Ballinalee 4.24

Ballinalee or Saint Johnstown is a village in north County Longford, Ireland. It is situated on the River Camlin, and falls within the civil parish of Clonbroney.The village name in Irish means "Mouth of the Ford of the Calves". The name "St Johnstown" came from the name of the Church of Ireland Church of St. John. There are two fine Roman Catholic churches in the parish: the Church of the Holy Trinity in the village and the uniquely styled Church of St James in Clonbroney. Ballinalee was the site of the first convent in Ireland at Old Clonbroney. Its remains are still to be seen.The Parochial hall on the Granard road, opened in 1939, is dedicated to the memory of Thomas Ashe, the Irish patriot. The local National School adjacent to the hall is named after St Samhthann.HistoryThe St Johnstown borough constituency in the Irish House of Commons was nominally representative of the town. In 1833, the Commissioners appointed by the UK Parliament to inquire into municipal corporations in Ireland reported that the corporation of the borough was "virtually extinct". The 1846 Parliamentary Gazetteer records: