COMPILED AND PUBLISHED BY BALLYMOTE HERITAGE GROUP ISSUE NO. 52 2019/2020 PRICE €10.00 The Corran Herald Annual Publication of Ballymote Heritage Group Compiled and Published by Ballymote Heritage Group Editor: Fiona Dunleavy Design, Typesetting and Printing: Orbicon Print, Collooney Cover Design and Artwork: Brenda Friel Issue No 52 2019/2020 The Corran Herald wishes to sincerely thank all those who have written articles or contributed photographys or other material for this issue 2 THE CORRAN HERALD • 2019/2020 Contents Page Stephen Flanagan - Editor of The Corran Herald 2012 - 2018 4 Remembering Padraig Mc Dermott (By John McDonagh and Padraig Doddy) 4 The Four Leaf Shamrock (By Joe Langan) 4 Remembering Margaret Foley and Katie Davey (By Kathryn Foley) 5 The Philosophy of Pat Gallagher (Submitted by Michael Farry) 6 Three Titanic Girls (By Kev Murray) 7 Lord Palmerston’s Ballymote Estate: A place of memorable change (By John Mc Keon) 8 What Came in the Boat (By Lynda Hart) 14 Dark Brown or Black (By Kathleen Quinn) 15 Book of Ballymote: Codices Hibernenses Eximii -II- Edited by Ruairí Ó hUiginn (Appreciation by Neal Farry) 16 The Voyage of Patrick (Submitted by Paul Burns) 22 Letter from Bridget Burns Benson to Her Parents in America (Submitted by Paul Burns) 23 Extracts from the Sligo Journal (Submitted by Padraig Doddy) 24 Nace O’Dowd: A Magnificent Footballer (By Tommy Kilcoyne) 25 Professor Ivan Perry (By Neal Farry) 26 The Life and Times of the Old Barn (By Joan Gleeson) 27 World War II Aircraft Crashes in the Easkey Area (By Sam Moore) 28 Sr Bridget Tighe (Submitted by Bernard Tansey) 30 Townlands Revisited: The Keash/Culfadda Townland Project (By Steve Lemken) 31 The Circle of Life (By Bernie Gilbride) 34 Sligo Oysters flown to Asia (By Garreth Byrne) 35 Newspaper Articles 1881 (Submitted by Padraig Doddy) 36 John Taaffe (Submitted by Padraig Doddy) 36 The Rise and the Demise of the Thatched Cottage (By Micheál Murphy) 37 An Historical Tale (By Bernie Gilbride) 39 Elphin: An Enigmatic Saint (By Padraic Feehily) 41 My Name is Matty Brennan (By Joe Langan) 42 Poem of Ballymote County Sligo (By Jack Mullen) 42 Catholic Practice in the mid -18th century Parish of Kilross (By Pat O’Brien) 43 Rite of Passage for a New Theatre (By Michael J Meehan) 47 Sligo Protestants and the Sligo Borough Election of January 1919 (By Padraig Deignan) 49 A Ballymote Bookseller? (Submitted by John Coleman) 54 The Amazing Tale of Dr William P. Tonry ( By John McDonagh) 55 Fred Conlon and his Sligo Sculptures (By Jack Harte) 57 Or Even Turn North (By Martin A Timoney) 59 William Rowan Hamilton: Ireland’s greatest ever Scientist (By Nial Friel) 63 Dobharchú: Hound of the Deep (By Joe McGowan) 64 Taaffe Sun Dial (Submitted by John Coleman) 67 Moth Records from a Ballymote Garden (By Micheal Bell) 68 Did the Punishment Fit the Crime? (By John C Mc Ternan) 70 The Mc Govern Family of Ballymote (Submitted by John Coleman) 72 The Rover Returns…unexpectedly (By Mary Kelly White) 73 Mercy Sisters (Submitted by Pauline Brett) 74 Inishmurray (By Bernie Gilbride) 75 Remembering Gate Lodge at Earlsfield House and Davey’s of ‘The Flash’ (By Owen Duffy) 76 Ballymote Sports Report from the Sligo Champion 1901 (Submitted by David Casey) 78 Chavelier O’Gorman of Auxerre (Submitted by John Perry) 79 Tom Carroll (Submitted by Paddy Egan) 79 The Corkrans of Corkran’s Mall: An old Sligo family (By John C Mc Ternan) 80 My Australian Family (By Maree O’Dowd) 81 Bram Stroker in Ballymote (By Dr Marion Mc Garry) 82 Supreme Court Justice and Senior U.S Democratic Leader Harry Heher (By Owen Duffy) 85 30 Years of the Ballymote Heritage Weekends 87 First Communion 2019 in Ballymote and Knockminna 91 Ballymote Heritage Group 92 3 THE CORRAN HERALD • 2019/2020 STEPHEN FLANAGAN EDITOR OF THE CORRAN HERALD 2012– 2018 By Neal Farry - Chairman of Ballymote Heritage Group Last year we celebrated 33 years and son Stephen. For the past six years now when he is no longer Editor and 50 Issues of Corran Herald. From Stephen has maintained and enhanced is living outside of the country. its launch in 1985 until his death in the role of Editor and the Corran We are deeply grateful to Stephen 2012, James Flanagan was Editor Herald has continued to be published for all his work on the Corran Herald of the Corran Herald. He was also to a high standard and on time under and we wish him and Katie his wife a devoted member of the Ballymote his guidance. Stephen, who achieved all the best for the future. Heritage Group and PRO. He was all of this while working fulltime We welcome Fiona Dunleavy as the totally dedicated, skilled and thorough in Dublin with Microsoft, has now new Editor of the Corran Herald. She in his work in compiling and editing moved to Seattle in the USA as part of has a hard act to follow in the steps the Corran Herald over a long number his job. He managed to get the Corran of the Flanagan gentlemen, but we are of years. Herald published and to standard more than confident that Fiona will The death of James left a huge void by volunteering long hours of his enable us to continue the tradition of in the Balllymote Heritage Group, free time and for this we are very publishing the Corran Herald at the but the editorial role was filled at appreciative. Stephen has never been end of July each year. short notice and with grace by his less than courteous and helpful even Remembering Padraig Mc Dermott By John Mc Donagh & Padraig Doddy It is with a great sense of loss that In Dublin he worked mainly at the we mourn the death of Padraig, who carpentry trade and eventually was died on Jan 18th 2019. Padraig was a employed as “Clerk of Works” by frequent and valued contributor to the Fingal County Council. Corran Herald. Padraig was a dedicated and really A native of Roadstown, enthusiastic historian and researcher Bunninadden Padraig attended and had a photographic memory for Bunninadden national school and names places and dates. He was a Ballymote Vocational school. After frequent user of the services of the his school days he worked as a Records Office in Bishop’s street. Postman around Bunninadden and It was part of the service that if any the surrounding areas, he also worked piece of the historical jigsaw was for the E.S.B at the time of the rural missing. One only had to ring Padraig electrification after which he moved to get the required in information. to Dublin. He will be missed The Four Leaf Shamrock By Joe Langan I know a spot One is for faith You must have faith Where the sun shines like gold And one is for hope And you must have hope And the cherry blooms burst like snow And one is for love you know If you search and you wait And underneath And God put another one in for luck You will find the spot Is the loveliest spot If you search you will find where it Where your four leaf shamrock grows. Where the four leafed shamrock grows. grows. 4 THE CORRAN HERALD • 2019/2020 Remembering Margaret Foley and Katie Davey By Kathryn Foley time she left Ballymote to the time she Vincent and myself. My aunt Kitty returned. However, she persevered continued to come home from and later completed here midwifery England for long Christmas, Easter in Holles Street Hospital, Dublin. and Summer holidays. We would Her nursing career presented her with eagerly await the telegram, telling us amazing opportunities and later she what train she would be arriving on. returned to England to work with The However, as fate would have it she Arts Education Trust in Hertfordshire met Frank Davey from Lissananny –the boarding school of The Royal and they wed in 1970. No more need Ballet. This allowed her to travel to be homesick, she was home to stay. back frequently to Ballymote as she Throughout a life that spanned enjoyed the school calendar. almost 100 years there were many My mother the youngest of the three happenings. As a child, my mother was the only one left to take over the recalled shots being fired over their farm. With ageing parents and Molly sheds as the Black & Tans drove up who was experiencing failing health, the road into Ballymote. In the course she felt duty bound to care for them of her life she lost her sister Molly, all. However, it was not all doom and both her parents and later, Peter, her gloom. All three of the Fox family husband. Katie also lost her husband members were outgoing and enjoyed Frank and then to the delight of us all life. They all loved fashion and style she came back to live in Rathdooney – something that stayed with them where she was born. Katie died in right up to the end. They frequently 2015 at the age of 97 years. travelled by train to Sligo and also to Both Margaret and Katie were great Dublin on occasion. The old steam supporters of The Ballymote Heritage trains went so slowly, they would drop weekend. Every year they attended Margaret Foley their parcels out the window as they all of the lectures and frequently went My mother Margaret Foley died on the passed the house. They’d then walk on the heritage trips. They enjoyed 9th of January this year at Ballymote home from Ballymote train station the social aspect of meeting the people Community Nursing Home where she without the added burden of parcels.