Place:Ballynahinch, County Down, Northern Ireland

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Ballynahinch is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 5,703 people in the 2011 Census.

Ballynahinch was traditionally a market town, although the market still takes place in the square every Thursday. The town lies on the main A24 road from Belfast to Clough, near Newcastle. Facilities in the town include a leisure centre. In recent years a regeneration committee has been formed for the development of the town and the surrounding Spa and Drumaness areas.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Until the 17th century, the area was controlled by the McCartan clan. During the English Civil War, Patrick McCartan captured Cromwell's castle in Downpatrick. In revenge McCartan was hanged and his lands confiscated by the state in 1653. McCartan's lands around Ballynahinch were bought by Sir George Rawdon, agent to Viscount Conway, and Sir William Petty, a surveyor from Hampshire.

Before his death in 1687, Petty leased his interest in the land leaving Sir George in sole possession. He built two corn mills and founded the town with a market square. In 1683 Charles II of England granted the town a patent to hold a Thursday market and two fairs every 1 February and 29 June. Settlers from lowland Scotland increased the population and Ballynahinch grew as a market town with the sale of livestock, corn, potatoes and increasingly, flax was being cultivated. Sir John Rawdon, descendant of Sir George and now the Earl of Moira took up residence in Montalto house in Ballynahinch. He made significant improvements to the estate and to the town by promoting the linen market and causing Ballynahinch Market House to be built. By the end of the eighteenth century sales in the market were grossing around £300 per week and the town was prospering.

The Society of United Irishmen launched a rebellion in 1798. It began in Leinster and quickly spread to Ulster. The United Irishmen had been founded in 1791 by liberal Protestants in Belfast. Its goal was to unite Catholics and Protestants and make Ireland an independent republic. Although its membership was mainly Catholic, many of its leaders and members in northeast Ulster were Protestant. The Battle of Ballynahinch began on 12 June 1798, when about 4000 United Irishmen camped at Ballynahinch were besieged by the British Army. The British bombarded the town with cannon for a full day until the United Irishmen retreated. Following this, the British burnt sixty-three houses in Ballynahinch and its hinterland. The commander of the United Irishmen, Henry Munro, was betrayed, captured and executed shortly after.

Montalto and Ballynahinch was sold in 1802 to David Ker Esq. who took advantage of the rising fashion for 'taking the waters' amongst tourists with money and developed the medicinal spa wells just over two miles outside the town. The village continued to expand thereafter.^[1]

In mid-1920, the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) barracks at Ballynahinch was subject to a bomb attack by the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

On 16 October 1986 Terence Mullan age 31 and Kathleen Mullan age 79, both Catholic civilians, were shot dead by the Ulster Freedom Fighters at their home, Dromore Road, Ballynahinch.

Then British Prime Minister John Major visited Ballynahinch in December 1996.

Ballynahinch is the site of Montalto Estate, Montalto House and The Carriage Rooms. The latter of which was the setting for Disney's The Lodge.

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