Ballinamallard or Bellanamallard is a small village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 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 Fermanagh

County Fermanagh

Fermanagh District Council is the only one of the 26 district councils in Northern Ireland that contains all of the county it is named after. The district council also contains a small section of County Tyrone in the Dromore and Kilskeery road areas....

, Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

. It had a population of 1,340 people in the 2001 Census

United Kingdom Census 2001

A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....

. It lies to the north of Enniskillen

Enniskillen

Enniskillen is a town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is located almost exactly in the centre of the county between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 13,599 in the 2001 Census...

 and is within the Fermanagh District Council

Fermanagh District Council

Fermanagh District Council is a local council in Northern Ireland. The borders of the district are very similar to those of the traditional County Fermanagh, containing all of that county plus a small section of County Tyrone in the Dromore Road and Kilskeery Road areas. Council headquarters are...

 area.

The village has won several "best kept village" titles, and has a fountain to mark the honour. There has been only one local primary school: Ballinamallard Controlled Primary School, since the other, Shanmullagh Primary School, closed in August 2008.

History

In the early 20th century, thousands of Cooneyites

Cooneyites

The Cooneyites are a Protestant sect which split from the Two by Twos, originally called "the Tramps" or "the Go-Preachers" founded by William Irvine, often referred to today as "The Truth" or "Cooneyites". References to the term "Cooneyites" prior to 1928 refer to the group described under Two by...

 or "Dippers", followers of Edward Cooney

Edward Cooney

Edward Cooney was an Irish evangelist from the 1890s to the 1950s. He became one of the early leaders of a church founded by William Irvine. Because of his colorful style and public preaching, his name came to be associated with the entire movement...

 and William Irvine

William Irvine (Scottish evangelist)

William Irvine was an evangelist from the late nineteenth century, and continuing through the first half of the twentieth century.Mr. Irvine was born in Kilsyth, located in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, the third of eleven children of a miner...

, flocked to religious conventions at Crocknacrieve House near Ballinamallard. Converts were baptised by immersing them in Lough Erne

Lough Erne

Lough Erne, sometimes Loch Erne , is the name of two connected lakes in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. The lakes are widened sections of the River Erne. The river begins by flowing north, and then curves west into the Atlantic. The southern lake is further up the river and so is named Upper...

 or tributary rivers, events which attracted large crowds and international attention.

Economy

Many family businesses are located in Ballinamallard. In the 1970s the Development Association initiated some useful projects. The old Great Northern Railway

Great Northern Railway (Ireland)

The Great Northern Railway was an Irish gauge railway company in Ireland.The Great Northern was formed in 1876 by a merger of the Irish North Western Railway , Northern Railway of Ireland, and Ulster Railway. The Ulster Railway was the GNRI's oldest constituent, having opened between Belfast and...

 station was restored to become the Rascal’s Playstation, a purpose-built child care centre, while the Commons was transformed into a children’s playground and industrial units were established on the Enniskillen road.

Ballinamallard’s best known family are the Fishers, whose firm, Fisher Engineering, has brought substantial employment to the village. The company, which specialises in agricultural engineering and building construction, was founded by the late Thomas Fisher when he returned from World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Today Fishers are one of the foremost steel construction firms in the British Isles

British Isles

The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...

 servicing such projects as the Waterfront Hall

Waterfront Hall

The Waterfront Hall is a multi-purpose facility, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, designed by local architects' firm Robinson McIlwaine. Practice partner Peter McGukin was the project architect....

 and the Odyssey Arena, both in Belfast

Belfast

Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

.

Transport

Ballinamallard railway station opened on 19 August 1854, but was finally closed on 1 October 1957.

Sport

• The village is the home of Ballinamallard United
  Ballinamallard United
  Ballinamallard United is an intermediate, Northern Irish football club playing in IFA Championship 1. The club, founded in 1975, hails from Ballinamallard, near Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, and plays its home matches at Ferney Park. During 2008–09 and the first part of 2009–10, it played at Holm...
  
  , which plays in the Irish Football League 1st Division. Roy Carroll
  Roy Carroll
  Roy Eric Carroll is a Northern Irish footballer who is currently playing for Greek Superleague club OFI Crete. He is a goalkeeper and is best known for his spells at Wigan Athletic and Manchester United, where he won the 2004 FA Cup...
  
  , a former Manchester United goalkeeper used to play for Ballinamallard United.
• The area is particularly noted for its trout
  Trout
  Trout is the name for a number of species of freshwater and saltwater fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the family Salmonidae. Salmon belong to the same family as trout. Most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water...
  
   fishing, with Erne
  River Erne
  The River Erne , in the northwest of Ireland, rises in Beaghy Lough, two miles south of Stradone in County Cavan and flows 64 miles through Lough Gowna, Lough Oughter and Upper and Lower Lough Erne, County Fermanagh, to the sea at Ballyshannon, County Donegal...
  
   tributaries flowing through and around the village.
• Birthplace of Circuit of Ireland Rally
  Circuit of Ireland Rally
  The Circuit of Ireland International Rally is an annual automobile rally, which was first held in 1931 making it the second oldest rally in the world. The most recent event was held in 2010....
  
   driver Bertie Fisher

People

• Writer Rudyard Kipling
  Rudyard Kipling
  Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
  
  , former United Kingdom
  United Kingdom
  The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
  
   Prime Minister
  Prime minister
  A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
  
  , Stanley Baldwin
  Stanley Baldwin
  Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC was a British Conservative politician, who dominated the government in his country between the two world wars...
  
   and noted painter, Sir Edward Burne-Jones
  Edward Burne-Jones
  Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet was a British artist and designer closely associated with the later phase of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, who worked closely with William Morris on a wide range of decorative arts as a founding partner in Morris, Marshall, Faulkner, and Company...
  
   all trace their heritage directly back to Ballinamallard native, Rev. James McDonald who himself was a pioneer Methodist minister and contemporary of John Wesley
  John Wesley
  John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
  
  
• In August 1998, Queen Elizabeth II was welcomed in Ballinamallard after visiting the site of the Omagh bombing
  Omagh bombing
  The Omagh bombing was a car bomb attack carried out by the Real Irish Republican Army , a splinter group of former Provisional Irish Republican Army members opposed to the Good Friday Agreement, on Saturday 15 August 1998, in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Twenty-nine people died as a...
  
  , where she left her condolences. She returned in 2002 to open a foot bridge and nursery school as part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations.

2001 Census

Ballinamallard is classified as a village by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (i.e. with a population between 1,000 people and 2,250 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 1,340 people living in Ballinamallard. Of these:

• 24.9% were aged under 16 and 14.9% were aged 60 and over
• 49.3% of the population were male and 50.7% were female
• 3.4% were from a Catholic
  Catholic
  The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
  
   background and 95.6% were from a Protestant
  Protestantism
  Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
  
  background
• 3.2% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed.

For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service