Ballymascanlan otherwise Ballymascanlon, is a small village and townland

Townland

A townland or bally is a small geographical division of land used in Ireland. The townland system is of Gaelic origin—most townlands are believed to pre-date the Norman invasion and most have names derived from the Irish language...

 in County Louth

County Louth

County Louth is a county of Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Louth. Louth County Council is the local authority for the county...

, Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

, situated 4 km north-east of Dundalk

Dundalk

Dundalk is the county town of County Louth in Ireland. It is situated where the Castletown River flows into Dundalk Bay. The town is close to the border with Northern Ireland and equi-distant from Dublin and Belfast. The town's name, which was historically written as Dundalgan, has associations...

 on the road to Carlingford

Carlingford, County Louth

Carlingford is a coastal town and townland in northern County Louth, Ireland. It is situated between Carlingford Lough and Slieve Foy, sometimes known as Carlingford Mountain...

.

History

The name Ballymascanlan means "town of the son of Scanlan": a reference to Scanlan, son of Fingin, chief of the Ui Méith, who died in 672. The Ui Méith were rulers of the kingdom of Oriel

Airgíalla

Airgíalla or Airgialla was the name of an Irish federation and Irish kingdom which first formed around the 7th century...

 until the Anglo-Norman period. An Ui Meith is credited with having defeated the Danes in Dundalk Bay

Dundalk Bay

Dundalk Bay is a large , exposed estuary on the east coast of Ireland.The inner bay is shallow, sandy and intertidal, though it slopes into a deeper area 2km from the transitional water boundary. It is predominantly influenced by the sea, though several rivers drain into the bay from the west...

 in 833. In 1185, during the Norman-English period, the district of Ballymascanlan as far north as Carrikarnon was donated by Hugh de Lacy to the Cistercian Abbey of Mellifont

Mellifont Abbey

Mellifont Abbey , located in County Louth, was the first Cistercian abbey to be built in Ireland.-Origins:Founded in 1142 on the orders of Saint Malachy, Archbishop of Armagh, Mellifont Abbey sits on the banks of the River Mattock, some ten km north-west of Drogheda.By 1170, Mellifont had one...

.

Following the dissolution of the monasteries

Dissolution of the Monasteries

The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...

 by King Henry VIII

Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...

 the lordship of Ballymascanlan was granted to Sir Edward Moore, ancestor of the Marquis of Drogheda. Sir Garrett Moore inherited the title and estates in 1600 and was a friend of Hugh O'Neill, the Earl of Tyrone, who was a frequent visitor to Mellifont and Ballymascanlon. It remained in the hands of the Moore family until the middle of the 18th century.

See also

• List of towns and villages in Ireland