THE CORRAN HERALD A Ballymote Heritage Group Production. Issue No. 25 Price £1.00 ON SUNDAY 24TH OF OCTOBER he was a Member of Parliament last I visited her house which is situ- -who represented the constituency ated close to Bunninadden village, of Mayo in the British House of and for two and a half hours listened Commons. She told me a story of Norah to her reminiscenes of her life and how Joe, who at the time resided times. in a long low thatched house, was This remarkable woman is, reading an English newspaper by Feehily despite her years, very alert and has his own fireside, when he came ooks an extraordinary sense of hearing. across an article by a London crit- Aged seven years át the turn of ic stating that the Hon. member of the century, she clearly recalled Parliament from Co. Mayo, would many of the stirring events, and have been better engaged in keep- those people who were involved in ing the cattle from eating the straw them, from then to the present time. off the roof of his house, than She told me about the joy of her making laws for the English peo- family in 1906, when they were ple in the mother of Parliaments. granted a residential holding of land, Joe, on reading this statement flew by the Congested Districts Board. into an uncontrollable rage and Small wonder they were elated, for hurled the newspaper into the blaz- Interviewer P. J. Duffy what they inherited was the spacious ing fire. A strong draught caught residence of former landlord Joseph the lighted paper and carried it up Miles (Joe Mor) McDonald, and a the chimney and out onto the roof the third day of sizeable slice of the land surround- which also caught fire and burned January this year, ing it. the house to the ground. On Anybody who has read local his- Joe with the assistance of his Miss Norah Feehily cele- tory will quickly recognise what a son-in-law Dominick Darcy brated her one hundred colourful character he was. During replaced it with a modern slated birthday. the middle years of the last century dwelling, and this was the one into which young Norah Kelleher moved at the age of thirteen years. Her early memories of the place were of playing with other kids in the shrub-decked gardens which surrounded her new home. The school she attended was situ- ated a short distance down the road. It too owed its existence to the efforts of local M.P. Joe Mor. This, she said, was an academy where boys and girls were strictly segregated, the boys occupying one section of the building and the girls the other portion. Like all of those buildings built during this particular period in time a seven feet high wall divided the play- MRS. NORAH FEEHILY, photographed by Clare Doohan, a short grounds. time before her 100th birthday. She talked of the strict disci- Corran Herald pline operating at the time, and how one of the teachers Miss Breslin School was very cross. The other teacher Miss Friar, while less inclined to The following lines were written by Martin Brennan, N. T, set out punishment, was also very around 1920 when he was principal at Killavil N.S. strict. Yet, she explained, most pupils received a reasonable educa- Killavill school still occupies tion there, and for the vast majority, That frontal river spot it was the one which prepared them Where dwelled an old academy for life. For many years forgot. Norah Feehily talked at length about the country-house dances, The teacher then was Anderson which she said, were the great To him tis strange to know social occasions of her early years. Our present teacher went to school Some fifty years ago. She had vivid memories of a youth- ful Michael Coleman playing at No horseless cars then whirled by these functions, and remarked, that No airmen overhead as a boy of sixteen or seventeen he No foreign news from round the globe already had a master's command of At home was daily read. the violin. She told me a story of one par- If fifty years has brought such change ticular occasion when a house was One cannot imagine how packed to capacity, and a host of The world wide will wag at all musicians were sitting by the back In fifty years from now. wall giving of their best. Somebody By courtesy of Mrs. Gormley announced, "Mickeen Coleman is (Carrawloughlin) here". And old fiddler sitting in a corner by the fireside quickly packed his fiddle and bow into a years, young Norah Kelleher left it and their efforts in trying to avoid case, and pushed it back under a all behind her and headed off for the being conscripted into the U.S. pooch-bed behind him, muttering land of opportunity. She had got army. Some had contracted mar- "That garson is a bit too good for good friends and relations in the riages in order to escape the draft. my likin". It would seem that even States, and soon found herself a suit- Many more were sent to Europe to at this stage in his career, may older able job in New York city. She later fight in the great war. Hundreds of musicians were very much aware of visited Boston which she described them died on the battlefield. his genius. as a lovely friendly city with a large The old country beckons, and in She went on to describe the door Irish population. Sometimes, during 1922 Norah Kelleher returned dancing. Most country houses had holiday time, she had gone on train home for good. One thing she flagstone floors and were entirely journeys to other lesser-known parts missed greatly while abroad was unsuitable for step-dancing. The of the States. the strolls through the lush, shrub- kitchen door which was usually a Here again she was to renew filled gardens that surrounded her sturdy ledged and sheeted structure, her acquaintance with Coleman home. Coleman's rendering of the measuring about six feet by three, and his music. This was when his Shaskeen reel had always brought was removed from its hinges and 78 records began streaming out back sweet memories of home. The laid down on the centre of the from the recording studios. title of this rousing tune derived kitchen floor, and the dancer dis- "Oh!" she remarked, "That man from the name of a townland situ- played his agility by bouncing and made a big mistake to have accept- ated nearhand to Doocastle. Then, sidestepping the length and breadth ed a lump sum for allowing his there was the words of that lovely of the door, without sliding off. She music to be put on record". Had he old ballad which she recited in my remembered seeing Coleman doing been sensible and made a deal for presence. this act, and playing the fiddle at the royalties, he would have made a same time. There was even some fortune. Doocastle was a lovely place young ones around who could do a April 6th 1917 saw America When you and I were young dance on the largest flagstone on the under Woodrow Wilson declare In the green woods and the kitchen floor. war on Germany. Norah had vivid valleys At the tender age of seventeen memories of the young Irish lads, The small birds softly sung. respective townlands were situated There stands the lofty castle nearhand to the Doocastle area. With its ivy coated o'er, A native Government was in Grattan e It was planted by James Evans place at the head of an Irish Free And the Cawleys of Doomore. State. Norah Kelleher married John Cleaners Doocastle was still a lovely Feehily in 1923 and she moved to place in 1922, but a significant his place at Ballinaraw, BALLYMOTE s change had taken place during Bunninadden. The couple had two those years she had been away. A sons Kevin and Vincent. Her hus- 9.30am - 7.00pm: war of independence had taken band died in 1954, and her TUESDAY-SATURDAY place in the meantime. Some of the youngest son Vincent died in 1970. great landowners had vanished Vincie, as he was popularly known Professional Drycleaning from the scene. People like the was a stylish young footballer who Phibbs family of Doobeg House, played with the 1953 junior 0 RETEXTURING O and the Cookes of Kilterra, whose Bunninadden football team which O REPAIRS AND ALTERATIONS 0 won the County final, and his death at the early age of 39 years caused O FULL LAUNDRY SERVICE 0 widespread regret in this part of the 0 CURTAINS RELINED & REPAIREDO country. Nora Feehily to-day can surely Wedding Dresses Hand Finished lay claim to be one of the few remaining witnesses to many Grattan St Ballymote events great and small that have 071- 83477 occurred during the course of this century. She has lived through two World Wars. Ideologies, once believed formidable have risen and fallen. Dictators have come, and gone. Our 'Victor' whole way of life has undergone a AUTO SERVICES massive transformation. After our conversation at her O'Connell St neat home where she resides with Ballymote The members of her son Kevin, I thought, what a Ballymote wonderful woman of her years. For All... Wouldn't it be just great if she sur- * MECHANICAL REPAIRS * Heritage Group vived long enough to see the dawn GENERAL SERVICING. and the Editor of of a new century. And God willing, maybe it is not impossible.