- Ballynacargy
Infobox Irish Place
name = Ballynacargy
gaeilge = Baile na Carraige
crest
motto =
map
pin coords = left: 65px; top: 62px
north coord = 53.5827
west coord = 7.5372
irish grid =
area =
elevation =
province =Leinster
county =County Westmeath
dailconstituency = Westmeath
EU constituency = East
stdcode =
town pop = 1,382
rural pop = | census yr = 2002
|Ballynacargy, or Ballinacarrigy, ("Baile na Carraige" in Irish) is a small village in
County Westmeath , Ireland on the Royal Canal and the R393regional road . The last official commercial navigation of the canal took place in 1955.History
The village primarily owes its existence to the Royal Canal which opened in 1817. The origins of the village go back much further. The first recorded reference to it dates from 1537 after the dissolution of the nearby monastery at "Tristernagh". Attached to the monastery was a leper hospital, a rarity by that time. It is thought that the village initially grew with the decline of "Kilbixy", an important town in
County Meath 500 years ago.The local parish is still called Kilbixy and is home to a mausoleum built by a "Lord Sunderlin" in 1798.
Northeast of the village are the ruins of "Templecross Church" from where the ruins of "Tristernagh Abbey" are visible. Templecross was converted to a protestant church in the 17th century. The abbey, also known as the "Priory of Kilbixy" was founded in 1192 by "Geoffrey de Constantine". An
Augustinian priory, the abbey achieved some fame from its establishment until 1536 when the commissioners of the EnglishKing Henry VIII ransacked and destroyed it.ee also
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List of towns in the Republic of Ireland
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