TOWN HISTORY

The town of Ballymote (Baile an Mhota) takes it's name from the water filled 'mote' that once surrounded the medieval Norman castle built by Richard de Burgo (Burke). 

However, the town itself is largely a creation of the 18th to 21st centuries, apart from the medieval Franciscan friary which is now a ruin. In the 18th century John Fitzmaurice (earl of Shelburne) and his younger son Thomas developed the town focused around a linen business. 

The Fitzmaurices were part of the great anglo-norman family long established in Kerry. Thomas and his brother (William Petty Fitzmaurice, later British Prime Minister) were educated in Glasgow by the great enlightenment economist Adam Smith (author of the influential economic text 'The Wealth of Nations'). 

We owe the wide main street to the enlightenment vision of Thomas Fitzmaurice - O'Connell Street was originally named Newtown Street [contemporary with the New Town area of Edinburgh]. It was renamed to mark the centenary of Catholic emancipation.