Bellavary is the civil parish name. The village inside it — the one on the N5 with the old railway station and the corn mill site — is what most people call Ballyvary. Both names come from the same Irish: Béal Átha Bhearaigh, the mouth of the ford of Bearach, a chieftain long enough dead that no one agrees on the details.
The confusion between the two names is not recent. The civil administration has always used Bellavary for the parish. Road signs and locals have always said Ballyvary for the village. The soccer club founded in 1986 — the Blue Bombers — appears in records under both spellings. The Wikipedia article is filed under Bellavary and describes Ballyvary. They are the same crossroads.
What the crossroads amounts to, in 2026: 159 people at the last count, one church, the old station building standing empty, the N5 running through at speed. The market town of 1752, with its four public houses and courthouse and three annual fairs, is completely gone. What remains is the geography — the Turlough River, the road junction, the flat north Mayo farmland — and the memory, preserved in the station building and the placename, of what this ford was once for.
Three things every local will eventually mention. Read these and you've already understood more than most day-trippers do.
The Irish preserves a chieftain's name and a river crossing. The ford was real — where the Turlough River met the ancient road between Connacht's interior and the coast. The village that grew at that crossing is now called Ballyvary by most, Bellavary by the civil administration.
Stories & lore → 02 The Blue BombersThe Ballyvary Blue Bombers — sometimes written Bellavary Blue Bombers — have played in the Mayo League since 1986. Junior and underage teams. Their first games were in McKeown's field in Knocksaxon. The club name covers both spellings of the village without resolving the question.
Stories & lore → 03 The parishBellavary parish sits within the Barony of Gallen in northeast Mayo. The surrounding townlands — Knocksaxon, Keelogues, and others — share the parish church and the N5 corridor. Foxford is the nearest town of substance. Castlebar is eleven kilometres southwest.
Getting there →The reason to come back. The things every local will eventually tell you about, usually after the second pint.
Castlebar is 11 km southwest on the N5. Foxford is roughly 12 km north. Ireland West Airport Knock is 30 minutes east. Dublin is 2.5 hours on the N5 via the M4.
Bus Éireann N5 corridor services (Castlebar–Ballina–Dublin). Stops at or near the village — check current timetables.