Coolmore National School Centenary Ballad 1952

There are many ballads and poems commemorating local events such as centenaries and events that were important to the local people in our area. (Many sadly have been lost but if you are in possession of any email me a copy.) This ballad was written in 1952 to mark the centenary of the building of a school at Coolmore in Rossnowlagh. There had been an earlier school in Coolmore  but the one built in 1852 was to serve the local community until it closed in modern times.

The ballad was written by Fr. Terence O'Donnell O.F.M.  a priest  in the Franciscan Friary at Rossnowlagh which was only a very short distance from Coolmore National School. Fr. Terence was a very well known historian throughout County Donegal and was actively involved in County Donegal Historical Society where he was editor  of "The Donegal Annual" and he published numerous local history articles. Many of the families named in the ballad are still living in the area and no doubt have many memories of their schooldays. Many of the townland names where the students lived are also named.

Coolmore National School Centenary Ballad 1952

Good luck to you, my dear old friends and let me shake each hand

To us has come an honour great, a privilege rare and grand –

We’re met together here tonight  beside the  ocean’s roar,

To greet again, to cheer again, our old school in Coolmore!

The years have rolled away down the stream of time,  

And their deeds are told forever, in stately prose and rime,

One hundred years have passed since opened wide its door,

The dear old school, the friendly school, our own school in Coolmore.

A hundred years have crawled away,with their sorrows and their joys,

Since a merry, bright-eyed band of laughing girls and boys

Came racing down the boreens by the dozen and the score,

The first of all to throng the beaches in the old school at Coolmore.

Our grannies and our grandads – we can name them everyone –

Handsome lads and lovely lassies, hearts a-beating as they run

To pick up fragments from the shelves of learning’s store,

Just one hundred years ago, in the old school at Coolmore!

From every townland in they gather – Corker, Cashel and Rosscat,

Coolbeg, Ardeelan and Rathfragan -  you know the names pit-pat,

From Crockahany, and all along Kilbarron’s storied shore,

They troop, gay-hearted boys and girls, to the old school in Coolmore. 

See the fresh cheeks – round and red as mountain rowans,

Of McCartneys, Reynolds, Ropers, of the Gettins and the Goans,

As  they pass in single file across the wooden floor,

In the hard pursuit of knowledge, at the old school in Coolmore.

There are Lipsetts, Wards and  Ashes, small Pattons and young Deery,

With Kelly and McCafferty, and descendants of O’Clery!

Slevins, Brennans, Barrons – no need to name them o’er,

Blue-eyed boys and lissom colleens, in the old school at Coolmore.

From humble homes they troop  adown the well-known winding lanes,

Decked in summer’s golden glory, or swept by winter’s sleety rains;

Skipping gaily in the sunlight, or soaked by skies that pour

To swell in turgid flood the stream that murmurs by the old  school in Coolmore.

And their noisy, carefree shouting fills each corner o the room,

 Till a loud, commanding voice thunders with a fearful boom:

‘Silence!’ ‘Tis the master, and his deep and mighty roar

Stills every youthful clamour, in the old school at Coolmore.

‘To your places!’ And each pupil slinks into his class,

And the daily round of lessons fills hours that creeping pass,

With reading, writing, ‘rithmetic – aye there were sums galore!

But no fancy higher studies, in the old school at Coolmore.

Some quarried deep in learning’s seam, some only scratched the sod,

Despite the patient skill of Master Mac – and a little dose of rod!

But all that’s past and gone; each mined the precious ore,

Just when and as he could, in the old school at Coolmore!

And the treasure picked up there, in nuggets or in grains,

Was tested in the market of the world – in life’s joys and pains –

And proved without alloy in the press of tribulations sore,

And esteemed the crowning glory, of the old school in Coolmore.

The years have rung their changes in the world since then,

but the school has gone its quiet way, and countless are the men –

And the women too, who, deep in their kind hearts’core,

Breathe a blessing on their teachers, and the old school in Coolmore.

We salute with pride tonight, that dear and kind old spot,

May the good God bless  it:-and may it be the happy lot

Of its pupils and its teachers, when life’s weary day is o’er

To meet again in Heaven – and thank God, for the old school in Coolmore.

Ballyshannon Musings:  Good to hear that people from the Ballyshannon area are enjoying the blog in over 40 countries. I received the following comment in an email this week from a Ballyshannon woman :

"Always a joy to get the blog. Actually, am reading it in a tiny airport on the Thai-Burmese border while waiting on a flight back to China. Love the incongruity!"

Please let people with an interest in Ballyshannon and surrounding areas know about this site, particularly people who are not living locally and those who are abroad. The site is called Ballyshannon Musings and there are a number of back issues available on the internet. 

Copy this link and it can be googled at  http://ballyshannon-musings.blogspot.ie/ The site can be located on the internet (or by connecting to my Facebook page). New items will be posted every week on Ballyshannon Musings during 2013, the year of “The Gathering”. The blogs are original and are not taken from the book below.

A New Local History suitable for those at Home and Away 

Anthony Begley, local historian, published a new book entitled: "Ballyshannon. Genealogy and History" which 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 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 Rock Ballyshannon. anthonyrbegley@hotmail.com tel. 0872351044. Enquiries welcome for postal and other details, also available from The Novel Idea Bookshop Ballyshannon and The Four Masters Bookshop Donegal Town.
 

The Gathering in Ballyshannon: Google “The Gathering in Ballyshannon” for more details of special events you might like to attend later in the year. Lots happening in Ballyshannon in the summertime including Rory Gallagher Festival,  Ballyshannon Folk Festival also Ballyshannon 400 celebrating the granting of a town charter in 1613 and there will also be a commemoration of the Kildoney Fishermen’s victory in 1933. Check out www.facebook.com/Ballyshannon Town Council or ballyshannon.ie for further details.

The Ballyshannon and District Museum, with coffee shop available, is newly opened  in Slevin's Department Store. Well worth a visit Monday to Saturday.

In neigbouring Bundoran there is an exhibition of photographs both old and more modern in The Library and also in the Tourist Office which captures the nostalgia of the seaside town over  the past century. This exhibition will continue for the year of the Gathering and is well worth a look.

Next Blog posted Saturday 11th May called "Ten Local Tourist Attractions 200 Years Ago."

Masters, Murders, American Wakes and a Local Link to Florence Nightingale

Local Link to Florence Nightingale

A Ballyshannon lady Mrs. Coane was one of those who volunteered and went with Florence Nightingale to the front in the Crimean War (1853-1856). She was married to William Coane a tailor on East Port and was the mother of Ms. Mary Coane who at one time also lived on East Port in the town. In 1938 Ms. Mary Coane had letters and photos received from Florence Nightingale- “The Lady with the Lamp.” Whatever became of those valuable memorabilia one may never know? Perhaps they are in an attic somewhere in the area? 

Mary Coane remembered her mother talking about pilgrimages she made in the 19th century to Tobarshannon a holy well which was rediscovered recently during the  By-Pass excavations at Ballyhanna. Holy wells like St. Patrick's Well in the Abbey were once very popular places of devotion. The Abbey Well  is in a scenic location which is well worth a visit as the grotto and stations are still intact.

Florence Nightingale was the founder of modern nursing and it is interesting that a Ballyshannon lady was with her during her humanitarian work, tending to the sick and the dying in the Crimean War.

Military Murders in Ballyshannon

A Coane family lived on the Port as far back as 1786 when there were was an atrocity committed by the army from the Barracks at the bridge, resulting in the shooting dead of two innocent women named as Elinor Madden and Mary Mountain. One was shot adjacent to the barracks and the other near the Diamond in the town. These random shootings followed on from an army raid for poteen at the tavern of Denis McGowan on the Port. The soldiers were chased back across the bridge from the Port and the soldiers opened fire killing both women in what was a crowded Ballyshannon with the Fair Day in progress. In the shootings which followed a bullet lodged in a chest of drawers in Coane’s house in the Port.

There was also a very well known Coane family who were extensive landowners at Higginstown House, the ruins of which stand on the high ground overlooking the town of Ballyshannon about a mile or so above the Fr. Tierney Gaelic football park.

Master McIntyre’s School

“We remember him, perched on his seat and bringing us around him, and imparting that knowledge which we wish we could have remembered. We sometimes, in our fancy, think we are back again in the days when we mimicked his manner and voice. And most of us remember, too, his jibes and jokes, the brand of snuff he was so fond of, and the stern lecture he used to give to the messenger who purchased the cane for him at P.B.’s (Stephens), the fierce scowl on his face when anything was done to lower the dignity or reputation of the School, and the joyful feeling reflected in his countenance when examination results were satisfactory”. 

A past pupil described Master McIntyre above and remembered the school with its old press full of books, the antique clock on the wall, the little bell on the desk. Happy days!  Master McIntyre was from Creevy and was known as “The Latin Master” as he prepared boys for Maynooth and the priesthood. Master John McIntyre’s School in College Street closed in September 1922. It was located where the Sister of Mercy later had their Music rooms and the building still survives just past the entrance to Coláiste Cholmcille.

An American Wake in Tírconaill Street

On July 4^th 1923 a group of young ladies were given a farewell dance as they prepared to emigrate to the United States. The date was very appropriate as it was also Independence Day in America. The event was held in Tirconaill Street Ballyshannon with dancing and singing including “When the Ebb Tide Flows”. An accordion player and a flute player performed in this American Wake and this was followed by friends and neighbours bidding farewell at the GNR railway station. Perhaps someone knows of their descendants who could be located for the Gathering?

Ballyshannon Musings:  Please let people with an interest in Ballyshannon and surrounding areas know about this site, particularly people who are not living locally and those who are abroad. The site is called Ballyshannon Musings and there are a number of back issues available on the internet. Copy this link and it can be googled at  http://ballyshannon-musings.blogspot.ie/ The site can be located on the internet (or by connecting to my Facebook page). New items will be posted every week or two on Ballyshannon Musings during 2013, the year of “The Gathering”. The blogs are not taken from the book below.

A New Local History suitable for those at Home and Away 

Anthony Begley, local historian, published a new book entitled: "Ballyshannon. Genealogy and History" which 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 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 tel. 0872351044. Enquiries welcome for postal and other details, also available from The Novel Idea Bookshop Ballyshannon and The Four Masters Bookshop Donegal Town. 

The Gathering in Ballyshannon: Google “The Gathering in Ballyshannon” for more details of special events you might like to attend later in the year. Lots happening in Ballyshannon in the summertime including Rory Gallagher Festival,  Ballyshannon Folk Festival also Ballyshannon 400 celebrating the granting of a town charter in 1613 and there will also be a commemoration of the Kildoney Fishermen’s victory in 1933. Check out www.facebook.com/Ballyshannon Town Council or ballyshannon.ie for further details. The Ballyshannon and District Museum, with coffee shop available, newly opened  in Slevin's Department Store. Well worth a visit Monday to Saturday.

Next Blog "Coolmore Centenary Ballad 1952" will be posted on Saturday next 4th May. Many local families are named in this ballad remembering the school built in 1852 which celebrated its centenary in 1952.

Forthcoming Blogs and Events for a Worldwide Audience

Ballyshannon Musings -Worldwide Interest -40 Countries

Ballyshannon Musings is now being received by people in the  40 countries listed below who have an interest or connection with the Ballyshannon area.

Australia, Barbados, Belize, Brazil, Canada, China, Cyprus, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Kenya,  Latvia, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, U.S.A., Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Vietnam, Zambia.

Ballyshannon and District Museum was officially opened by Ballyshannon man Charlie McGettigan, a former winner of the Eurovision Song Contest, in a fine new facility in Slevin's Department Store with a coffee shop available. Should be of great interest to all our visitors for the Gathering and for years to come. Also a valuable asset for local people and schools. A very large turnout for the launch showed  the continued interest in the history of the oldest town in Ireland.Well done Shane Toolan, Kevin Gallagher and all involved in a great community effort.Congrats also to Barry Sweeny, local artist, on his very interesting paintings of Ballyshannon and its historical personalities.

Forthcoming Blogs

27th April:  Masters, Murders, American Wakes and a Local Link to Florence Nightingale
4th May:  Coolmore National School Centenary Ballad 1952
11th May: Ten Local Tourist Attractions 200 Years Ago.
18th May: Bundoran an Early Tourist Resort and Location of a Hurling Match in 1839
25th May: Ballyshannon 400

The Gathering in Ballyshannon: Google “The Gathering in Ballyshannon” for more details of special events you might like to attend later in the year. Lots happening in Ballyshannon in the summertime including Rory Gallagher Festival,  Ballyshannon Folk Festival also Ballyshannon 400 celebrating the granting of a town charter in 1613 and there will also be a commemoration of the Kildoney Fishermen’s victory in 1933. Check out www.facebook.com/Ballyshannon Town Council or ballyshannon.ie for further details.

Ballyshannon Musings:  Please let people with an interest in Ballyshannon and surrounding areas know about this site, particularly people who are not living locally and those who are abroad. The site is called Ballyshannon Musings and there are a number of back issues available on the internet. Copy this link and it can be googled at  http://ballyshannon-musings.blogspot.ie/ The site can be located on the internet (or by connecting to my Facebook page). New items will be posted every week or two on Ballyshannon Musings during 2013, the year of “The Gathering”. The blogs are not taken from the book below.

A New Local History suitable for those at Home and Away 

Anthony Begley, local historian, published a new book entitled: "Ballyshannon. Genealogy and History" which 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 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 strugglle, 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 tel. 0872351044. Enquiries welcome for postal and other details, also available from The Novel Idea Bookshop Ballyshannon and The Four Masters Bookshop Donegal Town.

A Forgotten Ballyshannon Golf Course Over a 100 Years Ago

Not many people may realise that Ballyshannon had a nine hole golf course at the beginning of the 20th century. It is hardly a coincidence that a golf course was started in Ballyshannon as Bundoran Golf Course was in decline at the beginning of the 20th century.  Bundoran Golf Course had opened in 1894 but by the early 20th century this golf club was in trouble as many of its members were country members, who had travelled from long distances to play the links at the seaside. Many of these members lapsed.

The Ballyshannon Golf Club was opened in the first decade of the 1900s with the military at Finner Camp and some local people playing on the scenic golf course overlooking the Erne. Golf was not as widely popular at that period and only the better off would have played the game. The course was nine holes with the longest hole being 440 yards. The Captain of Ballyshannon Golf Club was F. G. Townsend and his wife was the Honorary Secretary.

Grand Fundraising Concert 1910

By February 1910 Ballyshannon Golf Club were hosting a grand concert in the Rock Hall Ballyshannon with ladies and gentlemen from counties Leitrim, Sligo, Donegal, Derry, Tyrone and Fermanagh present. This would have reflected golf members at the time as most locals would not have played golf. The golfing fraternity performed a play entitled, Sugar and Cream by J.P. Hurst and the cast included F.G.Townshend, Mr. Wentworth, Mr. G.A. Sparrow, Mrs. Sparrow, Mrs. Mirfield and Mrs. Gregory.

Golf Course Located at Cornhill

Over  twenty years ago Andrew Vaughan, Dunmuckrum, Ballyshannon, told me  that his father let land for the setting up of the Ballyshannon Golf Course on a site overlooking the Erne. The site of the Ballyshannon Golf Course was between Mr. Vaughan’s residence at the top of Cornhill and the Likely property at the bottom of the hill, adjoining the main road from Ballyshannon to Bundoran. The golf course site is still visible at Cornhill beside the main road. Mr. Vaughan recollected his mother telling him that Miss Knox (later Mrs. Ross of Belleek) played on the course. Her son, John Ross, was later  Captain and President at Bundoran G.C. and a veterinary surgeon in this area. 

Vanished Without Trace

The new club folded around 1916 and Andrew Vaughan remembered as a child, seeing the golfer’s shed in his father’s farmyard. The Club at Ballyshannon had around 50 members and  officers at Finner Camp played on the course just as they also did at Bundoran. The field at Dunmuckrum was taken over by the British Military in preparation for the Great War (1914-1918) and traces of the tees and greens could be detected until  fairly recent years. They also occupied ground adjacent to Portnason House at the same period.  Bundoran Golf Course revived after the First World War and Ballyshannon golf course disappeared without trace in the 1920s.

Next Blog:  “Masters, Murders, Customs and Local Links to Florence Nightingale” will be posted on 27^th April

The Gathering in Ballyshannon: Google “The Gathering in Ballyshannon” for more details of special events you might like to attend later in the year. Lots happening in Ballyshannon in the summertime including Rory Gallagher Festival,  Ballyshannon Folk Festival also Ballyshannon 400 celebrating the granting of a town charter in 1613 and the commemoration of the Kildoney Fishermen’s victory in 1933.

Ballyshannon Musings:  Please let people with an interest in Ballyshannon and surrounding areas know about this site, particularly people who are not living locally and those who are abroad. The site is called Ballyshannon Musings and there are a number of back issues available on the internet. Copy this link and forward google http://ballyshannon-musings.blogspot.ie/ The site can be located on the internet (or by connecting to my Facebook page). New items will be posted every week or two on Ballyshannon Musings during 2013, the year of “The Gathering”. The blogs are not taken from the book below.

A New Local History suitable for those at Home and Away 

Anthony Begley, local historian, published a new book entitled: "Ballyshannon. Genealogy and History" which 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 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 strugglle, 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 tel. 0872351044. Enquiries welcome for postal and other details, also available from The Novel Idea Bookshop Ballyshannon and The Four Masters Bookshop Donegal Town.