|
Ballinafad is
a picturesque village in south east Sligo. It has a lovely setting
between the foothills of the Curlew Mountains and the shores of
Lough Arrow. The ruins
of a small castle are to found in the village. Known as the Castle
of the Curlews, it was built around 1590 to protect the pass over
the Curlew Hills. Although dating from the16th century the castle is
modelled on those of 13th century castles, with a small central
square block dwarfed by four massive towers at the corners which are
round on the outside and square inside.
Lough Arrow is one of the few limestone lakes in Connaught andd
measures 3,123 acres. The lake contains four main islands named
Anaghgonda, Inismore, Inisbeg and Much Island. Lough Arrow is one of
the great Irish trout fishing loughs where the trout average 1.5 lb
and fish to 6lb and 7lb are taken on fly annually. There is good
public access at Brick pier on the east Ballinfad pier. Open Season
is 1st April to 30th September.
Just north of Ballinafad is the Carrowkeel Megalithic Cemetery.
Carrowkeel is one of the four main megalithic cemetery sites in
Ireland. The other three are Carrowmore (also in Sligo), the Boyne
Valley and Loughcrew (both in Meath). These tombs here predate the
pyramids and are roughly 5500 years old. The Carrowkeel hill top
passage tomb cemetery consists of 14 passage cairns identified with
letters. Most of the cairns are round in shape except cairn E, which
is a long oval shape and consists of a Court tomb forecourt and
cruciform passage grave.
Ambrose O'Higgins, who became governor of Chile and viceroy of Perú,
was born in the Ballinafad area. Ambrose was father of Bernardo
O'Higgins, leader of South American emancipation.
|
Home
Ballinafad Holiday Homes - County Sligo, Ireland
