placenamesBallaghnatrillick
Béal Átha an Trí Liag
Ballaghnatrillick, often written Ballintrillick, preserves the remains and working memories of the Gleniff barytes industry.
The name
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
- Béal Átha an Trí Liag · Irish · main form · validated name
- Ballaghnatrillick · English · main form
- Ballintrillick · English · main form · local name
Place & story
Mining and the valley mill
The Ballintrillick Environmental Group dates the first recorded barytes workings to 1858. In 1888 Henry Gore Booth of Lissadell entered a partnership with George Tottenham to work deposits in Gleniff. Ore descended from the high cliffs by an aerial ropeway to a washing shed, then travelled by cart to the mill near the valley entrance. Its position close to Ballintrillick provided plentiful water, an essential part of processing the material extracted from the mountains. [2]
A miner’s account of the 1950s
Paddy Cooney’s memoir in The Corran Herald describes starting work in the barytes mine in July 1955. He recalled the evening shift running from four o’clock until midnight, initially loading wagons outside before moving underground. There the conditions were wet and dirty, and he worked by carbide lamp. His account supplies a worker’s perspective on an industry otherwise represented by ruins and machinery, with manual labour continuing alongside the transport systems used to move ore. [3]
From industrial remains to a local amenity
The Gleniff Company ceased operating around 1922, although other concerns continued mining in the wider district later in the twentieth century. In 1995 the Ballintrillick Environmental Group acquired the old mill site and developed it as a local amenity. Its guide identifies the mill foundations, restored stables, water-management remains and a route towards the dam. Forest paths, seating and a sculpture trail were added around the surviving industrial features. [2]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Ballaghnatrillick. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- The Gleniff Barytes Mills · Ballintrillick Environmental Group Limited
- The Barytes Mines, The Corran Herald 45, 2012/2013, pp.51–53 · Paddy Cooney; Ballymote Heritage Group
- Benwiskin, near Ballaghnatrillick, County Sligo illustration: based on a Benwiskin, near Ballaghnatrillick, County Sligo (8 September 2005) by Joseph Mischyshyn. AI-assisted watercolour and ink adaptation; cream paper margins added, incidental clutter omitted and fine details simplified. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.