Saturday 7 September 2013

Full Index to Ballyshannon Musings 2012-2013



Dear Reader,

I hope you enjoyed my local history blogs in the past year and that you will continue to have an interest in the Ballyshannon area.The blog archive of Ballyshannon Musings will still be available to read on the internet. Ballyshannon Musings is a voluntary effort to promote the history of the area and to link people worldwide with the Ballyshannon area for the Year of the Gathering. Thousands of hits have been recorded in over 50 countries worldwide and I have enjoyed being in contact with people who have connections with the area. 

I met a number of visitors during the summer who followed the blog and I will be meeting more from the U.S.A. and elsewhere. My latest book  has much material on tracing family roots and the local history of the area. "Ballyshannon Genealogy and History" can be posted worldwide. My contact  address and details of the book are  listed below.

I hope to have a website in the near future and if you wish to receive details drop me an email and I will keep you posted when it becomes available.

Kindest Regards

Anthony Begley

Local Historian

Email - anthonyrbegley@hotmail.com

See brief tribute at the end of this blog.

Blog Archive

The blog archive of Ballyshannon Musings will still be available to read on the internet.The index below should be helpful in locating a particular blog. Good to hear that people connected to the Ballyshannon area enjoyed the blog worldwide and the site received thousands of hits. Copy this link and it can be googled at http://ballyshannon-musings.blogspot.ie/ 


Index to Ballyshannon Musings 2012-2013

October 2012

Ballyshannon Musings-Introduction
Ballyshannon Fisherman’s Curious Discovery
40 Shades of Ballyshannon

November 2012

Lots of Local History at the Allingham Festival
Centenary of De La Salle 1912-2012
Ballyshannon Workhouse Closes 90 Years Ago
The Garden Fete and Fancy dress Parade 1945

December 2012
 
Christmas Shopping in Ballyshannon in 1889
19th Century Ballyshannon- A Commercial Centre
Ten Rarely Asked Questions on the Ballyshannon Area
Let Me Sing of What I Know (1)

January 2013
 
Let Me Sing of What I know (2)
Farewell to Ballyshannon
Ballyshannon Musings Update
The Maid of the Melvin Shore and Other True Stories

February
 
Ballyshannon Musings-Worldwide Interest
The Worst Fire Ever in Ballyshannon in 1849
Ballyshannon Musings 20 Countries Connected
Early Drama Groups and Ballyshannon Playwrights

March
 
Local History Suitable for  Home and Away
Ballyshannon Links to Two Unusual Olympic Games
Ballyshannon Imprisonments, Whippings and Transportations to Van Diemen’s Land
From Ballyshannon to Australia and on to Zambia
Eamon De Valera’s Late Late Rally in Ballyshannon 1937

April
 
A Full Listing of Blogs on Ballyshannon Musings
A Forgotten Golf Course over a Century Ago
Ballyshannon Musings- Worlwide Interest in 40 Countries
Masters, Murders, American Wakes and Local Links to Florence Nightingale

May

 
Coolmore National School Centenary Ballad 1952
Ten Local Visitor Attractions of the Past
Bundoran a leading Tourist Resort and Scene of a Hurling Match in 1839
Ballyshannon 400

June

The Most Unusual Legal Case Ever in Ballyshannon
The Conversion of Ballyshannon 1856 
 A Forgotten Story plus the Top Ten Blogs in 2013
The Games people Played Locally in Bygone Days
Romance and Murder Amongst the Gaelic Chieftains at Ballyshannon

July

The Banks of Culmore
Kildoney Fishermens' Victory
Local Customs for Special Days
A Famine Walk and Sad Memories in South Donegal, Leitrim and Fermanagh

August

Cures of Bygone Days
There Goes a Poet if he Only Know it
 Ballyshannon a Market Town in Famine Times
The Gaelic Revival in Ballyshannon a Hundred Years Ago
A Unique Diary of Ballyshannon Life in the 1840s

September

Full Index to Ballyshannon Musings 2012-2013 






50% Reduction on postage for orders for this book to all destinations. Genuine special offer. 

Ideal local gift for Christmas and all special occasions. 

Contact anthonyrbegley@hotmail.com for further details and for orders of the book.

Signed hard back and soft back books available at special  price for postal delivery or collection. 






A New Local History Book suitable for those at Home and Away

A new book entitled: "Ballyshannon. Genealogy and History" reveals newly researched history and genealogy of the town, extending as far as the Rossnowlagh, Cashelard, Corlea, Clyhore, Higginstown and Finner areas. Includes the parishes of Kilbarron and Magh Ene.

The genealogy material provides detailed guidelines for anyone tracing their roots in the area or anywhere in County Donegal or Ireland. 

The book contains 500 pages and is richly illustrated with stunning colour, aerial photography, original illustrations and rare photographs of the area not seen before.

Topics include: How to go about Tracing your Roots/The first settlers in the area/ Newly researched history of the town of Ballyshannon and the townlands in Kilbarron and Mágh Éne parishes/ Records of the first travellers and tourists to Ballyshannon, Bundoran, Belleek, Rossnowlagh and Ballintra/An aerial guide to place names along the Erne from Ballyshannon to the Bar/Flora and Fauna of the area/ A history of buildings and housing estates in the locality/Graveyard Inscriptions from the Abbey graveyard, St. Joseph’s and St. Anne’s /Rolling back the years with many memories of the Great Famine, Independence struggle, hydro-electric scheme, Gaelic games, boxing, handball, Boy Scouts, soccer, mummers, characters, organisations, folklore and lots more.

Book Available from Anthony Begley West Rock Ballyshannon. anthonyrbegley@hotmail.com  Enquiries welcome for postal and other details. Also available at The Novel Idea Bookshop Ballyshannon, Ballyshannon and District Museum, Ballyshannon Tourist Office, The Four Masters Bookshop Donegal Town.

The blogs are original and are not taken from the book above.



Adieu

In 2013 two townsmen who shared my interest in the history of the Ballyshannon area and who were always generous in encouraging and assisting me with my researches passed away. Cecil Stephens and Billy Ward will be sadly missed by their families and friends and by all who recognised their great love of their hometown. May they both rest in peace.

If ever I'm a money'd man, I mean, please God, to cast
My golden anchor in the place where youthful years were passed,
Though heads that now are black and brown must meanwhile gather gray,
New faces rise by every hearth, and old ones drop away
Yet dearer still that Irish hill than all the world beside;
It's home, sweet home, where'er I roam, through lands and waters wide.
And if the Lord allows me, I surely will return
To my native Belashanny, and the winding banks of Erne.

                                                                                                                                    William Allingham