Map - Ballymote

Ballymote is a market town in southern County Sligo, approx. 24 km south east of Sligo town in the province of Connacht, which is located in the north-west of Ireland. Ballymote lies in the barony of Corran. A commuter town with a strong history of independent enterprises along with firm local health, school, and transport services. It is located on the main Dublin to Sligo Train Line, and situated 10 minutes from the N4 / N17 Roadways. Ballymote serves a large hinterland area in south east County Sligo.

The Norman Ballymote Castle dates from the 1300s, and the Book of Ballymote was written in or near the town in the 1390s.

The origins of the settlement appear to have been derived from the 12th century Norman Castle, though evidence of earlier settlement and farming in area from c. 1000BC exists through the presence of ringforts, cairns, and archaeological remains.

Ballymote was much affected by the disruption of the full conquest of Ireland by the English and Protestant settlers in the early modern period (1536–1691). Ballymote was ravaged several times in the 16th century and finally burned to waste. In 1608 King James I granted an estate encompassing the castle and area around the town to James Fullerton, this was soon to pass to the Taaffes. Following litigations, court action and a forced sale John Fitzmaurice (Lord Shelburne) bought the Ballymote estate in 1753.

On coming to the Ballymote Shelburne found the land mostly uncultivated with the inhabitants, all Roman Catholic, making no attempt to manufacture goods but subsisting on herding cattle. Shelburne made a start to establish Ballymote as a centre for the linen industry in County Sligo, by provisioning cottages for Protestant weavers and spinners brought in from Ulster. Expansion was slow, and with Shelburne's death in 1761 his widow attempted to progress his project through managers, expanding from 20 to 60 looms. In 1774 the younger son, Thomas Fitzmaurice, after studying the linen business, began the modern expansion of the town, with the construction of a bleach mill, workers houses, and Earlsfield House, a residence for himself. In 1776 it was noted that Fitzmaurice had invited architect James Paine to plan a redevelopment of the town with a new street layout, a market house and other associated houses. No records exist of Paine's plans, and it is not clear if his designs were implemented. By 1799, it was recorded that most of the inhabitants of Ballymote were weavers. Linen production peaked in the period from 1815 to 1820, but went into steep decline by the 1840s. Within the history of planned industrial settlements centred around the linen industry in Ireland, this was one of the later attempts with the manufacturing of linen in the town ultimately abandoned.

In 1833, the ownership of the town was transferred from the Fitzmaurices to the Gore-Booth family of Lissadell, who has established a corn mill in the town in 1795. In 1837, the town consisted of 140 houses on a single main street at the junction of six roads, and was owned by Robert Gore-Booth. A map from 1847 shows the core layout of the current town established.