.jpg)
Ballyshannon history is vibrant and
had a really good year in 2014. The attendances at events surpassed any
previous year and it was great to see so many younger people attending.
Interest in the town hopefully can be channelled into support for
business enterprises. To paraphrase a visitor to the ancient town of
Ballyshannon; the town has been here long before our time and will be
here when we have passed on. Ballyshannon has durability and a heritage
which will hopefully sustain it in the future as it has in difficult
periods in the past. Visitors I have met this year from Australia, USA,
Canada, the Far East, Europe and Great Britain are all amazed that such a
relatively small town has such a rich history. Ballyshannon Musings
blog continues to connect with thousands of hits being made from all
corners of the world where there are people with roots in Ballyshannon
and surrounding areas or an interest in County Donegal.
Looking Back on 2014
Memories of an Historic Convent Building in Ballyshannon – Good News for Ballyshannon
This was the most
popular blog of the year on Ballyshannon Musings and was a good news
story for Ballyshannon as the building will become a health centre with
investment of over €6 million. Work is progressing well and the facade
and character of this impressive and historic building will be preserved
for future generations.
Ballyshannon Town Clock- a Landmark since 1878
The elements wreaked
havoc on the facade of the town clock and led to the dramatic closure
of the town centre for a few days in February 2014. Again there was
tremendous interest in the history of the building and this was the
second most popular blog of the year. Hopefully like the convent
building it can have a happy ending with time restored to Ballyshannon.
Famine Orphan Girls’ Memorial Opened in 2014
Nineteen
orphan girls who went from Ballyshannon workhouse to Sydney in
Australia were commemorated at a memorial constructed from March to May
2014. This was a project dear to my heart but would not have been
accomplished but for the support of Paddy Donagher and the team we
assembled. This was one of the final events supported by Ballyshannon
Town Council before their demise. Thanks are due to all who supported
the project and Mary Daly, Town Clerk, who co-ordinated much of the
funding for a fitting memorial to these forgotten girls.
I published a short book entitled “From Ballyshannon to Australia.
Memories of Famine Orphan Girls” which tells of links made over the past
30 years and connections with many of the great great grandchildren of
the orphans in Australia today. During the summer Paddy Donagher also
found time to publish a short book entitled “Kildoney and the Erne
Fishermen. The Court Case. A History 1607-2013 and the memorial at the
Mall Quay will ensure their heroism will not be forgotten.
Reopening of the Rock Hall
In
June the oldest surviving hall in Ballyshannon reopened its doors after
a wonderful restoration job was completed. Great credit is due to the
hall committee for their persistence in getting the project completed
with the support of Fr. Frank and Canon Ramon. The history of the hall
is included in a blog entitled “Early Movies, Drama and more in
Ballyshannon” which can be found in the archive for June 2014. Marc
McMenamin a local historian and broadcaster interviewed me in a short
piece for RTE Radio1’s “History Show” on Bracey Daniels a pioneer of
Irish cinema who is buried in the Rock graveyard and who showed his
travelling movies in the Rock Hall back in the 1920s.
Last Link with old Ballyshannon Broken
Fr.
Ambrose O’Gorman led an active life for over a century and had clear
memories of British soldiers marching though the town of Ballyshannon on
their way to Finner. This popular cleric is recalled in a blog entitled
“Last link with old Ballyshannon broken” which can be found in July
2014.
First History Walk over the 3 Bridges in Ballyshannon
On
the August Bank Holiday Monday a large crowd assembled to make history
as their historic journey took them over the 3 bridges in the town
namely; Allingham bridge, Red Hugh O’ Donnell bridge and Assaroe
footbridge. The walk also included East and West Port an area with great
character and potential for street markets etc. Welcome refreshments
were served in the Bridge End bar. The event was part of the successful
Ballyshannon Live Festival organised by Backing Ballyshannon.
Great Great Grandchild of Famine Orphan visits Ballyshannon Memorial
Pam
Barker a great great grandchild of one of the 19 orphans who left
Ballyshannon for Sydney in 1848 visited the memorial in September 2014
to remember her relative Mary Ann McDermott who had left for Australia
with her sister Sally. Both sisters were from Belleek and were inmates
of Ballyshannon workhouse. All 19 girls are commemorated at the memorial
and on the day of Pam’s visit roses were laid by local women for each
of the 19 girls as part of a moving ceremony. Despite being held the day
before the All-Ireland football final, with Donegal participating,
there was a great crowd to welcome her back to her homeland and Pam and
her husband Peter fully appreciated the interest shown. Joy O’ Neill, a
great great grandchild of another orphan Jane Carberry, has also visited
the Orphan Girls’ Memorial in 2014 and a number of other descendants of
the orphan girls are planning trips from Australia in 2015.
Largest Gathering Ever at a History Talk
The
Abbey Centre in Ballyshannon housed around 250 people for a talk I gave
entitled “Ballyshannon’s ghostly past including links to Dracula and
Frankenstein” as a memorial talk for the annual Emerson Lecture in
memory of my good friends Louis and Kathleen Emerson. The talk also
featured a short play on Ballyshannon’s best known ghost celebrity “The
Green Lady” featuring Patricia Keane and Conor Beattie. The play was
kindly written by Soinbhe Lally the well known Rossnowlagh based writer.
The full story is told in my Book “Ballyshannon Genealogy and History”
which is receiving a well earned revival in interest!! About two years
ago a walk with a similar theme attracted a tremendous crowd and our
ghostly past seems to be of great interest to a wide range of people.
Connections to Frankenstein and Dracula have also generated great
interest.
The talk on ghostly Ballyshannon formed part of a most successful
Allingham Arts festival and I was honoured to be invited to pay a
special tribute to the late Cecil Stephens a great townsman and
historian. Needless to say the tribute event to Cecil was also packed to
capacity in recognition of his contribution to the arts and to his
native Ballyshanny.
40 Shades of Ballyshannon and All- Ireland Drama
I
was joined by two stalwarts Conor Carney and Patricia Keane to
interpret the history of Ballyshannon in an hour in Dicey Reillys in
December 2014. Conor and Patricia, as always, brilliantly interpreted
the history through verse, song and story to complement my narrative.
This formed part of the sell out All-Ireland one act Drama festival held
in Ballyshannon
Forthcoming Events in early 2015
On
the 11th January 2015 on RTE Radio 1’s “History Show” at 6 p.m. there
will be a short feature recorded during Pam Barker’s visit to
Ballyshannon for the Famine Orphan Memorial ceremony in September 2014.
Marc McMenamin is the interviewer. The Drew University conference
featuring visitors from USA takes place in January 2015 and I will be
speaking about the orphan girls who were commemorated at the Memorial
opened in Ballyshannon in 2014. Ballyshannon technical school celebrates
its centenary and was the first technical school to be opened in County
Donegal. It was also the first post-primary school opened in
Ballyshannon. A blog will tell the story in January 2015.
Anthony Begley : anthonyrbegley@hotmail.com
Anthony Begley : anthonyrbegley@hotmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment