Ballintra () is a village in the parish of Drumholm in the south of County Donegal, Ireland, just off the N15 road between Donegal town and Ballyshannon. Ballintra lies on the northern bank of the Blackwater river (sometimes referred to as the Ballintra River). The river rises in the hills that lie inland from the town, and flows through a number of small lakes before spilling over a small waterfall in a gorge behind the village. The Irish meaning of Ballintra, Baile an tSratha, means town by the low-lying land along a river, the village is situated close to Rossnowlagh and Murvagh beaches. The village is situated in a limestone area, and there are a number of quarries in the area. History Built heritage Evidence of prehistoric settlement in the area include a number of ringforts (for example in nearby Moneymore townland) and a megalithic wedge tomb (in Ballymagrorty townland). Much of the village itself was laid-out in the late 18th and early 19th century, with the town's bridges dating from the 1780s and 1790s, and Ballintra's Anglican, Catholic and Methodist churches dating to 1795, 1845 and 1896 respectively. Irish language decline The 1911 census records only a handful of people in Ballintra who were Irish speakers. In his paper "Irish Speaking in the Pre-famine Period", Dr. Garret Fitzgerald remarks that "near Ballintra the language seems to have disappeared by the time of the Famine. Around Ballyshannon it also seems to have been almost extinct". As late as 1960, up to a few dozen native Irish speakers remained in Tamhnach a' Mhullaigh (known in English as Townawilly or Tawnawully). The Irish scholar and campaigner Máirtín Ó Cadhain visited the area in 1957 to record folklore stores in Irish from a family in the area. Developments The 2016 census indicates that approximately 35% of homes in Ballintra were built in the early 20th century or prior, with a further peak in building (20% of homes) built in the 1970s. The latter includes a number of social housing units built by Donegal County Council in the 1970s. Other developments include a bypass road built in the early 1980s. In the 20 years between the 1996 and the 2016 census, the population of the village decreased by 12%, from 217 to 191 residents. Amenities Ballintra has one public house, a grocery store, a takeaway, a hairdresser, two primary schools (St. Ernan's NS and