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
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
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
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
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
March
Local History
Suitable for Home and Away
Ballyshannon Links to Two Unusual Olympic Games
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
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
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.
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.
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
