Mayo parish has some unique placenames

by Auld Stock

I HAVE an interest in placenames, particularly as they apply to County Mayo.

I recently spoke to a young man who told me he was a native of Redhill, County Cavan. He was surprised when I told him there was a village named Redhill near Ballyvary, Castlebar.

The first reference to the English translation of Redhill, Ballyvary, goes back to 1732. The name of the village prior to that was Knockroe.

James McFarlane lists Ballyvary as a county town of Mayo in his statistical survey, published in 1802. The village was given civic town status in 1752.

Some years ago Susannah Sweeney, Ballyvary, wrote an informative history of Ballyvary and the people who were involved in its development.

Today Ballyvary is a progressive village with excellent educational facilities and other amenities.

As well as that, Mayo County Council has plans to build a number of houses close to the village.

There is a village close to Ballyvary named Chancery. As far as I am aware, it is the only village in Ireland with that name.

The name Chancery goes back several hundred years and is a special type of court which deals with problems of an unusual nature.

There are areas both in Dublin and London which bear the name Chancery Lane. However, I don’t know how the name Chancery ended up in Ballyvary.