Ballinderreen village is approximately 22 km south of Galway City and is a part of the townland of Ballinderreen. Ballinderreen is both the name of the Catholic diocesan parish of Galway and the townland where the village is situated. It takes its name from oak trees in the village. The Irish name of the village, "Baile an Doirín", means "town of the little derry or little oakwood", suggesting the area may once have been more heavily forested with oak trees. It contains the early Christian settlement of Surney of Drumacoo.