Ballyshannon
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Ballyshannon Béal Átha Seanaidh
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Ballyshannon as seen from the Beleek Road in the morning
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 Ballyshannon
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| Coordinates: 54°30′05″N 8°11′24″W / 54.5015°N 8.1901°WCoordinates: 54°30′05″N 8°11′24″W / 54.5015°N 8.1901°W | ||
| Country | Ireland | |
| Province | Ulster | |
| County | County Donegal | |
| Government | ||
| • Dáil Éireann | Donegal | |
| • EU Parliament | Midlands–North-West | |
| Population (2011) | ||
| • Total | 2,504 | |
| Time zone | WET (UTC+0) | |
| • Summer (DST) | IST (WEST) (UTC-1) | |
| Area code(s) | +353 71 98 5 | |
| Irish Grid Reference | G876614 | |
| Website | www |
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Ballyshannon (Irish: Béal Átha Seanaidh, meaning "The Mouth of Seannach's ford") is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. It is located at the southern end of the county where the N3 and N15 cross the River Erne, and claims to be the oldest town in Ireland.
Ballyshannon, which means "The Mouth of Seannach's Ford", after a fifth-century warrior, Seannach, who was slain there, lies at the mouth of the river Erne. Just west of the town, the Erne widens and its waters meander over a long sandy estuary. The northern bank of the river rises steeply away from the riverbank, while the southern bank is flat with a small cliff that runs parallel to the river. From its idyllic setting, the town looks out over the estuary and has panoramic views of mountains, lakes and forests.
Archaeological sites dating as far back as the Neolithic period (4000 BC – 2500 BC) have been excavated in Ballyshannon and surrounding areas, representing settlement and ritual activity from early periods of human settlement. Finds have ranged from fulachta fiadh (burnt mounds) dating from the Bronze Age (2500–500 BC), to a possible brushwood trackway thought to date to an earlier Neolithic period, to the recent discovery of a previously unknown medieval church and cemetery containing hundreds of skeletons thought to date from between 1100 and 1400. This site yielded numerous artefacts including silver long cross pennies and halfpennies dating from the reign of Henry III (1251–1276) and Edward I (c.1280–1302). Other finds included bone beads, shroud pins, and pieces of quartz which were found placed in the hands of many of the skeletons.
Numerous other sites from various periods are thought to exist, including a neolithic tomb, and the grave of Aed Ruad, High King of Ireland, upon which St. Anne's church (Church of Ireland) was supposedly built, occupying the highest of the town's vantage points—Mullgoose. Nothing remains to mark either tomb, the last vestige of the mound on Mullaghnashee having been obliterated in 1798 when a fort was constructed on the hill-top. The 18th-century churchyard and the paupers' burial ground were both referred to as Sidh Aedh Ruaidh, the Fairy Mound of Red Hugh. The 'sheeman' (Anglicisation of the Irish sidh) in Mullgoose means 'fairies'. Popular belief assigned the interior of hills to fairies' dwelling places and local tradition has handed down accounts of the exploits of the fairy folk, especially among the Finner sand-hills and in the Wardtown district of Ballyshannon.
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