Ballymote Ordnance Survey Map 1842 (By John Coleman

no trouble, one man declared, “it is twelve o’clock and not a stroke struck in Baldwin yet”. With that, he raised his stick and hit a man’s head nearby him to get a fight going.

The folklore and folklife rural traditions in the northwest are among the oldest in Ireland and perpetuate a tradition that goes back hundreds of years into the very heart of our Irish heritage. These traditions were an integral part of farming life and the farming techniques of hay making and turf saving and the meitheals associated with them show how the community was strengthened by these customs and practices. Not only the family, but the entire community was included in these traditions and techniques. The folklore and folklife rituals around fair days is a fascinating subject. Livestock trading was not just an essential part of farming practice but a performance, where certain rules had to be followed. Some of the customs of turf saving, haymaking and Fair Days are disappearing from rural communities and are now in the past as modern techniques and machinery have changed many agricultural practices. However, the collecting of folklore and folklife information for both local and national archives is an essential and important practice which continues to enrich our Irish culture and heritage.

Bibliography Primary Sources Interview with Annie Brennan Gilmartin, Bailey’s Nursing Home, Tubbercurry, 8 March 2016. Secondary Sources Achonry Co-operative Agricultural and Dairy Society Ltd, Achonry Centenary Celebration (1897-1997), 1997. Ballymote Heritage Group, The Corran Herald 2005/2006, Ballymote Heritage Group, The Corran Herald 2009/2010 Ballyrush Parish Committee, A Living History – Castlebaldwin and Ballyrush, Published by Highwood Resource Centre (Carrick Print, 2000). Doohan, Clare, ‘Fair Day Conversations’ in Clare Doohan, Bealtaine Stories- A Collection of Life Stories (Sligo Arts, 2016). Evans, E. Estyn, Irish Folk Ways (London, 1957). O’Farrell, Padraic, Irish Proverbs & Sayings-Gems of Irish Wisdom (Cork 1980). Ó Giolláin, Diarmuid, Locating Irish Folklore-Tradition, Modernity Identity (Cork 2000). Glassie, Henry, The Stars of Ballymenone (Indiana University Press, USA, 2006). Lewis, Samuel, County Sligo in 1837. A Topographical Dictionary (Co. Sligo Heritage and Genealogy Society 2003). CD - Joe Mc Gowan and Friends, A Fairy Wind, www.sligoheritage.com. Online Sources www.from-ireland.net/irish-fairtowns-1834/

Photographs courtesy of www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/ ACustom/Haymaking.html https://wheresmerrill. com/2013/05/11/the-fair-day-inaclare/

By John Coleman

The large scale (20 ins. to 1 mile) map of Ballymote drawn by Capt. John McDonald on 23rd December 1842 (OS 140/Ballymote/1842) gives an interesting glimpse of how much the town had developed by that date. The market house, opposite the Church of Ireland, had not been built.

The first few buildings had not yet been constructed in the upper end of what is now O’Connell Street reflecting the development of the ‘new town’ of Ballymote in the late 18th century during the Shelburne/ Fitzmaurice ownership of the town. The RIC barracks was set back from the street on the same site as the later Ulster Bank, now the Ballymote Credit Union.

Laura Yeoman, archivist with the parent company Royal Bank of Scotland in Edinburgh (Now Ordance Survey 1842 full view of map

NatWest), told me in 2013 that Ulster Bank opened at ‘The Rock’, Ballymote in around 1870. As records indicate that the Bank was renting other premises in the town in 1885, Laura speculated that the Bank was carrying out a refurbishment of the building on the Rock at that point. Interesting features on the map include a large formal garden to the right of Market Street – as a child I remember such a formal garden, which belonged to the Hibernian Bank (now Bank of Ireland). The garden itself, including its numerous, bountiful fruit bushes, were immaculately maintained, by the bank porter, Martin Brennan. The ball alley was located where it is today.

Hawksby’s Hotel, in Gaol Street, was occupied by the family until the death of the last of the two Miss Hawksbys, in the early 1960s. The two Miss Hawksbys, were the daughters of Jackson Hawksby, and there is a substantial family memorial in Emlaghfad Church yard. The house was purchased by town veterinarian, the late Alfie Gallagher.

Photo submitted by Gertie Cassidy-O’Sullivan (Cork)

Back Row (L to R): Mick Gildea, ???, the Producer, Mr. Reynolds (Pension officer), Keenan Johnson Sr., Mr. Cashman (The Tech), Gerry Cryan. Front Row (L to R): Eddie McGettrick, Laura Potter, Camina Cassidy (Boyd), Michael Cassidy N.T., Lynda Begley, ???, T. J. McCarrick (The Tech).