Local Notes: Ballyhaunis Library group is 18 years reading together
Enjoying the Reading Club at Ballyhaunis Library were five members who have been part of the club for the past 18 years, from left: Rev Xanthe Pratt, Marliese Hertfelder, Mary Frances Cleary, Eleanor Freyne, Maureen Higgins.
Five of the original members of a book club met recently at Ballyhaunis Library, 18 years since they first met. Facilitated by librarian Eleanor Freyne, the group meets every month to read, discuss and rate works of fiction and non-fiction.
Another long-time participant, Jacinta Flynn, niece of renowned local author Anthony Jordan, will read from her uncle’s work at Mayo Day on May 4th in the Community Hall at 12 noon. Anthony Jordan passed away last year in Sandymount, Dublin, having authored numerous biographies of major figures in Irish history.
The Book Club meets every first Wednesday of the month in the Ballyhaunis Library on Clare Street at 8pm during school term. New members are welcome.
The volunteer-led Bike Repair Clinic, run by Ballyhaunis Community Council, returns on April 27 from 10am to 12.30pm. The monthly meeting, now into its second year, has drawn a large turnout from across the wider area.
A dedicated group of volunteers carries out the repairs, having been trained by a certified cycle repair technician. Venue hire for the clinic has been sponsored by a range of groups, including First Choice Credit Union, the Mayo Association in Dublin and the local Family Resource Centre. A donation of €10 is also asked for all repairs, to cover parts like tubes and brake cables.
Several bicycles have been donated for parts by supporters as far away as Ballinrobe and Castlebar who have learned of the voluntary repair service through local newspapers and radio.
Ballyhaunis Community Council has also applied to Mayo County Council for support under the annual Bike Week in May. Queries can be directed to ballyhauniscommunitycouncil@gmail.com or 087-9777899.
The wet Spring has put local farmers under pressure but so too a local brewer, Richard Siberry, whose Black Donkey Brewing in Ballinlough sources its barley from farmers in Co Louth.
“I am keeping a close eye on barley prices because tillage farmers have not had a good start to the year. We fear prices will rise," he said.
Licensing remains a bugbear for Siberry and other craft brewers. He has shelved plans to build a visitor centre at the brewery, located on the Ballyhaunis Road out of Ballinlough. Siberry cites the cost of a bar licence – currently trading for between €60,000 and €80,000 - required for craft breweries to serve drinks on their premises, as well as complications sourcing grant aid.
Black Donkey also faces pressure from the closure of pubs across the region.
“We have seen our draft business shrink to nearly zero,” explained Siberry who has lost customers in west Mayo with the closure of pubs or change in ownership. He cites two Roscommon bars that have opted out of craft beers.
Black Donkey struggles to service a fragmented, dispersed group of bar clients.
“It’s very difficult if you don’t have a cluster of pubs in one area... if you spend the entire day on the road to service six taps it is not economical.”
Publicans’ keenness to charge higher prices for draft craft beers also suppresses local consumption as punters stick with the brands owned by the big two brewers dominating the Irish market: Diageo (which owns Guinness) and Heineken.
The town’s historic St Mary’s Abbey, also known as the Friary, features in a new book published by Mayo County Council.
‘Medieval Mayo - Churches and Abbeys’ was compiled by Peter Harbison, the renowned Dublin-based archaeologist and Fáilte Ireland employee.
“This beautifully illustrated book presents a selection of Mayo’s religious monuments of stone created during the thousand years from 600 to 1600 A.D,” according to a statement from Mayo County Council.
The book’s publication was delayed with the passing of its author, archaeologist Dr Peter Harbison, in 2023. He was a brother of the former state pathologist, Dr John Harbison.
Litter wardens at Mayo County Council have tracked three culprits responsible for illegal dumping after receiving help from Ballyhaunis Tidy Towns.
A major cleanup of the town and surrounding villages on Good Friday, organised by Ballyhaunis Tidy Towns, drew focus on local littering and illegal dumping, while also turning up various leads on particular instances of dumping, according to a member of Tidy Towns who spoke to this column.
“All of this information was shared with the wardens with whom we have a very good relationship and who were very happy to act,” said the Tidy Towns committee member.
The dreaded New Zealand flatworm, regarded as an invasive species, has been spotted in the Friary Grounds.
“I spotted them last week while mulching the Choill Bheag [small wood] planted in February,” explained Lara Dinraths of Ballyhaunis Tidy Towns. “They were specifically found under the cardboard that was not decomposed yet. Perhaps they don't like the contact with the mulch.”
The flatworm is known to predate on other native insects.
“I'm not an expert in these apart from being able to recognise them and know they're invasive,” said Dinraths. “I found them because I was digging around a few of the spots where there were supposed to be trees planted but I couldn't find them... Since then we found at least 30 of them in half of the woodland, with eggs black and shiny. We collected them to dispose of them... There were also plenty of earthworms, spiders, beetles, slugs, millipedes and such...
“I also know they exist in the area as one neighbouring farmer of mine has plenty on his land. So, I can't say for sure where/when they came. They could have already been in the Friary and just happen to converge around our new woodland but my gut feeling tells me they came with the trees, the card or the mulch, as there seems to be a high concentration in the spot. I haven't been digging the rest of the Friary park, but for example, we saw none around the woodland when we dug to plant some bluebells last week.”
Congratulations to this week's lucky winner Ciaran and Frances, c/o Grogans, Knockbrack who won €520 in the weekly Ballyhaunis GAA 50/50 draw on an envelope sold in Herr's on April 14th.
A firewood company located near Gorthaganny has doubled its revenues on the back of strong demand.
Patrick Flanagan, CEO of PJ Firewood, said his firm has been “very, very busy this year".
“I’d say we have doubled our turnover and doubled our sales as well with that. And we’ve never had as much firewood in the yard.”
Flanagan believes his sales are driven by a combination of locals replacing coal and turf purchases with timber fuel.
“And a lot more people hearing about me and the dry firewood.
“We are constantly expanding after buying a second bigger faster processor to keep up with demand and also were pushing hard into the wholesale market as well with selling up on 40,000 nets this winter so far alone.”
Irish law requires commercially marketed firewood to be certified as having come from a traceable source. Likewise, it must be certified as having a moisture content of less than 25 percent – hence the kilns installed by PJ Firewood.
Flanagan explains that as a licensed operator his firm cannot buy random tree supplies from tree surgeons, “because we wouldn’t be able to certify it, and there has to be a felling license for the timber we use".
The annual general meeting of Annagh Magazine Society will take place in the Friary House on Tuesday, April 30th, at 8.30pm. New members are welcome.
The successful Citizen Science monitoring team at Ballyhaunis Tidy Towns is aiming to conduct its next water quality monitoring of the Dalgan River on April 25th, commencing at 4.30pm in the Friary and then later sampling a part of the river in Drumbaun.
Anyone is welcome to join by showing up at the Friary car park at 4.30pm.
Also joining on the day will be Peter Mitchell, the Irishtown-based catchment scientist at Local Authorities Waters Programme (LAWP), an entity set up by country councils across the region to improve awareness of water quality.
Earlier samplings confirmed data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that shows water quality in the Dalgan deteriorates as it flows through and exits the town southwards towards County Galway.
The Citizen Science team won the Waters and Communities Special Awards category at the national SuperValu Tidy Towns awards held recently in Dublin. Ballyhaunis Tidy Towns won the West and Northwest category in this special national award.
Ballyhaunis Tidy Towns' citizen science group is the first of its kind in Mayo, assembling every quarter of the year to sample various locations on the River Dalgan, explained group coordinator Laura Dinraths, herself a marine biologist.
