Local Notes: Ballyhaunis concert was a huge success
Musician Gerry Carney pictured with some friends at his recent concert in the Friary in Ballyhaunis.
The 'Bring Billy Home' concert, headlined by renowned musician Gerry Carney, was a resounding success, attracting a large and enthusiastic audience while raising significant funds for the Private Billy Kedian Air-Ambulance Base.
Held in Ballyhaunis, the concert received overwhelming support from the local community and beyond. Gerry and his band have announced plans for an additional ten concerts across the country in the coming months, with dates to be confirmed shortly.
All proceeds from the event will go towards the establishment of the Billy Kedian Air-Ambulance Base, a critical initiative aimed at providing emergency medical assistance and air transport for those in urgent need, in honour of Private Billy Kedian’s legacy.
The Billy Kedian Memorial Trust wishes to extend its deepest sympathies to the families and loved ones affected by the tragic road collision that occurred just a few miles from the concert venue. The Trust and the community are deeply saddened by the incident and are holding those impacted in their thoughts during this difficult time.
The success of the 'Bring Billy Home' concert underscores the generosity of the Ballyhaunis community and the enduring memory of Private Billy Kedian. The funds raised will help establish life-saving services for those in need and serve as a lasting tribute to Billy’s commitment and service.
A new charity shop will open in Ballyhaunis on December 1st. St Vincent De Paul will open the outlet in the building on Bridge Street currently occupied by clothes shop Claire Fontayne.
Amar Sattar, who also owns the building, told this column he will close up his (Claire Fontayne) shop for good “during the last or second last week of November” to make way for his new tenant.
St Vincent de Paul runs over 200 charity shops nationwide trading under the ‘Vincent’s’ name. Mr Sattar's family traded at the Bridge Street premises for over two decades.
The Ballyhaunis area has an “amazing” group of agri-machinery manufacturers who are doing “incredibly well” on global export markets, according to the head of Ireland’s national farm machinery lobby group.
Michael Farrelly, CEO of the Farm Tractor and Machinery Trade Association (FTMA), told this column that a range of machinery makers in Ballyhaunis have successfully found valuable niches in overseas markets. However, “they’re also facing challenges,” added Farrelly.
“The biggest challenge they now face is the rise in employment costs," he said.
Farm tractor sales dropped by over 20% in the first eight months of 2024 compared to the same period last year, according to FTMA data, but Farrelly is positive.
“The last couple of years were really strong. On top of that there is still a lag in deliveries from Covid and those years when sales were done one year in advance of the tractor being delivered. Delivery is back to normal now so that’s reflected in the figures.
“The first half of 2024 presented several challenges. Wet weather made planting difficult. Milk prices were down and there was a lot of uncertainty around milk prices. But in the last couple of months there’s great positivity coming back. The harvest of spring crops was good. Tillage guys got the weather to bring crops in. Milk prices are going up slowly and beef prices are at a record high so things are more positive.”
Despite the challenges facing the agricultural sector, the purchase of large, very expensive tractors by farmers and contractors is financially sustainable, according to Farrelly.
“Irish farmers are among the least indebted in Europe, the debt load is very low compared to the EU average. Irish dairy farms are carrying €1,200 to €1,500 on average per cow but their counterparts in northern Europe is €15,000 to €20,000 per cow. And Irish banks say that farmers are paying back debt ahead of schedule.”
Congratulations to the local horse breeder who sold a Connemara pony, dun coloured and broken, for €7,000 at a recent sale.
Local horse breeders and fanciers have been doing well from sales of Connemara ponies but numbers of the breed have risen significantly across East Mayo in recent years. Untrained grey coloured two-year-old Connemara fillies and geldings are on offer in the Ballyhaunis area for €2,500. Broken and ridden animals however can fetch up to €10,000 with particularly strong interest from British buyers.
Queues of cattle trucks on Clare Road and kills of 600 animals per day have become the norm in recent weeks at Dawn Meats as farmers take factory-fit cattle off the remaining grass cover and into the meat plant. At a national average last week of €5.37 per kilo for young steers and heifers, prices paid by meat factories for cattle are high by historical standards.
Tara Higgins, a native of Ballyhaunis, is one of the authors of a landmark report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the ‘State of the Environment 2024’.
A scientist based at the EPA’s Wexford headquarters, Tara co-authored chapter 16 of the report, titled ‘Environmental Policy Implementation and Performance,’ an analysis of Irish government efforts to implement policy protecting the natural environment.
Overall, the report is damning of the state of the country’s natural life with a collapse in river water quality due to intensification of agriculture and inadequate urban wastewater treatment facilities. Irish carbon emissions and waste per capita remain well above the EU average.
There have been some areas of progress, such as reducing air pollution. A laggard in Europe on climate action, Ireland is being pursued by the EU in 19 separate cases for infringement of EU laws protecting the environment and natural habitats.
Mayo Cancer Support's annual flag day will take place in Ballinrobe, Ballyhaunis, and Claremorris on Saturday, October 12, for which a permit from An Garda Síochána has been granted.
If there is anyone who can volunteer for a couple hours on the day, please contact Rose at 094-9038407 or 083-4890754.
The reputed appearance of the devil at Tooreen Hall in 1954 features in a new children’s book of 32 spooky stories in Kieran Fanning’s new children’s book, , published by Dublin-based Gill publishing group.
The book’s author Kieran Fanning explained to this column how the devil was said to have appeared one night while Fr James Horan (of Knock Airport fame) was supervising a dance in Tooreen Hall on October 3, 1954.
By the 1930s, the Catholic Church had become concerned that céilí dances popular in Irish homes were ‘occasions of sin’, so it pushed the government for a ban, the author explained to this column.
“Instead, dance halls were built all over the country, so that dancing could be supervised, often by the clergy themselves. The Church even published a pamphlet called 'The Devil at Dances', with a list of rules telling young people what to wear and how to act at these dances.
“The story goes that a strange black car with tinted windows pulled up outside the dance hall and a man dressed in black got out. The stranger had long dark hair and unusual clothes for the place and time. His flared trousers were so wide that they hid his feet completely, and he walked with an unusual gait, his footsteps making a clicking sound, as if he was wearing high heels.
"Some of the women who flocked around the exotic stranger, later said that he emitted a sulphurous aroma, like that of burning matches. At the time, however, they were too infatuated to be suspicious.
“They followed him into the hall, where the band were already playing hits like ‘Money is the Root of All Evil’ and ‘The Hokey Pokey’. They lined up on the opposite side of the hall to the men, all wondering who the stranger would ask out to dance. He chose a girl, unnamed in the article that would become front page news in the a few days later, but named as Brigid O’Flynn in a song that was subsequently penned about the incident.
"According to eyewitness accounts, the couple danced like no other couple ever danced in Tooreen and soon Father Horan was trying to pull them off the dancefloor. Every time the priest tried to intercept the cavorting couple, the dark stranger steered his partner out of Horan’s reach.
“They escaped to the mineral bar and while they drank Moonduff Kola, Brigid took the opportunity to get a better look at her dancing partner by watching him in the mirror behind the bar. Somehow, the man sensed this and gazed right back at her through the looking glass, smashing it into seven pieces.
“The stranger took Brigid outside, but the cold reminded her that she’d forgotten her jacket. As she fumbled in her purse for her cloakroom ticket, she dropped her lipstick to the ground. When she bent down to pick it up, she saw, for the first time, the stranger’s feet that had been hidden by his flares. They were cloven, like those of a goat. Brigid gasped and stumbled away from the man but he grabbed her.”
After freeing herself from his grip, Brigid ran to the safety of a group of men standing nearby.
“When she turned to look back at the man that had grabbed her, a goat stood in his place. Before she could comprehend what was going on, the same black car that had arrived at the beginning of the night, returned. It pulled up beside the goat, blocking Brigid’s view of the animal. She heard the car door open and then close. When it drove off, there was no sign of the goat. Brigid and the men examined the ground where the goat had been standing and found cloven hoofprints burned into the grass.
“Brigid O’Flynn and Father Horan refused to ever talk about the matter again, but there were many people at the dance on that fateful night who believed that the events outlined above were true. One of those men, Michael Henry, spoke candidly in a documentary on TG4 in 2009 called (Devil at the Dance).
A field in Brickens village will be raised over three feet for a multisport development being planned by several local community groups. An application for planning permission submitted in late September describes how Kelly’s Field, located between the Little Acorns childcare centre and the Lohan Park social housing development, will feature an all-weather GAA pitch as well as a playground area, bowling surface, tennis court, walkway, outdoor gymnasium equipment, and associated car parking facilities.
Local GAA club Eastern Gaels is part of the team proposing the development, alongside Lohan Park and the local Tom’s Lane walking amenity.
Congratulations to Ivan Freeley, Hazelhill, winner of €570 in the Ballyhaunis GAA 50/50 draw on September 29th on an envelope sold in Curley's.
The monthly bike repair clinic run by Ballyhaunis Community Council will return to the Community Hall on October 12 from 10am to 12.30pm. This popular, volunteer-led initiative is now into its third year. Bicycles will also be offered for sale.
