Ballyshannon Book on Christmas Special Offer

50% Reduction on postage for orders for this book to all destinations. Genuine special offer from author.

Ideal local gift for Christmas and all special occasions. 

Contact anthonyrbegley@hotmail.com for further details and for orders of the book.

Signed hard back and soft back books available at special  price for postal delivery or collection. 






A New Local History Book suitable for those at Home and Away

A new book entitled: "Ballyshannon. Genealogy and History" reveals newly researched history and genealogy of the town, extending as far as the Rossnowlagh, Cashelard, Corlea, Clyhore, Higginstown and Finner areas. Includes the parishes of Kilbarron and Magh Ene.

The genealogy material provides detailed guidelines for anyone tracing their roots in the area or anywhere in County Donegal or Ireland. 

The book contains 500 pages and is richly illustrated with stunning colour, aerial photography, original illustrations and rare photographs of the area not seen before.

Topics include: How to go about Tracing your Roots/The first settlers in the area/ Newly researched history of the town of Ballyshannon and the townlands in Kilbarron and Mágh Éne parishes/ Records of the first travellers and tourists to Ballyshannon, Bundoran, Belleek, Rossnowlagh and Ballintra/An aerial guide to place names along the Erne from Ballyshannon to the Bar/Flora and Fauna of the area/ A history of buildings and housing estates in the locality/Graveyard Inscriptions from the Abbey graveyard, St. Joseph’s and St. Anne’s /Rolling back the years with many memories of the Great Famine, Independence struggle, hydro-electric scheme, Gaelic games, boxing, handball, Boy Scouts, soccer, mummers, characters, organisations, folklore and lots more.

Book Available from Anthony Begley West Rock Ballyshannon. anthonyrbegley@hotmail.com  Enquiries welcome for postal and other details. Also available at The Novel Idea Bookshop Ballyshannon, Ballyshannon and District Museum and The Four Masters Bookshop Donegal Town. 

Ballyshannon Featured in National Newspaper

The Irish Independent carried an article on Ballyshannon entitled "Town your Way"  featuring Anthony Begley and  Aileen McCann;  to view the article  Google : Town your way independent.ie
Or open the link below:
 http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/mothers-babies/town-your-way-ballyshannon-co-donegal-29700918.html

Blog Archive

The blog archive of Ballyshannon Musings will still be available to read on the internet.The index below should be helpful in locating a particular blog. Good to hear that people connected to the Ballyshannon area enjoyed the blog worldwide and the site received thousands of hits. Copy this link and it can be googled at http://ballyshannon-musings.blogspot.ie/ 

Index to Ballyshannon Musings 2012-2013

October 2012

Ballyshannon Musings-Introduction

Ballyshannon Fisherman’s Curious Discovery

40 Shades of Ballyshannon

November 2012

Lots of Local History at the Allingham Festival

Centenary of De La Salle 1912-2012

Ballyshannon Workhouse Closes 90 Years Ago

The Garden Fete and Fancy dress Parade 1945

December 2012
 

Christmas Shopping in Ballyshannon in 1889

19^th Century Ballyshannon- A Commercial Centre

Ten Rarely Asked Questions on the Ballyshannon Area

Let Me Sing of What I Know (1)

January 2013
 

Let Me Sing of What I know (2)

Farewell to Ballyshannon

Ballyshannon Musings Update

The Maid of the Melvin Shore and Other True Stories

February
 

Ballyshannon Musings-Worldwide Interest

The Worst Fire Ever in Ballyshannon in 1849

Ballyshannon Musings 20 Countries Connected

Early Drama Groups and Ballyshannon Playwrights

March
 

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

Ballyshannon Imprisonments, Whippings and Transportations to Van Diemen’s Land

From Ballyshannon to Australia and on to Zambia

Eamon De Valera’s Late Late Rally in Ballyshannon 1937

April
 

A Full Listing of Blogs on Ballyshannon Musings

A Forgotten Golf Course over a Century Ago

Ballyshannon Musings- Worlwide Interest in 40 Countries

Masters, Murders, American Wakes and Local Links to Florence Nightingale

May

 

Coolmore National School Centenary Ballad 1952

Ten Local Visitor Attractions of the Past

Bundoran a leading Tourist Resort and Scene of a Hurling Match in 1839

Ballyshannon 400

June

The Most Unusual Legal Case Ever in Ballyshannon
The Conversion of Ballyshannon 1856 
 A Forgotten Story plus the Top Ten Blogs in 2013
The Games people Played Locally in Bygone Days
Romance and Murder Amongst the Gaelic Chieftains at Ballyshannon

July

The Banks of Culmore
Kildoney Fishermens' Victory
Local Customs for Special Days
A Famine Walk and Sad Memories in South Donegal, Leitrim and Fermanagh

August

Cures of Bygone Days
There Goes a Poet if he Only Know it
 Ballyshannon a Market Town in Famine Times
The Gaelic Revival in Ballyshannon a Hundred Years Ago
A Unique Diary of Ballyshannon Life in the 1840s

September

Full Index to Ballyshannon Musings 2012-2013

Christmas Special Offer on Ballyshannon Book

50% Reduction on postage for orders for this book to all destinations. Genuine special offer from author.

Ideal local gift for Christmas and all special occasions. 

Contact anthonyrbegley@hotmail.com for further details and for orders of the book.

Signed hard back and soft back books available at special  price for postal delivery or collection. 






A New Local History Book suitable for those at Home and Away

A new book entitled: "Ballyshannon. Genealogy and History" reveals newly researched history and genealogy of the town, extending as far as the Rossnowlagh, Cashelard, Corlea, Clyhore, Higginstown and Finner areas. Includes the parishes of Kilbarron and Magh Ene.

The genealogy material provides detailed guidelines for anyone tracing their roots in the area or anywhere in County Donegal or Ireland. 

The book contains 500 pages and is richly illustrated with stunning colour, aerial photography, original illustrations and rare photographs of the area not seen before.

Topics include: How to go about Tracing your Roots/The first settlers in the area/ Newly researched history of the town of Ballyshannon and the townlands in Kilbarron and Mágh Éne parishes/ Records of the first travellers and tourists to Ballyshannon, Bundoran, Belleek, Rossnowlagh and Ballintra/An aerial guide to place names along the Erne from Ballyshannon to the Bar/Flora and Fauna of the area/ A history of buildings and housing estates in the locality/Graveyard Inscriptions from the Abbey graveyard, St. Joseph’s and St. Anne’s /Rolling back the years with many memories of the Great Famine, Independence struggle, hydro-electric scheme, Gaelic games, boxing, handball, Boy Scouts, soccer, mummers, characters, organisations, folklore and lots more.

Book Available from Anthony Begley West Rock Ballyshannon. anthonyrbegley@hotmail.com  Enquiries welcome for postal and other details. Also available at The Novel Idea Bookshop Ballyshannon, Ballyshannon and District Museum and The Four Masters Bookshop Donegal Town. 

Ballyshannon Featured in National Newspaper

The Irish Independent carried an article on Ballyshannon entitled "Town your Way"  featuring Anthony Begley and  Aileen McCann;  to view the article  Google : Town your way independent.ie
Or open the link below:
 http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/mothers-babies/town-your-way-ballyshannon-co-donegal-29700918.html

Blog Archive

The blog archive of Ballyshannon Musings will still be available to read on the internet.The index below should be helpful in locating a particular blog. Good to hear that people connected to the Ballyshannon area enjoyed the blog worldwide and the site received thousands of hits. Copy this link and it can be googled at http://ballyshannon-musings.blogspot.ie/ 

Index to Ballyshannon Musings 2012-2013

October 2012

Ballyshannon Musings-Introduction

Ballyshannon Fisherman’s Curious Discovery

40 Shades of Ballyshannon

November 2012

Lots of Local History at the Allingham Festival

Centenary of De La Salle 1912-2012

Ballyshannon Workhouse Closes 90 Years Ago

The Garden Fete and Fancy dress Parade 1945

December 2012
 

Christmas Shopping in Ballyshannon in 1889

19^th Century Ballyshannon- A Commercial Centre

Ten Rarely Asked Questions on the Ballyshannon Area

Let Me Sing of What I Know (1)

January 2013
 

Let Me Sing of What I know (2)

Farewell to Ballyshannon

Ballyshannon Musings Update

The Maid of the Melvin Shore and Other True Stories

February
 

Ballyshannon Musings-Worldwide Interest

The Worst Fire Ever in Ballyshannon in 1849

Ballyshannon Musings 20 Countries Connected

Early Drama Groups and Ballyshannon Playwrights

March
 

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

Ballyshannon Imprisonments, Whippings and Transportations to Van Diemen’s Land

From Ballyshannon to Australia and on to Zambia

Eamon De Valera’s Late Late Rally in Ballyshannon 1937

April
 

A Full Listing of Blogs on Ballyshannon Musings

A Forgotten Golf Course over a Century Ago

Ballyshannon Musings- Worlwide Interest in 40 Countries

Masters, Murders, American Wakes and Local Links to Florence Nightingale

May

 

Coolmore National School Centenary Ballad 1952

Ten Local Visitor Attractions of the Past

Bundoran a leading Tourist Resort and Scene of a Hurling Match in 1839

Ballyshannon 400

June

The Most Unusual Legal Case Ever in Ballyshannon
The Conversion of Ballyshannon 1856 
 A Forgotten Story plus the Top Ten Blogs in 2013
The Games people Played Locally in Bygone Days
Romance and Murder Amongst the Gaelic Chieftains at Ballyshannon

July

The Banks of Culmore
Kildoney Fishermens' Victory
Local Customs for Special Days
A Famine Walk and Sad Memories in South Donegal, Leitrim and Fermanagh

August

Cures of Bygone Days
There Goes a Poet if he Only Know it
 Ballyshannon a Market Town in Famine Times
The Gaelic Revival in Ballyshannon a Hundred Years Ago
A Unique Diary of Ballyshannon Life in the 1840s

September

Full Index to Ballyshannon Musings 2012-2013

Full Index to Ballyshannon Musings 2012-2013

Dear Reader,

I hope you enjoyed my local history blogs in the past year and that you will continue to have an interest in the Ballyshannon area.The blog archive of Ballyshannon Musings will still be available to read on the internet. Ballyshannon Musings is a voluntary effort to promote the history of the area and to link people worldwide with the Ballyshannon area for the Year of the Gathering. Thousands of hits have been recorded in over 50 countries worldwide and I have enjoyed being in contact with people who have connections with the area. 

I met a number of visitors during the summer who followed the blog and I will be meeting more from the U.S.A. and elsewhere. My latest book  has much material on tracing family roots and the local history of the area. "Ballyshannon Genealogy and History" can be posted worldwide. My contact  address and details of the book are  listed below.

I hope to have a website in the near future and if you wish to receive details drop me an email and I will keep you posted when it becomes available.

Kindest Regards

Anthony Begley

Local Historian

Email - anthonyrbegley@hotmail.com

See brief tribute at the end of this blog.

Blog Archive

The blog archive of Ballyshannon Musings will still be available to read on the internet.The index below should be helpful in locating a particular blog. Good to hear that people connected to the Ballyshannon area enjoyed the blog worldwide and the site received thousands of hits. Copy this link and it can be googled at http://ballyshannon-musings.blogspot.ie/ 

Index to Ballyshannon Musings 2012-2013

October 2012

Ballyshannon Musings-Introduction

Ballyshannon Fisherman’s Curious Discovery

40 Shades of Ballyshannon

November 2012

Lots of Local History at the Allingham Festival

Centenary of De La Salle 1912-2012

Ballyshannon Workhouse Closes 90 Years Ago

The Garden Fete and Fancy dress Parade 1945

December 2012
 

Christmas Shopping in Ballyshannon in 1889

19^th Century Ballyshannon- A Commercial Centre

Ten Rarely Asked Questions on the Ballyshannon Area

Let Me Sing of What I Know (1)

January 2013
 

Let Me Sing of What I know (2)

Farewell to Ballyshannon

Ballyshannon Musings Update

The Maid of the Melvin Shore and Other True Stories

February
 

Ballyshannon Musings-Worldwide Interest

The Worst Fire Ever in Ballyshannon in 1849

Ballyshannon Musings 20 Countries Connected

Early Drama Groups and Ballyshannon Playwrights

March
 

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

Ballyshannon Imprisonments, Whippings and Transportations to Van Diemen’s Land

From Ballyshannon to Australia and on to Zambia

Eamon De Valera’s Late Late Rally in Ballyshannon 1937

April
 

A Full Listing of Blogs on Ballyshannon Musings

A Forgotten Golf Course over a Century Ago

Ballyshannon Musings- Worlwide Interest in 40 Countries

Masters, Murders, American Wakes and Local Links to Florence Nightingale

May

 

Coolmore National School Centenary Ballad 1952

Ten Local Visitor Attractions of the Past

Bundoran a leading Tourist Resort and Scene of a Hurling Match in 1839

Ballyshannon 400

June

The Most Unusual Legal Case Ever in Ballyshannon
The Conversion of Ballyshannon 1856 
 A Forgotten Story plus the Top Ten Blogs in 2013
The Games people Played Locally in Bygone Days
Romance and Murder Amongst the Gaelic Chieftains at Ballyshannon

July

The Banks of Culmore
Kildoney Fishermens' Victory
Local Customs for Special Days
A Famine Walk and Sad Memories in South Donegal, Leitrim and Fermanagh

August

Cures of Bygone Days
There Goes a Poet if he Only Know it
 Ballyshannon a Market Town in Famine Times
The Gaelic Revival in Ballyshannon a Hundred Years Ago
A Unique Diary of Ballyshannon Life in the 1840s

September

Full Index to Ballyshannon Musings 2012-2013 

50% Reduction on postage for orders for this book to all destinations. Genuine special offer. 

Ideal local gift for Christmas and all special occasions. 

Contact anthonyrbegley@hotmail.com for further details and for orders of the book.

Signed hard back and soft back books available at special  price for postal delivery or collection. 






A New Local History Book suitable for those at Home and Away

A new book entitled: "Ballyshannon. Genealogy and History" reveals newly researched history and genealogy of the town, extending as far as the Rossnowlagh, Cashelard, Corlea, Clyhore, Higginstown and Finner areas. Includes the parishes of Kilbarron and Magh Ene.

The genealogy material provides detailed guidelines for anyone tracing their roots in the area or anywhere in County Donegal or Ireland. 

The book contains 500 pages and is richly illustrated with stunning colour, aerial photography, original illustrations and rare photographs of the area not seen before.

Topics include: How to go about Tracing your Roots/The first settlers in the area/ Newly researched history of the town of Ballyshannon and the townlands in Kilbarron and Mágh Éne parishes/ Records of the first travellers and tourists to Ballyshannon, Bundoran, Belleek, Rossnowlagh and Ballintra/An aerial guide to place names along the Erne from Ballyshannon to the Bar/Flora and Fauna of the area/ A history of buildings and housing estates in the locality/Graveyard Inscriptions from the Abbey graveyard, St. Joseph’s and St. Anne’s /Rolling back the years with many memories of the Great Famine, Independence struggle, hydro-electric scheme, Gaelic games, boxing, handball, Boy Scouts, soccer, mummers, characters, organisations, folklore and lots more.

Book Available from Anthony Begley West Rock Ballyshannon. anthonyrbegley@hotmail.com  Enquiries welcome for postal and other details. Also available at The Novel Idea Bookshop Ballyshannon, Ballyshannon and District Museum, Ballyshannon Tourist Office, The Four Masters Bookshop Donegal Town.

The blogs are original and are not taken from the book above.

Adieu

In 2013 two townsmen who shared my interest in the history of the Ballyshannon area and who were always generous in encouraging and assisting me with my researches passed away. Cecil Stephens and Billy Ward will be sadly missed by their families and friends and by all who recognised their great love of their hometown. May they both rest in peace.

If ever I'm a money'd man, I mean, please God, to cast
My golden anchor in the place where youthful years were passed,
Though heads that now are black and brown must meanwhile gather gray,
New faces rise by every hearth, and old ones drop away
Yet dearer still that Irish hill than all the world beside;
It's home, sweet home, where'er I roam, through lands and waters wide.
And if the Lord allows me, I surely will return
To my native Belashanny, and the winding banks of Erne.

                                                                                                                                    William Allingham

A Unique Diary of Ballyshannon Life in the 1840s

Some years ago, in Ballyshannon, a dusty bundle of papers was discovered inside an old piano. It was a diary, written by a young Ballyshannon woman, Mary Anne Sheil, during the years 1844 to 1848, a diary that, today, opens a window on to Ballyshannon’s living past.

Mary Anne was a daughter of Doctor Simon Sheil, land agent for the Conolly estates and holder of fishing rights on the river Erne. Her mother, Alicia O’Conor, was sister of the O’Conor Don, and lineal descendant of Roderic, last high king of Ireland. 

Life in the Big House

The diary begins in 1844 when both parents are already deceased. Mary Anne and her sisters have assumed housekeeping duties for their brother Simon who, like his father, is a doctor. The girls take turns to supervise domestic staff, keep accounts and receive visitors. However life is not all duty and so there are piano lessons with Mr. Walton Roberts from London who also teaches them to dance the polka and the waltz. Old Halloween on the 11^th of November, sees the family playing parlour games. Mary Anne records: “Julia, Catherine and I put apple peels over the door. Thady Carmichael came under the first, Owen Kean, the second, and the Rev. Coyle under mine, as if to prove its veracity.”

The Circus arrives in Ballyshannon 1844

The arrival of the circus on the 1^st of July 1844 throws Ballyshannon into a state of excitement. There is a circus parade and Mary Anne finds the scene in front of Sheil House “equal to Donnybrook Fair” with jugglers, tumblers, people riding on stilts, dancers,” and seven pairs of beautiful horses. An announcement that Hughes’s Modern Roman Amphitheatre of Arts is to perform next day at the circus ring on the Mall, and that the largest elephant in the world will be there, prompts Mary Anne and her sisters to bring a small boy for a sneak preview. The diary records “a peep through a keyhole” and a glimpse of the elephant which the small boy “particularly enjoys.” 

Poverty and Emigration  from the Mall Quay

However the 1840s are not only a time for circuses. A visit to the workhouse fills Mary Anne with dismay and she writes, “To the poorhouse we went. Oh! What a misery is in this world. I would pray never to die in a Poorhouse.” She is saddened too by the departure of emigrants and records:

We went to the Dungravin Hills to see the ship sailing off to America with 90 passengers from this town and neighbourhood for the Land of Liberty. They had music, which in some degrees removed the sadness of the scene, as they only played merry airs. Anne Rogers has been in floods of tears all this day after Susan Magrath who is gone.

Two Wedding Ceremonies

When a suitor enters Mary Anne’s life, she is reluctant to confide in her diary, telling us only that she “forgot to mention a remarkable event of yesterday, which was that Mr. John Allingham of Willybrook House sent us his picture to look at. Mr. J. Allingham surprised me in the garden, where we had a long walk. He said a great deal. I listened and said nothing.”

Mr. Allingham proposed marriage and Mary Anne accepted. He gave his betrothed a present of a starling in a cage and shortly afterwards they were married with two wedding ceremonies, one Catholic and one Protestant because theirs was a mixed marriage. Their four children were born during the terrible Famine years that followed and the young parents were fearful for the health of their babies, especially Alice, the youngest, who had to be vaccinated three times. 

A Window on Life in Ballyshannon in the 19th Century

Mary Anne writes less often in her diary now as family cares take precedence and eventually it comes to an end with the lines:

I should be very fond of this Journal, for often when I have set to it with a heavy heart, I have risen from it quite consoled.

And so our window on mid-nineteenth century Ballyshannon closes. 

I am ever for dear sweet Ireland in general, but Ballyshannon in particular

Mary Anne once wrote, leaving us to wonder whether she had any inkling, as she put pen to paper, that she was bequeathing a valuable historical legacy to her beloved town.

Radio Broadcast: This week's blog above contains the script of a Sunday Miscellany piece I researched  for RTE national radio a few years ago.





50% Reduction on postage for orders for this book to all destinations. Genuine special offer. 

Ideal local gift for Christmas and all special occasions. 

Contact anthonyrbegley@hotmail.com for further details and for orders of the book.

Signed hard back and soft back books available at special  price for postal delivery or collection. 





A New Local History Book suitable for those at Home and Away

A new book entitled: "Ballyshannon. Genealogy and History" reveals newly researched history and genealogy of the town, extending as far as the Rossnowlagh, Cashelard, Corlea, Clyhore, Higginstown and Finner areas. Includes the parishes of Kilbarron and Magh Ene.

The genealogy material provides detailed guidelines for anyone tracing their roots in the area or anywhere in County Donegal or Ireland. 

The book contains 500 pages and is richly illustrated with stunning colour, aerial photography, original illustrations and rare photographs of the area not seen before.

Topics include: How to go about Tracing your Roots/The first settlers in the area/ Newly researched history of the town of Ballyshannon and the townlands in Kilbarron and Mágh Éne parishes/ Records of the first travellers and tourists to Ballyshannon, Bundoran, Belleek, Rossnowlagh and Ballintra/An aerial guide to place names along the Erne from Ballyshannon to the Bar/Flora and Fauna of the area/ A history of buildings and housing estates in the locality/Graveyard Inscriptions from the Abbey graveyard, St. Joseph’s and St. Anne’s /Rolling back the years with many memories of the Great Famine, Independence struggle, hydro-electric scheme, Gaelic games, boxing, handball, Boy Scouts, soccer, mummers, characters, organisations, folklore and lots more.

Book Available from Anthony Begley West Rock Ballyshannon. anthonyrbegley@hotmail.com  Enquiries welcome for postal and other details. Also available at The Novel Idea Bookshop Ballyshannon, Ballyshannon and District Museum, Ballyshannon Tourist Office, The Four Masters Bookshop Donegal Town.

The blogs are original and are not taken from the book above.

Final  Blog

7th September Complete Guide to Ballyshannon Musings 2012-2013

The blog archive of Ballyshannon Musings will still be available to read on the internet.

Ballyshannon Musings:  Good to hear that people connected to the Ballyshannon area enjoyed the blog worldwide and the site received thousands of hits. 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/