Overview
Ballinahown was named Ireland’s Tidiest Village in 2024, which is a lot of silverware for a place this small. It sits on the N62 about 10 km south of Athlone, on the River Worm, a tributary of the Shannon. The name is usually given as Baile na hAbhainn, ‘town on the river’, though Wikipedia records the older Irish form Buaile na hAbhann.
Be realistic about scale. This is a short stop, not a day out: a craft studio, a sculpture trail and a tidy, well-kept village centre. If you do one thing here, make it the bog-oak studio.
Celtic Roots Studio
The most distinctive thing in Ballinahown is bog oak, timber that has been preserved in the Midlands bogs for thousands of years. Celtic Roots Studio, run by sculptor Eibhlín Ní Chongháile, works out of the old schoolhouse in the village and uses bog oak for sculpture and jewellery. Visit Westmeath lists the studio and its craft experiences. Contact the studio before travelling if you want a workshop or need access details, as sessions are by arrangement.
The sculpture and fairy trails
The village sculpture trail draws on Irish mythology, with carvings of the Children of Lir, Diarmuid and Gráinne, Pangur Bán and the Salmon of Knowledge, plus three tree carvings added in 2017. The metal bull by the path has become the village’s unofficial mascot.
Alongside it, the Woodland Fairy Trail was built with local artists and schoolchildren, using recycled materials, willow huts grown from living plants, and engravings of fairy stories handed down locally. It is aimed at younger children. Bring wellies in winter, and check on the ground what is open and how easy the paths are before you set off with a buggy or wheelchair.
The River Worm walk
The village sits beside the River Worm, and there is a woodland riverside trail along it. Access arrangements and conditions can change, so look for local signs and notices on arrival, turn back from wet or flooded ground and keep back from the bank. The village website also has a virtual tour if you want a look before you go.
A bit of history
For more than nine centuries Ballinahown was Malone country. Ballynahown House (Ballinahown Court), a Georgian house, was built around 1746 by Edmond Malone and his wife Ruth Judge, on the site of an earlier O’Malone castle. The village’s own landmark, St Colmcille’s Church, came much later: built between 1896 and 1902 to an Early English Gothic design by William Hague, finished by T.F. McNamara after Hague’s death in 1899, and opened on 15 October 1902. The older church it replaced now serves as the community hall.
The village has a modern claim to fame too: Mark Rohan, from Ballinahown, won two gold medals in handcycling at the 2012 Paralympics.
Practical information
- Getting there: the N62 runs through the village, about 10 km south of Athlone. Check signs for village parking and ask the studio about access if you are visiting it.
- Visiting the studio: contact Celtic Roots Studio before travelling, as there is no guarantee of opening times or craft sessions.
- Nearby: the Old Rail Trail starts in Athlone and follows a former railway towards Mullingar, and Clonydonnin Bog, a Midlands raised bog, lies just east of the village.