In 1837, Samuel Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of Ireland described Ballycroy like this:
BALLYCROY, a district, in the parish of KILCOMMON, barony of ERRIS, county of MAYO, and province of CONNAUGHT, 16 miles (S. E. E.) from Belmullet; containing 2025 inhabitants. This place is situated on Blacksod bay, and is deeply indented by the bay of Tulloghane, which, stretching far into the land, receives the waters of the river Owenmore. ...
It consists of a large tract of bog, enclosed by an extensive range of mountains on the south and east, but exposed to the western storms, by which the crops, chiefly potatoes, are frequently destroyed, and the cultivators, who depend chiefly on the produce of their land, are reduced to a state of famine. Fish is abundant in the bay, but the inhabitants derive little benefit from this circumstance, being too poor to provide themselves with nets, lines, and boats to carry on the fishing with any profit. This is one of the three R. C. districts into which the parish is divided: the chapel at Cross Hill is an old thatched house appropriated to that purpose, the scanty means of the inhabitants being insufficient for the erection of a better.—See KILCOMMON.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Ballycroy, in and County Mayo | Map and description, A Vision of Ireland through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofireland.org/place/27638
Date accessed: 04th November 2024
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