Ballinrobe, in Gaelic Baile an Roba, means "town of the Robe River".
The town of Ballinrobe is in the Union of Ballinrobe, Civil Parish of Ballinrobe, Kilmaine Barony, County of Mayo, Ireland. Ballinrobe was (and is) the largest town in south Mayo. Most of south Mayo is rural, with a few small villages and lots of pastureland. Ballinrobe was a market town, a garrison town, a post town, and contained the regions "workhouse". The combinations of services available in Ballinrobe made it a magnet for the local rural population and a stopping off point for people who subsequently immigrated to England, Australia, and America. 
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