Ballyshannon's Most Famous Ghost Story for Halloween

 

The scene of the ghostly appearance was the Barracks on the left of this photo.

At Halloween it is good to remember the most famous Ballyshannon ghost story of all time and how there were eyewitnesses to the strange events which happened.. The barrack’s building at the bridge in Ballyshannon County Donegal is considered to be the oldest and most interesting building in the town and it was there that a most strange apparition occurred.

Keystone still visible today at the front of the barracks with the date 1700

The Barracks is a detached six-bay building of two-storeys over a basement and was built in 1700. The building was planned as a T-shaped building and this outline can still be seen today. It is considered it to have been the work of Colonel Thomas Burgh   an ancestor of well -known singer Chris De Burgh. 

The interior of the building has been renovated and reconstructed and today the most authentic features are to be seen on the facade. The barracks was constructed for the British military to protect a very strategic crossing point into Ulster. What follows here is the unusual ghost story of the Goblin Child which has been handed down for generations and which was popularised by local poet William Allingham. It deserves to be remembered at Halloween as it has all the hallmarks of a true story.

The Goblin Child seen in Ballyshannon by Lord Castlereagh

Lord Castlereagh saw the ghost in Ballyshannon

 The story of the Goblin Child concerns the supernatural appearance of a boy in the barracks at Ballyshannon, and is one of the most authenticated ghost stories in the area. The tale centres on Robert Stewart, Lord Castlereagh, who arrived in Ballyshannon barracks following military manoeuvres. Having retired upstairs to his bedroom, in which a fire was still glowing in the fireplace, he went into a fitful sleep. During the night he was awakened from his sleep and claimed that he saw the image of a naked child emerging from the fireplace and coming across to the foot of his bed. The child did not speak and the apparition receded back into the fireplace. 

Robert Stewart later recounted the tale to Sir Walter Scott, the famous Scottish novelist in 1815- “It is certain he related several strange circumstances many years after, at a dinner party in Paris, one of those present being Sir Walter Scott who afterwards referred to it in his writing.”  Scott said only two men had ever told him that they had seen a ghost, and that both had ended their own lives. One of these men was Lord Castlereagh. 

Francis Joseph Bigger M.R.I.A placed the ghostly appearance of the boy in the barracks at Ballyshannon in 1796, whilst referring to the apparition as ‘the radiant boy’ and recounted how Lord Castlereagh had told the story to Sir Walter Scott and to the Duke of Wellington. There is also strong anecdotal evidence to locate the strange happening at the barracks beside the river Erne in Ballyshannon. 

The Curse of the Goblin Child

Who was Lord Castlereagh? He was born Robert Stewart in Dublin in 1769, the son of a Presbyterian landowner and Member of Parliament, who built Mount Stewart near Newtownards in Co. Down. By a strange coincidence he had a Ballyshannon connection, as he was married to Lady Emily Hobart, who was a relative of William Conolly, the Speaker of the Irish Parliament, who was born in Ballyshannon in 1662. By a strange quirk of location the Speaker’s birthplace was just across the street from the barracks where Robert Stewart saw the apparition. Stewart later rose to prominence as Chief Secretary, War Minister, Foreign Secretary and Leader of the Commons during the Napoleonic Wars. He is remembered in Ireland for his suppression of the 1798 Rebellion and for forcing through The Act of Union. In 1822 he cut his throat at his residence in Kent. An added piece of information about the Goblin Child was that when the boy/child appeared to anyone, that person would rise to high prominence but would have a violent death.  Castlereagh’s violent death leaves one to wonder about the curse of the Goblin Child, as Castlereagh rose to high office but then met a violent death.,

William Allingham heard the story of the Goblin Child in his Youth

The account of the story in William Allingham’s narrative poem, "The Goblin Child of Ballyshannon", graphically describes the appearance of the child to Lord Castlereagh and locates this unusual tale at the barracks in Ballyshannon.  The room in which the event occurred in the barracks was, for many years, referred to as Lord Castlereagh’s Chamber. 

William Allingham wrote a poem about Ballyshannon's most famous ghost story

It is significant that the Allingham family lived close to the barracks at Ballyshannon, when the apparition occurred in the late 1700’s, and that the poet William Allingham who was born in 1824, published his poem on the occurrence in 1850.

William Allingham would have been familiar with the story, growing up, and in the extract from his poem quoted below describes the apparition and names of  Lord Castlereagh as the person who saw the Goblin Child in Ballyshannon barracks.

When   suddenly – Oh Heaven! – the fire

Leaped up into a dazzling pyre,

And boldly from the brightened hearth

A Naked Child stepped forth.

  

                                                                       With a total, frozen start,

A bound – a pausing of the heart,

He saw.  It came across the floor,

Its size increasing more and more

At every step, until a dread

Gigantic form stood by his bed.

Glaring for some seconds’space

Down into his rigid face –

Back it drew, with steadfast look.

Dwindling every step it took,

Till the Naked Child returned

To the fire, which brightly burned

To greet it: then black sudden gloom

Sunk upon the silent room,

Silent, save the monotone

Of the river flowing down

Through the arches of the bridge,

And beneath his casement ledge.

This happened when our island still

Had nests of goblins left, to fill

Each mouldy nook and corner close,

Like spiders in an ancient house,

And this one read within the face

Intruding on its dwelling-place,

Lines of woe, despair, and blood,

By spirits only understood;

As mortals now can read the same

In the letters of his name,

Who in that haunted chamber lay,

When  we call him – Castlereagh.

From the 19^th century to the present day the barracks building at the bridge in Ballyshannon has been used as commercial premises and currently houses an auctioneer’s premises, a computer shop, a cafe and Mr. G's shop. This barracks still stands, beside the bridge over the Erne at Ballyshannon, and has a rich ghostly history.

The Green Lady

Local people for generations have identified the Barracks building as the ghostly home of both The Green Lady and The Goblin Child. The story of The Green Lady centres on an officer’s wife who defied her husband by attending a ball in the town. On her return to the barracks an altercation developed with her husband and he threw her to her death down the stairs. The lady had been wearing a green dress and right up to present times local people believe that she haunted the barracks, particularly around the Harvest Fair day in September. The story of the Green Lady was carried to Canada by emigrants from Ballyshannon and made its way back to Ballyshannon before it was lost forever. A few years ago Patricia Keane played the role of the Green Lady to a packed audience in the Abbey Centre. The occasion was a talk I was giving at the Allingham Festival on Ghostly Ballyshannon. Soinbhe Lally kindly scripted the short play.

The full and amazing story of the Green Lady can be found in the local history book  "Ballyshannon Genealogy and History" see below for details. 

Limited edition quality hardback with dust jacket as above available in A Novel Idea and Local Hands Ballyshannon and 

Four Masters Bookshop Donegal Town. Also available signed copies, and inscriptions, for postage or collection from anthonyrbegley@hotmail.com

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.

Memories of a Ballyshannon Music Legend Recalled by Cyril Curran Founder of the Assaroe Céilí Band

The Assaroe Céilí Band (front l.to r.)  Cathal Flynn, Kevin O'Loughlin, Seamus Sweeney

Back (l.tor.) Cyril Curran, Peggy Kelly, John Tierney, Breege Curran and Patricia Sweeney 

                                         (photo courtesy Eileen Curran Kane)

About twelve years ago Cyril Curran kindly gave me some of  his memories of growing up in the town and how the Assaroe Céilí Band became a national name when I interviewed him for a book I was researching on the history of Ballyshannon, a history he was a special part of. Below are recollections of his early memories.

Cyril Curran was a proud native of Ballyshannon and never forgot his roots. He was instrumental in forming the Assaroe Céilí Band who were a household name in music circles in Ireland and Great Britain in their day. Sincere sympathy to his wife Maureen and family in Corby England and to all the Curran and extended family on his recent passing. May he rest in peace.

Memories of Growing up in Ballyshannon 

Cyril recalled his early years in Ballyshannon and a most novel way of ensuring punctual attendance at the Brothers School on the Rock. The Brothers gave a free day from school work to the first pupil to arrive at the school gate. Cyril was early on the ball and won this award several times, although he is not too sure how it affected his spelling in later life! He believed that, although the school wasn’t open on his arrival, the Brothers might have had binoculars and could have viewed the winner from their attic in College Street. Cyril has recollections of his youthful days in Ballyshannon. The monthly Fair Day took place on the street, around the Fair Green where the middle man would buy and sell for someone else. The final price was always decided by the buyer who would spit on his hand and slap the hand if the animal was sold. If the deal was done both would go to the pub and if not they would walk off in different directions. Ballyshannon, he recalled, had several Catholic priests including: Father Herbie Bromley, Fr. Gerard Daly, West Rock, Fr. Des O’Donnell, Market Street, Fr. Hugo Dolan a son of Guard Dolan Main Street, Fr. Daly the Mall long passed on, Father Vincent Gallogley, Fr. Rocks, Fr. Benny O’Gorman, Fr. Ambrose O’Gorman and Fr. Tiernan Castle Street. Bob Devitt, he remembered as a traveller who slept out and always carried a sack on his back and was always teased by the children. He would chase them and scold and preach to them. Mr. Nyhan was a retired school master who would throw fistfuls of money to the children in the street. Whitebread was another traveller who just wandered about with a sack on his back and was a regular visitor to the town. Kevin Lapsley he remembered as a great singer who was known as the “Bing Crosby of Ballyshannon”. There was a plane crash outside Ballyshannon. He saw the wreck sometime in 1945. It was out the Rossnowlagh Road near the cemetery.

Cyril Curran grew up in his family shop in the centre of Ballyshannon beside the Diamond on the left in this old photograph.

The Assaroe Céilí Band put Ballyshannon on the Map 

The Assaroe Céilí Band was a huge part of the music scene in Ballyshannon and surrounding areas. They also were the first local music group to tour all over Ireland and Great Britain. The founder of the Ballyshannon based band was Cyril whose parents owned a sweet shop in the Diamond area of the town. Cyril recalled how he was introduced to the music scene, which led on to the successful Assaroe Céilí Band. In 1947 he was a regular attender at a boys’ club on the Mall, where a family called Mc Gonigle had previously lived. The house was located at the top of an avenue just past the old Ballyshannon Bakery. John Fitzgerald, a Custom’s officer, started the boys’ club and organized activities. Fitzgerald had a great tenor voice and sang at local concerts. Most nights Cyril and other lads from the town gathered at the club where they sang listened to music and went on hiking activities. As a result of this experience Cyril and a few others decided to form a band. This was the era of Cementation and the ES.B. with quite a few musicians around. Musicians who played locally with him included, Jackie Flynn, Francis Fannon and Mickie Gallagher who was the drummer for a number of years. On one occasion, he performed with a 15 piece band in the 98 Hall, Maureen and Lily Slevin made up part of the Band on that occasion.

Ballyshannon Brass and Reed Band at St. Patrick's Well 1947

Front Row l.tor. Cyril Curran, Leo Masterson (young boy), John McCafferty

Middle Row: Freddie McDonagh, Patsy O'Donnell, Sean Fox, Jim Dolan, P.J. Goan, Tom Gallagher, Jim Gallagher, Jimmy Daly

Back Row: Bob Gallagher, Jim Gallagher, James Gallogley, Packie McIvor, Jimmy McNulty, John Davy, Pat McGahern, Seamus Gallagher and Jimmy Coughlin

In 1952, Cyril started to be more ambitious and advertised in “The Irish Independent” and travelled to venues around the country. In the summer of 1954 he was approached by a promoter, named Phil Solomon, who invited the Assaroe to tour as back-up band to the great Jimmy Shand Scottish Band. At that time Jimmy Shand was a huge star and this was a major breakthrough for the Ballyshannon based band. The 1954 tour took the Assaroe from Cork to Donegal and places in between. Their fee for the entire tour was £325 and they came home with a few pounds in the pocket and the rest is history. The Assaroe were big news after that and toured extensively in Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales. Cross- channel tours were a regular feature with up to three tours a year. On occasions the band travelled to England for a few special dates and Cyril recalled on one occasion, flying over for one special date, to a concert in The Belgrave Theatre in Coventry. The Assaroe were popular on R.T.E. radio and featured regularly with three live broadcasts each year on Céilí House, plus numerous broadcasts on Take the Floor with Din Joe and even broadcast from the Rock Hall. Many local musicians played with the Assaroe He recalled the names of some people who played with the Assaroe over the years: Breege Curran Kelly, Eileen Curran Kane, Mickie Gillespie, Francis Fannon, Jackie Flynn, Mickie Gallagher, John Tierney, Larry Hoy, Charlie Lennon, Seamus Sweeney, Patricia Sweeney McGroary, Kevin Loughlin, Peggy Kelly, Charlie McGettigan, Neil McBride, Cathal Flynn, Noel Scott, Tom Gallagher and Vincent McGurn, Corlea.

Ballyshannon native and Eurovision winner Charlie McGettigan was
influenced in his early career by Cyril and the Assaroe Ceilí Band

Charlie McGettigan who went on to win the Eurovision Song Contest with Paul Harrington credits Cyril Curran as a major influence on his musical career. The Rock Hall played a major part in his early years as he was mesmerised by Cyril Curran, The Assaroe Ceilí Band and local artistes like Micilín Gillespie and those consummate professionals Maureen Kane and Lily Heresy who had the audience in stitches as they played, sang and performed sketches with a local flavour. Mary Mc Gonigle, a glamorous singer with the Assaroe, John Tierney, a shoemaker from College Street and the full Assaroe Band he felt were a most professional outfit , who had music stands, their name on a van and went on tours of England and Scotland. The thrill of Charlie’s short music career, at the time, was when Cyril Curran invited him to play with the Assaroe Ceilí Band at a dance in Rossinver. The regular guitar player was unavailable and Charlie recalls his excitement at hitting the big time! He would have played for nothing but he remembers Cyril Curran meeting him, sometime later, and giving him ten shillings. 

Ancient image of Assaroe falls which Cyril named his Band after

The Assaroe Céilí Band always promoted Ballyshannon, displaying a photograph of the Assaroe Falls at their dances. Cyril chose the Assaroe as the name for the band because he grew up close to where the Assaroe Falls once created a musical sound of their own.  Cyril Curran was very much a Ballyshannon man who never forgot his roots by the Erne and was a regular visitor to the town.  His memory will never be forgotten in his native Ballyshannon. 

Sincere sympathy to his wife Maureen and family in Corby England and to all the Curran and extended family . May he rest in peace .

Adieu to Belashanny!
    where I was bred and born;
Go where I may, I'll think of you,
    as sure as night and morn.
The kindly spot, the friendly town,
    where every one is known,
And not a face in all the place
    but partly seems my own;
There's not a house or window,
    there's not a field or hill,
But, east or west, in foreign lands,
    I'll recollect them still.
I leave my warm heart with you,
    tho' my back I'm forced to turn—
Adieu to Belashanny,
    and the winding banks of Erne!

                     William Allingham

Limited edition quality hardback with dust jacket as above available in A Novel Idea and Local Hands Ballyshannon and 

Four Masters Bookshop Donegal Town. Also available signed copies, and inscriptions, for postage or collection from anthonyrbegley@hotmail.com

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.

Happy Birthday Tom Gallagher- Memories of the Longest Serving Member of Ballyshannon Brass and Reed Band

H

Ballyshannon Brass and Reed Band 1970  Bundoran Corpus Christi procession

Foreground l.to r.  Liam Hoey, Michael Rafferty

2nd Row: Bob Gallagher, Anthony Begley, Seamus Grimes, Tom Gallagher, James Hoey, Michael Gillespie, Danny McGeever

3rd Row: P.J. Goan, Dessie Flynn, Eamon Gallagher, Thomas McBride, Michael Gallagher, Paddy Monaghan, Seamus Gallagher, Mickie Gallagher.

Ballyshannon Brass and Reed Band at St. Patrick's Well 1947

Front Row l.tor. Cyril Curran, Leo Masterson (young boy), John McCafferty

Middle Row: Freddie McDonagh, Patsy O'Donnell, Sean Fox, Jim Dolan, P.J. Goan, Tom Gallagher, Jim Gallagher, Jimmy Daly

Back Row: Bob Gallagher, Jim Gallagher, James Gallogley, Packie McIvor, Jimmy McNulty, John Davy, Pat McGahern, Seamus Gallagher and Jimmy Coughlin

Ballyshannon Brass and Reed Band at St. Patrick's Day Parade Sligo 1979

FRont l.to r. Padraig McGarrigle, Danny McGeever, Seamus Gallagher, Bob Gallagher

Second Row. Jack Grimes, Packie Gallagher, Jimmy Rafferty, Francis Gallagher, Tom Gallagher, Anthony Begley, James Hoey

Third Row. Mickie Gallagher, Fergus Lawlor, Michael Dalton, P.J. Goan, Jim Gallagher

Fourth Row. Eamon Gallagher, Cecil Stephens, Michael Gallagher, Eugene McLoughlin and John McGahern

Happy Birthday Tom on behalf of all the members of Ballyshannon Brass and Reed Band. Thank you for all you did for the band in your 77 years as a playing member. Well done in following a family tradition of service to the Band. Best wishes to Angela and all the family on this special birthday.

8th Anniversary of Ballyshannon Musings this week. Read The Most Popular Local History Blog in the Past 8 Years

The sandbar at Ballyshannon was changed completely by the storm on "The Night of the Big Wind"

To mark the 8th anniversary of the Ballyshannon Musings local history blog this is the most popular blog since it started on 11th October 2012. The Night of the Big Wind left a trail of destruction in Ballyshannon, Bundoran, Rossnowlagh and elsewhere which was the greatest storm recorded in this area. 

All the  Ballyshannon Musings local history blogs since 2012 can be found on ballyshannon-musings.blogspot.com and also on my Facebook page and on Ballyshannon Genealogy and History Facebook page. Please share with anyone interested or with anyone not on Facebook who can find the blogs on blogspot above. There have been nearly 250,000 hits or viewings worldwide of Ballyshannon Musings since 2012. Thanks to all who view and share, for their encouragement and interest in the Ballyshannon area and its history.

The Night of the Big Wind

This was Ireland’s most famous storm and locally it did a lot of damage in the Ballyshannon, Bundoran and Rossnowlagh areas. After a calm day on Sunday 6^th January 1839 which was dull, cold, with snow showers, the winds started to pick up on Sunday evening. A westerly gale got stronger by midnight and there were hurricane force winds between 2 and 4 o’clock on Monday morning. As the storm took place in darkness it was more frightening for local people.  Nationwide  the depression and the hurricane force winds were raging until things started to calm down around 5 a.m.

Oíche na Gaoithe Móire as it was called in Irish was used as a point of reference in 1909 when the old age pension was introduced. People who could prove they were over the age of 70 were entitled to a yearly pension of £13. Many people had no written evidence of their age as record keeping was not always the best. If a person could prove that they remembered or were around on the Night of the Big Wind then they got the pension.

 

Rossnowlagh suffered great damage on The Night of the Big Wind 

In the Ballyshannon area the frightening cholera epidemic raged in 1832, followed by the destruction to property caused by the Great Wind in 1839 and the 1840s brought the Great Famine. Small wonder that people at the time felt that the end of the world was near. Two of the churches in Ballyshannon, St. Anne’s and St. Patrick’s had to be rebuilt as a result of the storm. Surviving records only focus on buildings like churches but the damage to private property and agriculture was also very severe. In Bundoran the bathing boxes were nearly all blown down or unroofed. Several private residences were also severely damaged. The “The Derry Journal” gave a report on local conditions:

We have not heard of any lives (man or beast) being lost in the town. The country was not so fortunate----several families buried beneath the ruins of their dwellings. Along the sea coast the destruction of property is melancholy.

Bathing boxes destroyed at Bundoran in Night of the Big Wind

St. Anne’s Church on Mullaghnashee had to be replaced

This church stands on the highest ground in Ballyshannon, overlooking the channel from which the hurricane force winds battered the building. The building was so badly damaged that it was beyond repair. Curiously the only part of the church that was salvaged was the tower (on which there is a clock today). The tower belongs to the earlier church which had been built in 1735. Church services had to be held elsewhere as the huge task of building a new church began. The new church was built speedily by 1841 at a cost of roughly £3,500.  This new building was attached to the original tower, but the new building was wider than the building destroyed on the Night of the Big Wind. This meant that some tombstones had to be removed and a visit to the inside of the church today, reveals two plaques on the south facing wall which refer to this. A plaque to the Allingham family and one to the Major family who would have resided at Camlin, mentions that the people named were buried underneath the new church walls.

     St. Anne's Church  without the clock was rebuilt after damage
caused by The Night of the Big Wind.

St. Patrick’s Church had to be rebuilt 

The roof of St. Patrick’s Church on Chapel Street was very badly damaged and this church was rebuilt with the foundation stone laid in 1842 by Rt. Rev. Dr. McGettigan, three years after the Night of the Big Wind. Daniel Campbell from Pettigo built the new church at a cost of £1,380 with additional costs to window glazers and other sub-contractors. Amongst the fund-raising for the new church was the visit to “The Big Meadow” by Fr. Matthew the great Temperance crusader who drew an estimate crowd of 20,000 to the church and “The Big Meadow”. Even before the Night of the Big Wind, Fr. Cummins P.P. had started to fundraise to rebuild the church which had been built on the site in 1795. The church was in a poor state and undoubtedly the Night of the Big Wind made matters worse and speeded up the building of the present church. Colaiste Cholmcille is now on the site of "The Big Meadow"

St. Patrick's Church had to be rebuilt after the storm

St. Joseph’s Church Damaged/The Methodist Preaching House on the Mall damaged

St. Joseph’s Church on the Rock which had only been built in 1835 suffered much damage and this must have been disheartening to the congregation as they had raised funds for the new building just four years earlier. All this destruction and rebuilding came just as the Great Famine was about to begin in 1844. The present Methodist Church on the Mall (now houses a veterinary practise) was built in 1899 and so the building damaged on The Night of the Big Wind, the Methodist Preaching House on the Mall , was an earlier building.

  

          St. Joseph's Church was only built 4 years when it was badly

                      damaged in the Night of the Big Wind.

The End of the World feared

On the sandbanks at the bar in Ballyshannon, because of the great movement of sand, the banks were the lowest they had ever been. Boats could now pass to areas where the tide had not reached before. Indeed boats could reach areas a half a mile from where they had ever been before. The shifting of sand saw immense volumes blown nearly two miles up to the town of Ballyshannon. Cartloads of sand could be gathered in the immediate vicinity of the town. At Bundoran the bathing boxes were nearly all blown down or unroofed.  In the countryside any hay or grain was destroyed and this led to a crisis in fodder for animals and anxiety over how people would survive.

The sea rose to such a height from Bundoran to Rossnowlagh and Coolmore that people did feel that the end was nigh. Houses and barns were torn down and in the  Rossnowlagh-Coolmore areas there was scarcely a house left standing. Local people in Bundoran, Rossnowlagh and Ballyshannon feared that the hurricane was a sign that the end of the world was near. This was a natural enough reaction to the fiercest storm in living memory and the fears of people who found it  hard to understand. 

Limited edition quality hardback with dust jacket as above available in A Novel Idea and Local Hands Ballyshannon and 

Four Masters Bookshop Donegal Town. Also available signed copies, and inscriptions, for postage or collection from anthonyrbegley@hotmail.com

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.

Remembering Ballyshannon a Town with 3 Cinemas! Those Were the Days.

Check out what films were showing this week in October 75 years ago in the Rock Cinema

Seventy five years ago the Cinema was the biggest all year round entertainment attraction in Ballyshannon. It is amazing to recall that there were 3 cinemas in town in the pre-television and pre-computer age. Check out what films were showing on this week in October 1945. The most popular film of the month would take many people by surprise today. Those were the days when the community went to the pictures regularly.

"Casablanca" and "Song of Bernadette"

The big films in  October 1945 were "Casablanca" which ran for 3 nights and "The Song of Bernadette" which ran for 6 nights. Normal admission prices were 1 shilling and four pence for the balcony which was a raised platform at the back of the hall, 9 pence and 4 pence. Children under 14 were not admitted to any late night performances under any circumstances.

"The Song of Bernadette" was the most popular film of the month of October and reflected the importance of religion at the time in the lives of the local people. It ran for 6 nights and the admission prices were increased. The film played to packed houses. Sundays were by far the most popular day for films with 3 showings at 3 p.m. 7 p.m. and 9.15 p.m. A shorter film was played before the main feature film and on October 4th the shorter film was on the inauguration of the President of Ireland. This would have been of special interest to locals as Sean T. O' Kelly the new President had opened the houses at East Rock and Falgarragh Park back in 1936. Many locals would have seen him in person at that stage. 

The First Cinemas-The Market Yard, The Rock, The Erne and The Abbey

  The Rock Hall today. In the cinema days the ticket hatch
was on the front of the building facing the road.

The Rock Hall as well as being a concert venue in the town was also the location of the town’s first permanent cinema. Films were shown earlier in venues, like the eggshed which was located in the centre of the Market Yard, by travelling film companies. The first cinema in town with projection equipment installed was the Rock Hall. John Sweeny of the Commercial Hotel, Major Myles, Paddy Crose and a few interested business people formed the Ballyshannon Cinema Company. They brought in an operator from Glasgow and the cinema played to packed houses, for some years, as people came to the Rock Hall from far and near. During the War of Independence the  Bracey Daniel’s Picture Company booked the Rock Hall annually at Easter and showed silent movies nightly. Bracey Daniels (1884-1956) is buried in St. Joseph’s cemetery close to the Rock Hall and is described on his gravestone as an “Irish Cinema Pioneer”.

By the 1930s the four penny matinee on a Sunday was the highlight of the week for young people in Ballyshannon. Mass in the morning and the ‘flicks’ in the afternoon with the Cisco Kid, Tom Mix, Buck Rogers, Hopalong Cassidy, Roy Rogers and  Dale Evans. The patrons crammed into the hall, sitting on wooden benches, no backs, no arms and noisily greeted their heroes on screen in the ‘talkies’ which had replaced the silent movies. The arrival of the Erne Hydro-Electric Scheme brought great changes to cinema viewing in the town.

     The Abbey Arts Centre today is the focal point for arts events in
                     Ballyshannon. It opened as the Abbey Cinema in 1946. 
 (Image courtesy of Ailis McIntyre Abbey Arts Centre)

By 1946 two new cinemas opened in the town, The Abbey Cinema and the Erne Cinema

The former Erne Cinema today. The entrance was on West Port
just under the canopy where there is a window now.

During the Erne hydro-Electric Scheme in the 1940s the Erne Cinema was constructed beside the river Erne and was a massive attraction as it could hold hundreds of patrons. Today it is a shell of a building used as part of the Centra store.

 The former Erne Cinema viewed from Assaroe road today. 
Probably one of the largest cinemas in the North-West

The Rock Hall continued for a while as a cinema but its heyday was in establishing cinema in Ballyshannon from the early 20th century. Fortunately the Rock Hall was able to move with the times and meet other needs of the community. 

The Abbey Centre is a beautiful venue today with a number of theatres and is a focal point for the arts including, drama, musicals, pantomimes, bingo and lots more. In 2020 the only venue in Ballyshannon offering cinema films is the Film Club, monthly, in the Abbey Centre.

"Those were the days my friends we thought they'd never end"

Limited edition quality hardback with dust jacket as above available in A Novel Idea and Local Hands Ballyshannon and 

Four Masters Bookshop Donegal Town. Also available signed copies for postage or collection from anthonyrbegley@hotmail.com

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.