Ballinalee (), sometimes known as Saint Johnstown, is a village in north County Longford, Ireland. It is situated on the River Camlin, and falls within the civil parish of Clonbroney. As of the 2016 census, the village had a population of 347 people. Name The village name in Irish, Béal Átha na Lao, (anglicised as Ballinalee) means "mouth of the ford of the calves". The village is also sometimes known as Saint Johnstown, a name associated with the local Church of Ireland church of St John. History The St Johnstown borough constituency in the Irish House of Commons was nominally representative of the town. In 1833, the Commissioners appointed by the UK Parliament to inquire into municipal corporations in Ireland reported that the corporation of the borough was "virtually extinct". The 1846 Parliamentary Gazetteer records: Antoine Ó Raifteiri's poem "The Lass From Bally-na-Lee" references the town. In 1798, the town was the scene of numerous summary executions of United Irish prisoners of war after the Battle of Ballinamuck in a field now called Bully's Acre. During the Irish War of Independence (1919–1921), the town was the scene of the Battle of Ballinalee, where IRA leader Sean Mac Eoin (sometimes known as the Blacksmith of Ballinalee) was the leader of a well-equipped flying column known as the North Longford Flying Column. They defeated 100 members of the Black and Tans and the Auxiliary Division in Ballinalee on 4 November 1920. It was the only successful defence of a town by the IRA against Crown forces during the entire conflict. Within the parish is the ruins of Old Clonbroney; it was reportedly the home of the first convent in Ireland, which was founded by St Patrick around 440 AD. There are two lakes in the parish. Corbeagh lake, or Currygrane Lough, is situated in the middle of the parish and is located within the townlands of Drumeel Corbeagh and Currygrane. It has four small islands on it and one, called "Round Island," is thought to be a Crannog or ancient settlement. The other lake is called Gurteen and is situated near the village and adjacent to the Maguire Park. Henry Hughes Wilson was born in the area in 1864, and would become the British Chief of the Imperial General Staff before his assassination by Irish Republicans. He was born in Currygrane near the village. Between 30 and 31 January 1953, a riot