placenamesBallinfull
Baile an Phoill
Ballinfull’s Lissadell church and former school preserve evidence of estate patronage, changing community uses and several generations of stained-glass work.
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
- Baile an Phoill · Irish · main form · validated name
- Ballinfull · English · main form
Place & story
The estate church rebuilt
Lissadell Church of Ireland, northeast of Ballinfull’s centre, links the locality with the Gore-Booth estate. The architectural archive records Joseph Welland’s rebuilding in 1855–58 and dedication on 4 June 1858. It remodelled an earlier church endowed by Sir Robert Gore-Booth. A nave, north aisle, chancel, porch and tower with spire formed the resulting Gothic Revival building, whose history is more layered than a single approximate construction date suggests. [2]
Glass as art and commemoration
A contemporary report cited by the architectural archive recorded eleven windows by William Warrington in 1857, including an east window showing St Peter raising Dorcas. A later commission, Harmony and Fortitude, commemorated Lady Georgina Gore-Booth in 1907. The archive associates this two-light work with Ethel Rhind and Sarah Purser, connecting family remembrance with the Irish stained-glass revival. [2]
A schoolhouse becomes a hall
Across the road stands the former Lissadell National School, dated approximately 1890 by the national architectural survey. Built of limestone with an irregular T-shaped plan, it retains early sash windows and decorative timber details. The survey recorded its later use as a church hall and an extension dating from about 1990. The building’s change of use kept a former classroom building within local communal life. [3]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Ballinfull. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Lissadell Church of Ireland: rebuilding and stained-glass commissions, work 14212 · Irish Architectural Archive, Dictionary of Irish Architects
- Former Lissadell National School, registration 32400820 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.