A visit to Ballinabranna, Co Carlow in 2020

A slideshow of photos I took during my visit to Ballinabranna in County Carlow on Monday 3rd February 2020.

Ballinabranna (Irish: Baile na mBreathnach) is a village in County Carlow. It is located next to the Carlow-Laois and Carlow-Kilkenny borders. It is southwest of Carlow Town and west of the River Barrow.

The village had a population of 466 in the 2016 Census.

St. Fintan's Church in Ballinabranna was built in 1830. It is one of two churches in Leighlinbridge Parish in the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin.

St. John the Evangelist Church of Ireland is located in Cloydagh in the northeast of Ballinabranna. It was built in 1803 and was reconstructed around 1870.

The fist school ever built in Ballinabranna was built by Mr J. Alexander, in 1832. It was built for the children of his tenantry. The land was given for a chapel and school to be built. This was an all-boys school. In 1834 a girls school was built. The new school was built in 1952, on land donated by Mr. Noel Hughes. The school was split into two parts: boys school and girls school. Since then it has seen many changes. In 1971 the boys and the girls school amalgamated. In 1980, two classrooms and a PE hall were added to the building and a basketball court was developed in the school yard. In 2009, five new classrooms, two new offices and a staff room were added.

Ballinabranna GAA Club was founded in 1945. The club grounds are Pairc Liam Dobbs. It is primarily a Gaelic Football Club.

Lime is quarried in Clongrennane in Ballinabranna. The original limekiln was built in 1816.

The Physicist John Tyndall came from Ballinabranna. He invented the Light Pipe.