unique, not only is it the only church in Ireland still in use which was founded by an Irish King, but it is also the one Irish church where for over 781 years Mass has been offered without a break. Its story is graphically told in a video documentary on show at the abbey. Founded in 1216 by the last King of Connaught, Cathal Crovdearg O'Connor, for the Canons Regular of St. Augustine order, the Abbey had large tracts of land in the district until the dissolution of the Monasteries by King Henry VII. Retreats, pilgrimages and tours are available today. The Celtic Furrow Visitors Centre provides guided tours of the region, tracing 5,000 years of Irish culture.
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Croagh Patrick - Westport - Westport
The Pilgrimage mountain of Croagh Patrick is located close to Wesport town. In 441 AD St. Patrick reached the summit of Croagh Patrick and fasted for 40 day. St. Patrick is also noted for banishing the snakes from Ireland. A wonderful experience and challenge on a fine day. Spectacular view of County Mayo. For info on Guided Tours of Croagh Partick
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Doon - Archaeological Nature Peninsula - Cong
A designated Area of Scienific Interest, Accredited a National Heritage Area. Doon Promontory Fort, on Lough Carra, with sites from Late Bronze Age, enclosed in a spectacular landscape of mountain, lake and woodland, is one of the largest identified site of its type in Ireland. A self-guided Tour along a woodland trail from our earliest ancestors, through Bronze Age (2,000 B.C.), Iron Age (300 B.C.), Early Christian and Norman Times. A town noted for the filming of the Quiet Man, with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara. Many connections with the Quiet Man are on show. Also the location of Ashford Castle, a high quality hotel with private golf course.
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Kiltimagh Museum - Kiltimagh
In the 1980s the Historical Society acquired the old Goods Store of Kiltimagh Railway Station and turned it into a Museum. Two old Railway Carriages were acquired to commemorate the thousands of our people who had had to emigrate, and these were incorporated into the Museum. Now the Museum houses many artifacts from our past, such as the Land League Banner, buried for safety in a bog for forty years, the instruments of the 19th century town band, items from Kiltimagh Lace School, Railway artifacts and many other items reflecting different aspects of our past.
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Michael Davitt Museum - Foxford
The Michael Davitt Museum and the adjoining community centre were opened at Straide on 23 April 1984 to honour its native son, 'the father of the Land League' and one of Ireland's greatest patriots. Michael Davitt (1846-1906) was the founder, chief organiser and inspiring genius of the Land League, the biggest mass movement in modern Irish history, which transformed tenant-farmers into owner-occupiers by constitutional means.
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Museum of Country Life - Castlebar
Turlough Park, Almost 200,000 visitors in first year of business. Complete with restaurant. Here you can immerse yourself in the lives of our rural ancestors from the mid - 19th to the mid - 20th centuries. Lifestyles which were established for several hundred years came to an end well into living memory, and here amidst furniture and fittings, the tools they used to work the land and the clothes and textiles they wore, you can reach out and touch those vanished lives.Turlough Park is the site of the first de Burgo castle and the impressive High Victorian Gothic style house was built in 1865 by the Fitzgeralds, who farmed the surrounding land. Today the museum offers guided tours, an audio - visual exhibition, lectures, workshops, special events, family days, a museum shop & cafe.
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Quiet Man Film Locations - Cong
County Galway has several locations which were used in the making of the file. The Quiet Man. Visit the main film locations in an organised tour or join the Quiet Man Fan Club.
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The Marian Shrine - Knock
Our Lady's Shrine Knock, is one of the great Marian shrines of the world, attracting over 1,500,000 visitors annually. It is an oasis of peace, tranquility and deep spirituality where many who come to see, remain to pray and find reconciliation. Knock is the scene of the apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Joseph and St. John on 21 August 1879, witnessed by fifteen local people.
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The Tóchar Valley - Westport
A beautiful area of rural communities stretching from Balla to Murrisk, at the foot of Croagh Patrick, "Ireland's Holy Mountain". Steeped in antiquity, the unspoiled countryside is liberally sprinkled with churches, Celtic artifacts and historical sites. The Tóchar Phádraig pilgrim route, which links these townlands and villages for a distance of 55km., is the ancient pilgrim pathway to Croagh Patrick.
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Westport Zoo - Westport
Westport, a tourist town with wildlife park and zoological gardens.
Heritage Sites
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Céide Fields - Ballina
Ballycastle - 8 miles from Ballins. Beneath the wild boglands of North Mayo lies Ceide Fields, the most extensive stone age monument in the world; field systems, dwelling areas and megalithic tombs of 5,000 years ago. In addition, the wild flora of the bog is of international importance and is bounded by some of the most spectacular rock formations and cliffs in Ireland. The Visitor Centre houses displays and exhibitions in English and Irish.
