Ballineen belonged first to the
Earls of Cork and later to the
Earls of Bandon.
Francis Bernard, 3rd Earl of Bandon improved the village in the mid-19th century by building a market house, courthouse,
Wesleyan Chapel,
Gothic church and two schools in the area. Ballineen held monthly fairs until the mid-1960s.
Samuel Lewis wrote in his
A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, published in 1837, that the village of Inniskeen or Enniskeen was sacked by rebels in the
Irish Rebellion of 1641. In 1690, during the
Williamite War in Ireland, it was threatened by one of the leaders of the army of
James II. The following year it was sacked by 1,500 Irish rebels, who set fire to it, and every house was destroyed except the houses occupied by the
garrison, consisting of 44 men. The garrison held out until reinforcements arrived from Bandon that surprised the rebels, and 72 of them were killed in the pursuit. In the same year, 1691, it was fortified by
Governor Cox, who placed a garrison of militia in the village. The Church of the Immaculate Conception, in the parish of Enniskeane and
Desertserges, of the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Cork and Ross, was built in 1871. Father Daniel Coveney had persuaded the
Duke of Devonshire to donate land for a new church. He donated £250 towards the costs of construction and gave 17 acres for the building of the church, a presbytery, stable, and grazing for the priest's horse. Located about a half-mile apart, each village was served by separate train stations on the
Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railway, which opened in 1866. These two separate train stations were closed and replaced with a combined station,
Ballineen and Enniskean railway station, which opened in 1891. A number of businesses, including a
flax mill, were built close to the station, on the road between the two villages, ultimately "joining" the two. Ballineen and Enniskean station closed in April 1961. ==Demographics==