Balla is a village in County Mayo

County Mayo

County Mayo is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the village of Mayo, which is now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county is 130,552...

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 on the N60 National secondary road

National secondary road

A national secondary road is a category of road in Ireland. These roads form an important part of the national route network, but are secondary to the main arterial routes which are classified as national primary roads. National secondary roads are designated with route numbers higher than those...

, the main road between Castlebar

Castlebar

Castlebar is the county town of, and at the centre of, County Mayo in Ireland. It is Mayo's largest town by population. The town's population exploded in the late 1990s, increasing by one-third in just six years, though this massive growth has slowed down greatly in recent years...

 and Claremorris

Claremorris

Claremorris , is a town in County Mayo in the west of Ireland, at the junction of the N17 and the N60 national routes. The population of Claremoris in the 2011 Census was 3,979....

. The economy of the village survives mainly on passing trade, from the busy N60 which carries over 7,000 vehicles through the village every day. The village is to be bypassed when the new Castlebar-Claremorris road is constructed. Balla has only one street. It is notable for its round tower

Irish round tower

Irish round towers , Cloigthithe – literally "bell house") are early medieval stone towers of a type found mainly in Ireland, with three in Scotland and one on the Isle of Man...

. It formerly was a significant shop and market centre. In recent decades it fell into decline and lost its railway station, but has enjoyed something of a revival as a residential area for people working in Castlebar.
In early times the village was known as 'Ros Dairbhreach', meaning 'The Height of the Oak Wood'. The continuing importance of the oak to the local community is reflected in the appropriately named "Dawn Oak 2000" project. At the beginning of the millennium, 2000 oak trees were planted, creating a new wood in Balla's town park.

The founder of the local monastery appears to have been Mo Chua

Mo Chua

Mo Chua of Balla was an early Irish Christian, who lived around the year 500.Mo Chua is credited with the founding on the monastic settlement at Balla, and was among the first or second generation of Irish Christian Evangelist, active in Connacht in between about 480 and 520.His genealogy is given...

 (fl. c. 500

500

Year 500 was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Patricius and Hypatius...

). Tradition has it that Saint Patrick

Saint Patrick

Saint Patrick was a Romano-Briton and Christian missionary, who is the most generally recognized patron saint of Ireland or the Apostle of Ireland, although Brigid of Kildare and Colmcille are also formally patron saints....

 himself had rested in Balla.

Transport

Balla railway station

Balla railway station

Balla railway station served the village of Balla in County Mayo, Republic of Ireland.-History:Opened by the Great Northern and Western Railway, the station was then nationalised, passing on to the Coras Iompair Éireann as a result of the which took effect from 1 January 1945.-The site...

 opened on 17 December 1862, but closed to passenger traffic on 17 June 1963, finally closing altogether on 2 December 1974.

See also

• List of towns and villages in Ireland