Christmas Shopping in Ballyshannon in Bygone Days

As we look forward to more businesses re-opening in Ballyshannon take a nostalgic trip through the town and its shops at Christmas in a bygone era. Have a look at what Ballyshannon shops had to offer over 100 years ago in a wonderful tour of the town by a journalist of the time. Also check out what Ballyshannon as a town had to offer. Then as now, best to shop local and support those who support us. Thanks to all the businesses, the Business Chamber and all who generously provide the community with a beautiful Christmas tree and street lighting which is appreciated by us all. Looking forward to the switching on of the lights on Monday 30th of November at 6 p.m.

 

 What was Ballyshannon like  130   Years Ago?

• The town had a distinctive clock on the newly built Belfast Bank which was built in 1878 at a cost of £4,000.  This building later became the Royal Bank. In the 1960s the Royal Bank amalgamated with the Provincial Bank which was next door and the two banks merged into Allied Irish Bank. (A.I.B.) which still operates as a bank today. The building with the clock then became a jewellers. The clock was restored to its former glory in November 2019 thanks to the work of Ballyshannon Regeneration Group, the new owner of the premises Eamon McNulty  and the local community.
• There was a Market House close to O'Reilly's Fish Shop. Courts were conducted in the         Market House and there was also a dispensary and social activities in the building. The Market House was tossed  in living memory. This is an open recreation area today used for craft fairs and music events.
• The Workhouse was still operating on the Rock beside the Church. The building still survives today but is in a dangerous condition. Sad.  The Famine Orphan Girls memorial the only one of its type in Ireland, is open at all times to the public, beside the workhouse and just opposite the main entry to Fr. Tierney Park. It names and remembers 19 orphan girls shipped to Australia from Ballyshannon workhouse at the height of the Famine. The girls were from the areas around Ballyshannon including Kinlough, Belleek, Mulleek and the Ballyshannon area. Why not pay a visit to keep the memory alive?
• The Great Northern Railway was thriving on Station Road and there were two trains to Dublin daily. The railway arrived in Ballyshannon 150 years ago in 1867. One hundred and fifty years ago the Sisters of Mercy  also arrived in Ballyshannon and are still here today. The G.N.R. railway closed in Ballyshannon 62 years ago in 1957. Two years later in December 1959 the County Donegal Railway in Ballyshannon closed. A great railway town.
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  The GNR station in Ballyshannon
  

  
  
  
  
• There were 6 churches open in town- 2 Catholic, 1 Protestant, 1 Presbyterian and 2 Methodist. The second Methodist Church was at the top of the Main Street. Today there are three churches in town. 
• The town had another iconic clock thanks to the St. Anne's community and the peal of the bells is part of Ballyshannon's heritage. Still has been a regular, welcome and much appreciated sound in 2020. The church which is lit up at night is a welcome beacon for people coming home or passing through town. St. Patrick's Church and St. Joseph's Church also have welcoming bells. which all form part of the town's heritage.
• There were 2 Markets every week in the Market Yard on Thursdays and Saturdays where farmers could sell their produce. The car boot sale takes place in the general area today.
• Fairs were held on the second day of each month. The Harvest Fair was held on the 16th September and was the biggest social gathering of the year. The cattle, horse and pig fairs were held in and  around the Fair Green which today is Allingham Park. Cattle are now sold in the Mart on Station road.
• The Donegal Independent  on the Mall and The Donegal Vindicator on the Port were two newspapers carrying on the tradition of the oldest newspaper town in County Donegal begun in 1831. The Donegal Democrat (still in existence) was  founded in Ballyshannon in 1919 and was the last paper to be printed in Ballyshannon. 
• There was a Coastguard Station, a Brewery  and an Excise Office which all harked back to the days of shipping from the Mall Quay in the town. In modern times a micro-brewery has been opened at Dicey Reillys and who can say what other revivals there will be? The Coastguard houses are still visible at West Rock as are warehouse at Mulligans on the Mall and the Distillery buildings visible from the new footbridge.
• Like most  towns in Ireland, craft trades have disappeared since 1889 including; tanners, boot and shoemakers, weigh-masters in the Market Yard, saddlers, cart makers, hide and butter merchants and Rogan's world famous fly-tying . In modern times good to see a number of craft shops and other new business premises  opening in the town.

Christmas in 1889 saw lots of optimism with many business premises and private residences decorated for the festive season. As you journey through the streets of Ballyshannon in 1889 you can’t help but notice the large number of shops in the main thoroughfares.  There were a lot more shops in 1889 than in 2020 but some shops were smaller, in some cases a front room in a house. For a more complete list of business premises check out The Ulster Directory of 1880 contained in “Ballyshannon Genealogy and History” noted at the end of this blog.

Shopping in the Port

In 1889 the Port area in Ballyshannon was a thriving hub of business but alas the street surface left a lot to be desired. The post office and the Vindicator newspaper were on East Port and a host of local business premises were decorated for Christmas. A local correspondent for “The Donegal Vindicator” has left an excellent account of Christmas shopping  in the busy town of Ballyshannon in 1889, although space prohibited the reporter listing all businesses:

The two Ports, East and West, though somewhat narrow, did their best to enliven the dullness caused by the thick layer of mud always there. At the extreme West Mr. P. Kelly’s premises were tastefully decorated with the orthodox evergreen, Mr. Peter Campbell’s leather warehouse being also tastefully done up.  Mr. J. Gillespie’s grocery establishment was also prettily adorned with evergreen.  At the Bridge end Mr. James Moohan had his extensive premises fancifully festooned, the decorations from lack of window space being principally inside the shop. Down the East Port Mr. Rapmund has expended great taste in ornamentation, as had also Mrs. Breslin, even the Post Office contriving to throw some brightness on its stern official aspect.  Mr. J. Ward’s two establishments were nicely done up, and across the way Mrs. Cunion’s drapery establishment was a glow of everygreen and holly.  Next door the “Vindicator” looked dull, gloomy and forbidding, as befits a Nationalist newspaper office in these days of prison dungeons and removeable law.  Right over the way, however, Mr. William Maguire’s premises made up for the dark spot by a glow of light and colour, set off with holly and evergreens.Mr. James Brown’s shop was very prettily decorated wiith the usual green.  The other shops along the Bridge were all decorated more or less and some of them looked really charming. 

It becomes evident as you follow the reporter through the main thoroughfares of Ballyshannon, how few of the families who ran businesses in 1889 are still in business today. This indicates, as much as anything does, the massive changes which have taken place in the past 130 years. Can you spot any surviving family business listed in 2020?

The Far Side

One of the great mysteries of life in Ballyshannon is, that no matter what side of the river Erne you were living on, you were said by the locals to be from ‘the far side.’ So crossing the bridge we come to the barracks on ‘the far side’ and the shops on the Main Street. The first building on your left is still called the old barracks, although it had not been used by the military since way before the Great Famine of the 1840s. There was another barracks directly opposite where the C.I.E. and Tourist offices are today but it was in ruins when William Allingham was a boy in the 1830s.

So that you can get your bearings in 2020  the old barracks is occupied by Diarmaid Keon (DKP) auctioneers, a computer shop and Mr. G's today. The premises of Robert Sweeney listed below were located where the Bank of Ireland is today. P.B. Stephens' ‘emporium’ is where Mary McGuinness has the town’s excellent bookshop called ‘A Novel Idea’. Read on to see the businesses up the town. 

The newspaper correspondent having crossed the 14 -arch bridge  resumed his descriptions of shops commencing at the bottom of the Main Street. The old barracks on the left of the photograph (with 4 windows visible on the side) is the oldest building in Ballyshannon, built in 1700. It is also home to the  two most famous ghost stories in the area. The ghostly Green Lady and the Goblin Child also known as 'the radiant child' both had connections to this barracks. The full story of the Green Lady is contained in "Ballyshannon Genealogy and History".

                                       Ideal local history book for Christmas home or away.

                                        Check details at the end of the blog

From the Barracks to the Butchers

Crossing the Erne swollen by recent rains, the first place to catch the eye is Mr. John Cassidy’s licensed premises, and here quite an unusual array of floral decorations were to be seen and next door Mr. Potter had made a pretty show. The premises of Mr. M. Flanagan command attention. They make some thing like a pantomimic transformation scene, and especially after nightfall proved very attractive. Some of the choicest goods in the haberdashery line are here displayed amid a judicious arrangement of evergreens and large featherly plumes of foreign grasses.  When lighted up at night the effect is very pleasing and attractive.  The interior is also redolent of the festive season. The premises of  Mr. Michael  Cassidy, butcher, were also adorned in a most artistic manner. In the “barrack” decorations were necessarily confined to the interior, and Mr. Patterson, the courteous manager, must be complimented on the dazzling appearance presented on entering. Mr. John Stephens’ establishment was also handsomely ‘got up’ with evergreens and holly, not to speak of the tempting array of Christmas goods set off to such advantage.

Up the Main Street

Mr. Robert Sweeney’s large premises were decorated in every corner, and the windows displayed great taste in arrangement and style. Every Christmas novelty in the drapery line was procurable here.  Mr. McClelland also had his place very beautifully decorated. Only a passing notice can be given to the premises up this fashionable thoroughfare. Mr. Renison’s premises sported a profusion of holly and evergreens, and Mr. Lipsett’s recent battles did not prevent him from flourishing the season’s emblems. Mrs. Mulhern’s premises were tastefully arranged.  Returning down the opposite side the nice arrangement of Messrs. Forde companies premises was noted. Mr. John Daly had an abundant show of evergreen interspersed with his Christmas stock of fancy drapery goods, nor was the boot and shoe department neglected.  Mr. Hegarty’s jewellery establishment also bore  witness to the festive season in the shape of holly and evergreen.

Castle Street/The Mall and West Port

Crossing over, Mr. P.B. Stephens’ fancy emporium is reached, and a truly dazzling sight meets the gaze.  The variety here ranges from the tiny toy to the choicest article in usefulness.  Noticeable amongst them being the rarest specimens of parian ware from the world renowned Belleek Pottery.  Farther up, the premises of Mr. Edward Stephens are choicely decorated. Floral ornamentations are also seen in the shops of Mr. McNulty, Mr. Mulrine, Mr. C. Campbell, Mr. J. Kelly and Mrs. Gallagher.  It would be impossible to chronicle and comment upon all. Down the Mall the attractive premises of Mr. Trimble are tastefully and elaborately decorated with moustached monkeys, mirth provoking clowns and other appropriate emblems, suitable for the establishment. Though somewhat out of the beaten track the premises of Mr. Myles must not be forgotten.  The decorations were on a fine scale and thoroughly artistic, obtaining no aid, however, from the nature of his goods, ironmongery and such like, being perhaps the most difficult of all to show off with any effect.

Mr. Lipsett’s ‘recent battles’ above refers to a disagreement which he had over the Inspector Martin plaque which can be seen today in St. Anne’s Church. Inspector Martin was killed in Gweedore in 1889 and is buried beside the entrance porch to St. Anne's Church. Trimble’s on the Mall, named above, were a newspaper family who still print “The Impartial Reporter” in Enniskillen. Ballyshannon had 2 newspaper at the time with McAdam’s Donegal Vindicator on the Port and Trimble’s Donegal Independent its rival on the Mall. In 1889 local poet William Allingham died in England and his remains were brought back to his native Ballyshannon in 1889 where he is buried beside St. Anne's Church.

In 1889 few people were seen to be under the influence of alcohol during the festive season and there were no disturbances of any kind. Business premises in the town closed for Christmas Day and St. Stephen’s Day unlike in modern times where the holiday is generally much longer . 

Ideal Local gift for Christmas home and away. 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/  5  Members of Parliament from Ballyshannon/ 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.

Christmas in Ballyshannon at the time of the Spanish Flu

 

 

Christmas time in Ballyshannon 100 years ago and the Spanish Flu. Advice on social distancing is not new and has a long history in Ballyshannon and surrounding areas. 

The Spanish Flu and "The Angel of Death"

In the Ballyshannon area there were many topics of conversation and concern one hundred years ago. World War One ended in November 1918 but also in November, a local newspaper “The Donegal Vindicator” was reporting on The Spanish Flu which worldwide, and in the Ballyshannon area, caused more deaths than the war: 

 “That dread scourge influenza has been working havoc in Ballyshannon. It came in a mild form at first, and when people has just began to think it had abated, during the past week its ravages became more intense, and the Angel of Death has gathered into its fold three of the inhabitants of the place.” 

 Three other natives of the district also died from influenza in the same week.

Social Distancing has a long history in Ballyshannon

As far back as the cholera epidemic which hit Ireland in 1832 there was local advice by the doctors in Ballyshannon not to congregate at wakes. The disease thrived in confined spaces and while many people followed the advice, others didn't, cholera spread and over 100 people died in the Ballyshannon area alone.

 In 1918 speculation, as to how the Spanish Flu spread worldwide  centred on returning soldiers from World War  One and in the Ballyshannon area, as Christmas approached, there were a lot of men returning from the Western Front. 

The Spanish  Flu spread where ever there were large gatherings of people in confined spaces. Wakes were considered to be a source of spreading the disease and the 1918 General Election held in December 1918 with larger gatherings and movements of people, also assisted the spread. Even though election rallies were held in the open air people packed into areas like The Diamond in front of The Medical Hall, in the photograph below, and congregated  for long periods which helped to spread the flu.

A Local Gift for Christmas

In Ballyshannon Workhouse the number of inmates rose from 123 in September 1918 to 159 in December of the same year. In November 1918 due to the large number of patients with influenza extra women were hired to do the washing. Between September 1918 and June 1919 a total of 35 deaths were recorded in Ballyshannon Workhouse. During the war years 940 soldiers were treated for illnesses in Ballyshannon Workhouse and possibly the large concentration of patients in confined spaces increased the death rate. It has been estimated that over 1,000 people died of the Spanish Flu in County Donegal in 1918-1919. Nationally around 23,000 people died with upwards of 800,000 catching this flu. The number of deaths from the Spanish Flu nationally were estimated at 23,000 much greater than the combined deaths in the 1916 Rising, the War of Independence and the Civil War.

Spanish Flu rampant in Ballyshannon Workhouse and in the wider area

Primary School closed in Bundoran because of Spanish Flu

Joseph Murray, local Director of Intelligence for the Irish Volunteers, was a teacher in Bundoran and recalled how the Spanish Flu allowed him to canvass in the 1918 Election. “In December 1918, my school was closed for a long period, due to a serious outbreak of influenza. I was asked to accept the job of organiser for Sinn Féin in the Killybegs, Teelin, Carrick and Glencolmcille areas during the General Election Campaign. I agreed to do the work and took up residence in Killybegs with a sister of P. J. Ward. Ward, who was elected T.D. and who had a long association with Sinn Fein and later the Volunteer movement, was appointed O/C of our 4^th Brigade. Patrick Byrne, a merchant in Killybegs-an uncle of P. J. Ward and a very good speaker-gave me great assistance while I was in the area”. 

The Spanish Flu continued into 1919 and by March numbers in the workhouse were 140 with 20 patients in the infirmary. In March 1919 the local newspaper reported on the deaths of two young people from influenza. 

Christmas Time  in Ballyshannon in 1918

Christmas goods were still in scarce supply in the Ballyshannon shops and there was not as much liquor consumed as in other years, partly because of the cost. Nevertheless the shops put up as good a display as possible in what were difficult circumstances coming just after the end of the World War in November 1918. The local newspaper “The Donegal Vindicator” described the mood in the town at Christmas 1918: 

“There was some little liquor consumed, but not as much as in other years. Perhaps it does not taste as well, or would the reason be that it is too dear? Anyhow the “Old Coleraine” was better in the bottle, as the election fever is not over yet, and a slight breeze would fan the flame, and neither a Sinn Féin nor Parliamentary “black eye” is very imposing. In the town the festive season was duller than ever, not even an Irish Ceilidh, with French dances, to relieve the monotony. No football, and shooting matches were taboo, as D.O.R.A. (Defence of the Realm Act) had put the kibosh on that kind of sport. A tame game of billiards was the only kind of recreation indulged in. A rural band of “mummers” visited the town. A good number of people came home to the town for the Christmas holidays, but in this respect the defenders of the Empire were in the majority, khaki everywhere you turned”. On Christmas morning the masses in St. Patrick’s and St. Joseph’s Churches were well attended, “and the large numbers who approached the altar rails was edifying. The Altar Committees in both parishes spared neither time nor energy, and the interiors of the Churches reflected credit on the willing workers.” The Christmas congregations in St. Anne’s and the Presbyterian Church were also impressive.

Ideal Local gift for Christmas home and away. 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/  5  Members of Parliament from Ballyshannon/ 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.

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.