Ballinalee (Irish: Béal Átha na Lao),[2] sometimes known as Saint Johnstown, is a village in north County Longford, Ireland.
[citation needed] Henry Hughes Wilson was born in the area in 1864, and would become the British Chief of the Imperial General Staff before his assassination by Irish Republicans.
; assigned 88 acres of land as the site and property of the town; ordered the place, still then only in posse, to be called the Borough and Town of St. Johnstown; appointed it a corporation, consisting of a sovereign, 11 other burgesses, and an unnamed number of free commons; gave that corporation the power of sending two members to parliament; and granted a weekly market on Tuesday, and annual fairs on May 1 and 2, and Nov. 11 and 12.
The Earl of Granard eventually carried the borough in his pocket, and in consequence received the £15,000 of compensation for disfranchisement at the Legislative Union [..] A grey friary, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, is supposed to have stood on the site of the town; but, if it ever existed, it has become completely untraceable.
In 1798, the town was the scene of numerous summary executions of United Irish prisoners of war after the Battle of Ballinamuck in a field now called "Bully's Acre".
A riot ensued also in support, causing damage and assault to the family and home of the newly appointed post mistress.
[citation needed] Rose Cottage, the building from which Mac Eoin coordinated IRA forces during the Battle of Ballinalee, was opened to the public as an exhibition centre in 2023.
[citation needed] The club's grounds, located on France Road, also has an 18-hole pitch-and-putt course (known as "The Acres"), a basketball and tennis court, concrete walkway, a gymnasium and a meeting room.
The club won the Senior Football Championship for the only time in 1919 as Clonbroney Camlin Rovers (later renamed Seán Connollys).