Pettigo Village.

Pettigo Village. An Irish Border village divided between Counties Donegal and Fermanagh.

01/09/2026

22-12-1928. Fermanagh Herald.
PHIL SKELTON
HIS LIFE AND WORK.
Lecture by Rev. E. J. Quigley, P.P., Newbliss.
Rev. E. J. Quigley, P.P., Newbliss, lectured in that town on the life of "Phil. Skelton,” clergyman of the Church of Irelands who was born in 1705, and died in 1787, in the 59th year of his ministry, which had was spent in Newtownbutler, Monaghan, Pettigo, Trory, Enniskillen, Fintona, etc.
He was born at Derriaghy, near Lisburn, His father came to Ireland from England at the time of the James—Williamite war, serving alternatively on each side as a mender of cannon, etc.
Educated at Trinity, Skelton by his father's dying wish studied medicine as well an theology. He was brilliant, and taught the children of Rev. Samuel Madden, "Premium Madden,” at Manorwaterhouse, Co. Fermanagh, where he was curate to the latter. He went to the parish of Monaghan, served as jail chaplain, pleaded for th® prisoners there, got some retried and a few freed from the gallows.
Kindly and playful, he was loved by the children and the poor. He was big and strong, a great athlete, and often used his fists when occasion demanded, He dined at the homes of all the local gentry, and was admired for his wit and humour, as related by his biographer. Rev. S. Bundy.
Me. Skelton wrote a great deal. "Deism Revealed" being one of his masterpieces. He was not lucky in promotion, his bishop (an Englishman), though aware of his abilities, passed him over for others less deserving. At length he paid a visit to London, was permitted to preach in some of the larger churches, where the bishop made him the offer of two well-salaried livings which he declined. Returning to Ireland, he taught the young Eart of Charlemont, who later headed the Dungannon Volunteers, and was offered a Deanery in Cork by the Bishop of Cloyne. On his behalf, Dr. Delaney, Provost of Trinity, rebuked the Bishop of Clogher for not giving Skelton a Dublin living.
HE WAS SENT AS RECTOR TO PETTIGO,
where lay his glory and fame. Going from Monaghan to Pettigo, to avoid highwaymen, who were then prevalent, he dressed as his servant, and the latter was obliged to don the rector's attire. They carried blunderbusses, and the rector at times was highly amused at seeing the country folk along the way salute the servant. At Pettigo his hearers were few and indifferent. Famine broke out. Skelton set out to visit every family, Protestant and Catholic alike. The latter had no resident priest. Skelton visited every house. He found the people dying of hunger. Many of them tried to live on boiled grass, the bark of trees, etc. Having but a few pounds saved, he tramped to Ballyhaise, Co., Cavan, bought oatmeal took it home and gave it to all. His heart was broken at the sight of people crying for food. He sold his clothing, bedding, his beloved books at £80 and even his boots. He then went about in clogs, with an old, discarded overcoat to his heels tied round him with a rope. He was then practically a pauper. Fever broke out and swept whole families away. He got more meal in Ballyshannon ; sent to Dundalk, where he purchased ten tons. To take it all the way across the Northern portion of Ireland he had to send a bodyguard to protect the meal from being taken by highwaymen.
THE PEOPLE OF ALL SHADES
began to adore him—Catholics even worshipped him. They told him their greatest secrets, one of which was that many of their children were not baptised for want of a priest. He sought one for them by writing to their bishop. Then they wanted to see a bishop to confirm their children. It was hard to find one in those days of Penal Laws. One was at length got at Belturbet. Disguised as a sheep dealer he went down to the waters of Lough Erne. Skelton met him and entertained him, and even lent him his mare to ride back.
Going then to Trory and Enniskillen he made numerous friends. He afterwards went to Fintona, from where he used to visit Dublin where he began to spend his winters. Another famine started while at Fintona. A friend named Eccles and he bought meat and gave it out. He had even to sell his books which he had bought back again while in Enniskillen. He soon resigned and went to Dublin where he died and was interred in old St. Peter’s.

31/08/2026

January 6th 1916. HOW OUR MEN SAVED THE DAY. THE RETREAT FROM SERBIA. THE ROYAL INNISKILLINGS. In a vivid and thrilling story of the heroism of the Irish troops in the retreat from Serbia, ‘F’ in the Weekly dispatch says:- Nothing finer can be imagined than the heroic stand of the depleted 10th division who rallied under the attacks of overwhelming forces to the cry of – ‘Stick it, jolly boys; give ‘em hell, Connaughts.’ A few thousand Irishman and a few hundred Englishmen turned what might have been a disaster into a successful retreat just as surely as the artillery of the Second Corps at daybreak on August 26, 1914, ‘the most critical date of all,’ turned what might have been an annihilating attack into a successful retirement. In the first trenches were the Connaughts, the Munsters, the Dublin Fusiliers, the Hampshires and the Inniskillings, the latter – to a large extent Ulsterman – holding the extreme right wing. Dawn had scarcely broken when the enemy made his expected attack. The conditions wholly favoured him for a fairly dense fog prevailed and under its cover the Bulgars were able to get within 300 yards of parts of our line without being observed. I.R.

The Inniskillings were the first to be attacked; about 5.00 a.m. their outposts were driven in, and then a great mass of the enemy swooped down on the trenches, but were driven back by the fire of our Maxim guns and by the steady magazine fire which came from the trenches. Scarcely had the attack on the extreme right of the line had time to develop the main body of Bulgarians were seen running down a defile leading to the centre of our front. As they reached the end of the defile and the spread out as from a bottleneck and with wild cheers flung themselves on our line. But before they had got so far our guns smashed and battered the procession of men leaping out of the narrow gorge. It was impossible to miss them. British artillery have never had such a target since the first battle of Ypres, when the guns literally mowed down the half trained German soldiers who attacked on the Yser.

The brave Irish regiments were pouring led into them as fast as they could load their rifles. The poured into the oncoming masses as much as 175 rounds at point blank range. This will give an idea of the slaughter that went on this December morning as the dawn slowly beat the mist away. Mingling with the roar of the artillery and the clatter-clatter of the machine guns and the sharp snap of the rifles were the hoarse cries of the half-maddened volunteers whose officers ever drove them on to the death that came quick and hot from the British trenches. Men of splendid physique they were who faced the hail of lead, cheering in a sort of wild enthusiasm of battle with bugles and trumpets blowing defiant challenges, as in their knightly days of the tourney. They did not know many of them whether they were attacking French, British or Turks, but unquestioning, unthinking he came on with the fearlessness of life deserving of a better cause, leaping into a trenches and falling dead with a bullet in their throat; of bayonet wound in their breast, or with head blown off by one of our shells.

But it was, for all our grim resistance, a hopeless kind of struggle. Sooner or later that unceasing stream of men issuing out of the narrow defile must sweep us back. Always the enemy returned to the charge, undeterred by heavy losses, undismayed by our deadly gun and magazine fire. The line held and to their cheers we gave back answer and to their cries we gave answer with our own cries and if sometimes the line faltered the shouts of officers and men: “Stick it, jolly boys, give them hell, Connaughts brought new life and new strength. They outnumbered the 10th division in the proportion of at least 8 to 1 and they were obstinately bent on its destruction at whatever cost to themselves. Their artillery far exceeded ours in weight of metal but in effectiveness there was not a comparison. Almost all of our shells told when many of theirs did no more than splinter rocks yards away. The division never lost its cohesion, and it gave ground only at the rate of 2 miles a day, which is a proof, if any were needed, of the splendid rearguard action that this so much outnumbered force fought.
In the two days battle the 10th Division inflicted on the enemy at least four times their own number of casualties and what is possibly equally important they taught him the temper and moral of British infantry. The 10th division saved the situation by a display of courage and dogged heroism that cannot be too highly praised. It is hard to explain how the 10th division encompassed as it was, won through, and perhaps the most satisfactory thing to do is to fall back on the explanation of the Connaught Ranger whose only grumble is that he was kept 12 hours fighting without food; “They beat us with numbers. We couldn’t hope to hold up against the crowd they sent against us, a daft, clumsy gang of men. We gave them hell, but their numbers beat us.”

30/08/2026

Fermanagh Herald January 1st 1916. BROOKEBOROUGH. On Christmas morning the Anniversary of their Feast of their Nativity was observed with due and becoming solemnity in Saint Mary’s Church, Brookeborough. The first Mass was celebrated shortly after six o’clock by the Rev. J. O’Connor, P.P. There was a very large congregation present. The altar and interior of the church were tastefully decorated with flowers, palms and evergreens. Shortly after the first Mass the local Hibernian flute band made a tour of the village, discoursing seasonable airs. Up till midday hourly Masses were celebrated. Fr. O’Connor preached an impressive ceremony and music was appropriately rendered by the choir. F.H.

Fermanagh Herald January 1st 1916. SCHOOLING AND BOY LABOUR IN ENGLAND. They are coming to think in England that too much schooling – by which is meant to long schooling – is bad for skilled labour in manual work says the Freeman. The difficulties in the way of agriculture have brought this conviction home. There is a shortage of agricultural labour and if the farmers are to maintain their normal rate of production they must make up the deficiency by employing inexperienced town labour, or women, or boys under 15 years. The employment of boys is contrary to the school regulations in most districts. There is a strong demand for the abolition of these regulations. It is pointed out that only boys that begin agricultural work early in life are skilled beyond the work of mere labourers, and that since compulsory education took them away from the fields agriculturalists have lost their old cunning in ploughing, draining, ditching, thatching, and hedging, not to speak of dairying and stock grazing. Schooling, say advocates of boy labour on the land, when prolonged beyond the ages of 11 or 12, destroys the boys’ chances of advancement in agricultural work, and is bad for the boys and bad for the country. Labour is scarce and will become scarcer. F.H.

Fermanagh Herald January 1st 1916. NEWS IN BRIEF. MAN DROWNED IN FLAXHOLE. The body of Joseph Martin, a servant in the employment of Mr. Peter McArdle, Moraghy, near Castleblaney, was found in a flaxhole late on Sunday night. The deceased who was a native of Donaghmoyne, near Carrickmacross, was 29 years of age.

ALLEGED GAMING HOUSE. The Glasgow police raided an alleged gambling house in Oxford Street, Glasgow, and took into custody 72 men, who were marched off to the Police Court and brought before the magistrates. Six were liberated on bail of £5 each, and the remainder were set free on bail of one guinea. All the money was paid. Lively scenes followed the arrests but there was no disturbance, the men's submitting quietly to the police instructions.

AN EXTRAORDINARY MISHAP. As singular mishap occurred in Liverpool docks. The tug, North C**k, was leaving Alfred Dock, Wallasey, and the captain rang the engine room telegraph to “stop and astern” but failed to receive the signal, and to avoid crashing into the dock gates the tug was run into the wall. The engineer, William Male, 53 was found dead on the engine-room floor.

TEACHING WELSH. A letter indicating that the Board of Education intend to insist on the Welsh language being taught in secondary schools in the Principality, whether local governors desire it or not, was read at a meeting of the Bangor local governing body. The Board in their letter stated that before approving the curriculum and timetables of Friars School, Bangor, they desired to call the attention of the governors to the fact that the school was the only intermediate school in North Wales where Welsh was not taught. The Board understood that the condition attached to the teaching of Welsh - that the parents must express a desire that the subject be taught - was not attached to any other subject, and they wished to know whether it was not possible to give Welsh the same place in the curriculum as other subjects. The chairman (Professor Phillips) explained that in the past the parents of all new pupils at Friars were asked at the beginning of the year whether they WANTED their boys taught Welsh or French. The parents invariably selected French, with the result that Welsh was no longer taught at the school. F.H.

29/08/2026

30-8-1913. Fermanagh Herald.
LOUGH ERNE STEAMBOAT
COMPANY LTD.
SUMMER EXCURSIONS ON
LOUGH ERNE.
9th June to 13th September 1913.
Between the above dates the LADY OF THE LAKE will sail every weekday (weather permitting) from Enniskillen Eat Bridge Quay to Castlecaldwell at 10.45 a.m. arriving at 1.15 p.m. and will return from Castlecaldwell at 3.10 p.m. arriving at Enniskillen at 5.30 p.m. and will run in connection with fast trains Castlecaldwell and Bundoran and vice versa.
REDUCED FARES.
Saloon – Single 2s 0d Return 3s 0d. Fore cabin – Single 1s 3d. Return 2s 0d. Children under twelve years Half Price. These fares do not include conveyance of luggage to and from Steamer or Railway Station.
SIX HOURS AT THE SEASIDE.
Excursion tickets will be issued as under to Bundoran daily at the Steamboat Office, Enniskillen. First Class and Saloon 6s 3d. Second Class and Saloon 4s 0d. Third Class and Fore Cabin 2s 9d.
These tickets include the journey by Steamer to Castlecaldwell, Rail Castlecaldwell to Bundoran, and Rail Bundoran to Enniskillen by train leaving Bundoran at 5.35 and are only available on day of issue except those issued on Saturday which will be available for return on the following Monday.
Cheap Return Tickets are issued from Castlecaldwell to Belleek, Ballyshannon and Bundoran at the following fares –
Belleek 1st Class 1s 0d, 2nd Class 0s 9d, 3rd Class 0s 6d.
Ballyshannon 1st Class 2s 0d, 2nd Class 1s 6, 3rd Class 1s 0d.
Bundoran 1st Class 2s 6d, 2nd Class 2s 0d. 3rd Class 1s 3d.

28/08/2026

Fermanagh Herald January 1st 1916. JOTTINGS. The Statistical Branch of the Department of Agriculture has informed the Armagh Chamber of Commerce that the whole of the wheat grown in Ireland would only feed the population of the country for three weeks.

The death has occurred of Mr. William Quinn, Lisnarick, Irvinestown, who for many years had charge of the Archdale Estate office. Deceased who had reached his 54th year, was deputy vice-chairman of the Irvinestown Guardians, and was connected with various other bodies.

Captain E. J. King, 6th Inniskillings, who has been wounded in Serbia, is a son of the Rev. E. J. King, Kildallen Rectory, Belturbet, County Cavan. He received his commission from the O. T. C. at Dublin University on September 12th 1914 and was promoted captain on May 24, 1915. He was with his regiment at the Suvla Bay landing and subsequently accompanied the 10th Division to Serbia.

The wages earned on munitions by many women and girls without any previous knowledge or experience are surprisingly large, says the Daily News. It would be very interesting to know what is the biggest average weekly earnings of a female “hand” who can be legitimately classed as an amateur. The managing director of a munitions factory told the writer recently that he had several girls who, without any training before they came to him, were each receiving nearly £4 a week after a month at his works. “They beat heaps of men hollow,” he added “naturally there are men who don't like it. But that's their lookout. The labourer is worthy of his or her hire in war time or in peace.”
The purchase of a new anatomical skeleton by the Farnham (Surrey) Guardians for use in the training of nurses in the infirmary was again discussed at a meeting of the Board, says the Aldershot News. The House Committee recommended the purchase of a new skeleton at a cost of £8 10 shillings. An amendment that the purchase be postponed until after the war, because the skeleton was not absolutely necessary, was defeated.

An Ashford, Kent, ferret dealer has during the past few months sent no fewer than 600 ferrets to the British front in Flanders and France to assist in hunting out the hordes of rats which infest the trenches. Rat hunting has become quite a sport with the troops and owing to the abnormal demand for ferrets the price of these intrepid little fighters has risen in the Ashford district from one shilling to five shillings each.

Private John Cheevers, 2nd Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, a native of Cookstown, who has been 16 months at the front, recently had a short furlough. He had some narrow escapes in 16 months fighting and had no serious injury. He says that the Inniskillings met the famous Prussian Guards on more than one bayonet encounter, and had the better of them. The Prussian Guards, he adds are big men, but the Inniskillings were more than a match for them with the bayonet.

An extraordinary discovery is reported by an American farmer, who it states to have found that feeding pigs on snakes imparts a delicious flavour to the pork. The farm concerned; it appears was infested with snakes which defied all efforts at extermination. Several specimens of a breed of small black pigs were bought and turned loose on the farm. Some time later the farmer received a surprise in the form of a letter from a New York restaurant, which after several weeks had succeeded in tracing to the farmer a shipment of pork which had caused much favourable comment by patrons. It appeared that the pork had gained a particularly rich gamey flavor, and the restaurant proprietor contracted with the farmer for all the pork he could raise.

27/08/2026

14-8-1915. Fermanagh Herald.
MICHAEL FLOOD SALES.
TOWN OF PETTIGO
19TH ANNUAL SALES OF POSTING
HORSES,
VEHICLES AND HARNESS.
I am instructed by Messers D. J. and John Flood to sell by
PUBLIC AUCTION
AT THE RED LION HOTEL, PETTIGO (Today the Diamond Bar.)
On Friday, 20TH August 1915
(Pettigo Fair Day) at 1.30 p.m. sharp.
23 Very useful horses and mares suitable for either Farming or Posting
6 Posting cars and harness, all in good order
3 traps
3 Spring Carts
3 Carts and harness.
These horses have all been selected with great care and judgement and are aged from four to eight years. Some of the mares have been served with horse.
This being the Nineteenth Annual Sale for the Vendors the Auctioneers can with confidence recommend this lot as being the best ever offered ordered for sale by them. Particulars as to Guarantee etc. will be given with each animal at time of sale.
Terms – Cash. No Auction fees payable by purchasers.
MICHAEL FLOOD,
Auctioneer and Shipping Agent,
DONEGAL.

27-9-1919. Fermanagh Herald.
BELLEEK.
THE POTTERY.
We understand that at a meeting of the Directors of the Belleek Pottery Co., it was decided to invite tenders for the purchase of the Pottery.
The beautiful and artistic china manufactured in this Pottery has made the name of Belleek famous all over the world.

27-9-1919. Fermanagh Herald.
BELTURBET.
NEW INDUSTRY.
The advisability of starting pottery works at Belturbet is being considered.

22-11-1919. Fermanagh Herald.
PETTIGO.
£100 DAMAGES.
In the Dublin Courts before the Lord Chief Justice without a Jury, the case was decided of Mary Dowd V Robert Coulter.
The plaintiff is a widow whose husband died twenty years ago and she resides near Pettigo. She brought the action to recover damages against the manager of a general store in the town of Pettigo for the betrayal of her daughter, Mary Dowd. In his defence defendant denied the allegations made against him, but his Council called no witnesses, and the case reduced itself into a case for damages. The Lord Chief Justice gave damages of £100. (£6,702 today.)
SEWERAGE.
At a meeting of Donegal District Council on Saturday, the Medical Officer’s report stated – “The district was in good sanitary condition with the exception of the town of Pettigo, which has no sewerage system, and the doctor recommended that new sewer pipes be laid through all the principal streets of the town as soon as possible. Consideration of the matter was adjourned for six months.

27/08/2026

1916 was one of the bloodiest war-torn years in human history. It was a year of revolution in Ireland but in terms of bloodletting the Easter Rising was a miniscule event compared to the Battle of the Somme when gigantic armies battled it out killing and maiming in our first industrial charnel house. The Germans disposed of many of their dead by sending trainloads of corpses to be incinerated in a blast furnace. Heroism was unbounded but as in every war others avoided conscription, others made profiteering a career and millions of women and children became widows and orphans. And all for what? The glory of Kings and Emperors, politicians and generals and in the main they found their petty kingdoms and grandiose plans crumble to dust around them. This book deals with events local, national and international

Fermanagh Herald January 1st 1916. Obiter Dicta, (Ed. By the Way) Christmas Day 1915. How will it dawn? How will it dawn on the coming Christmas Day? It was Charles Kingsley’s question in 1868. My question is: How will it dawn the coming New Year’s Day? It should be a question deeply vital to the interests of everyone today. Writing, as I am on Christmas day, I cannot help casting back to the optimistic days of last spring the days of illusionmen, when many of us walked in a fool’s paradise. We were saying to one another: It will be over by Christmas! We dare to dream beautiful dreams of peace on earth. Today we are wiser and sadder, though no jot less determined. And now we’re about to enter on a new year, commencing it was bloodshed and slaughter. How will it dawn for on the coming New Year’s Day?

Today the merry boisterous spirits of Charles Dickens’ is out in the cold. We have little heart for frivolity, merriment, and even the boy at home for his holidays is unnaturally subdued. Many homes, alas, are no longer homes. They are just walls and roofs; places for many a mother or father are eating their Christmas dinner and stealing around the house like ghosts. Poor Jack, I wonder how my boy is today. Perhaps somewhere in Gallipoli is the little grave of him who a year ago was the bread-winner. Somewhere in France the elder brother leapt the golden stile. We know that father or son or brother is telling us from beyond the stars that all is well. But we want him; without him home is not home; Christmas is not Christmas. Today and on New Year’s Day both Hall and Cottage rejoice together or mourn together.

IN THE TRENCHES. But today - Christ Day - how did it dawn; what picture unfolded itself as the sun rose in the high heavens, and cast its translucent gaze over the bloody plains of France; over the pinnacle heights of Gallipoli, where so many sons of Patrick have breathed their last. Did it disclose a scene of awful carnage, or what? We know that on this day last year the better instinct was, for a few hours, triumphant. Men forgot to they were out to kill and maim; they remembered they were of the same flesh and blood. They laid aside their instruments of death; they exchanged ci******es; they talked no doubt of homes in Saxony or Bethnal Green, or sunny, picturesque Fermanagh. Then the circle of military discipline waved her wand. Men sought for their burrows, and once more their sole aim in life was to make death. Christmas came and went. For a short space there was between the trenches peace and goodwill among men. Then the dogs of war were let loose. What was it like out there in France today? Had the poor fellows plum pudding? Hardly. Was the ground damp and odiferous? How was that ghastly wound; did it cause some brave Irishman untold agony - agony on a day like this! Discipline probably made it impossible for friends and foe to meet as brothers. Yet in the rival trenches there was surely much in common - the same great heartache for home - the same hunger for the little children's arms - the same longing to look into the eyes of the girl, of the mother, who writes so bravely, who prays so unceasingly, and cries just at times like Christmas, so heartbrokenly. Fermanagh Herald.

26/08/2026

26-12-1924. OBITUARY.
Death of Mrs Edward Kelly, Ballyshannon.
The news of the death, which occurred on Sunday night last, in her 76th year, of Mrs Edward Kelly, Main Street, Ballyshannon, though not unexpected, was received everywhere with expressions of deep regret, particularly, in view of its having taken place, almost, on the festive season. The deceased lady, who is survived by her husband, Mr. Edward Kelly, was mother of Rev P. J. Kelly, C.C., Donegal, and Sister M. Antoinette, Notre Dame Convent, Blackburn. She is still remembered by many of the older inhabitants as Miss Quinn, teacher in the school carried on in premises on the Mall by Miss Ready. Upon the resignation of the late Miss Murray, the position of Organist in St. Patricks Church, was offered to and accepted by the late Mrs Kelly, and she held it for the record term of almost half a century. Failing health necessitated her resignation some five or six years ago. She was a practical worker in the charitable movements of her earlier days, but of late years, she seldom left the house except to attend, to her religious duties, but she continued to take the same interest in everyday events as she did when she was actively participating in them. The illness, which proved fatal, had its origin in an ordinary bad cold, a couple of months ago. It resulted in a state of weakness from which deceased seemed never to fully recover, though everything possible was done towards that end, by her medical attendant, Dr. W. J. Gallagher, skilled nursing, and the constant, attention of her devoted family. Many, times it was thought the end was but a few hours off, but though, the constitution of deceased was never robust, her vitality was marvellous, and enabled her to rally, again and again.
A couple of weeks ago, by special permission of the Superioress, Notre Dame, Convent, Blackburn, Sister M. Antoinette paid a two days visit to Ballyshannon, and needless to say, it gave much pleasure to her mother, the deceased—who had not seen her since she entered the Convent, as a novice, 20 years ago. The Sisters of Mercy, Ballyshannon, were frequent visitors to the sick bedside as well as the clergy of St' Patrick's and St. Joseph's Churches. The deceased received Holy Communion daily, throughout her illness, and shortly before the end all the last rites of the Church were administered. The absolution was pronounced, as she expired peacefully.
May her soul rest in peace.
[We are obliged to hold over funeral report until next week as owing to Christinas arrangements, we must this week go to Press on Wednesday morning, and anything like the fill list of priests represented at the funeral would not be available by then.—-Ed. D. D.]

26-12-1924. G.A.A.— DONEGAL v. BALLYSHANNON.
To the Editor.
A Chara—As a supporter of the Ballyshannon team I am surprised you published such an unfair criticism in last week’s issue of the recent League match Donegal v Ballyshannon as supplied by your Donegal correspondent. Only a relentless opponent would dream of suggesting that referee, Mr. Joe McDermott, was partial to any particular team. The report is just like, something that would emulate from a place that was never noted for its sporting proclivities, and I challenge any Club to come forward and say they ever got a sporting reception in the much vaunted town of the Four Masters. Further criticism like that of your Donegal correspondent does not make for the furtherance of Irish games, — when a team is beaten they should accept their defeat in a sporting spirit. The correspondent emphasises the fact that Finner men were playing for Ballyshannon, but by the way are all the Donegal team “townies’'?
Yours,
SMINVER ROCK.

26-12-1924. HIGH RAILWAY RATES IN TIRCONAIL.MEETING OF DONEGAL MERCHANTS BALI.YSHANNON AND KILLYBEGS PROTESTS ENDORSED. MINISTER OF TRADE AND COMMERCE URGED TO DEAL WITH THE MATTER.
A meeting of the merchants of Donegal town was held in the Market Hall on Friday night to discuss the exorbitant railway rates, and to endorse the protest made by Ballyshannon and Killybegs, and urge on the Minister of Trude and Commerce to not delay in dealing with the matter in view, of the shipping starting in March.
Mr, Michael Flood presided.
Mr. John Gallen, who convened the meeting, said they had seen the announcement recently that a boat for general cargo service to Donegal, Ballyshannon and Killybegs had been commissioned, and would commence in the beginning of March inaugurating a regular fortnightly service between Liverpool and Glasgow, and these towns. He was sure there was no merchant of the town but would welcome that overdue project, and be glad to see everything the town and the surrounding country needed shipped in at the Quay below. It would be a benefit to the town, and to every person in it, as he was sure they would all realise. There was no reason why shipping into that town should not be an unqualified success on account of the favoured position of the town, and on account of the safety of the port. The Railway Company, did not want shipping into that town, and would do its best by reducing rates and other methods to nip the shipping project in the bud as it did before. Fortunately they were in a better position to make use of the shipping facilities at their disposal now that they were at any time ever before because they had the Minister of Industry and Commerce in Dublin, who was only too anxious to see progress, and he had the power to use it to make the Company act properly, and run for the benefit of Donegal as it had done so for Derry in the past.
There was no need for him to point out to the merchants of Donegal the way in which rates were manipulated to prevent Donegal becoming a rival port to Derry, but perhaps one or two instances, might be useful.
The rate of flour to Ballybofey from Derry was 11s 4d while flour could be got into Donegal at 8s per ton from Derry —the rate from Donegal to Killybegs was 11s 8d, and from Donegal to Ballyshannon 10s 8d. These instances showed anyone that the policy of the Railway Company was to keep Donegal a dumping ground for Derry suppliers, and to prevent its natural development.
Now, they had no hatred of Derry, but they insisted that they had an equal right to live and progress with Derry, and accordingly, he thought it right to call that meeting, to endorse and support the steps token in Ballyshannon and Killybegs recently, and demand that a stop should be put at once, to the high-handed, and he might say impertinent action of the Railway Company which took upon itself the shaping of the destiny of Donegal and keeping it stunted and undeveloped. He was glad to see so many had turned up to the meeting.
Mr. Joseph Irwin, (Messrs. Irwin and Co.) said they hod a grievance against the Railway Company as far as charges were concerned.

Address

20 Boa Island Road Belleek
Enniskillen
BT933EP

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Pettigo Village. posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organisation

Send a message to Pettigo Village.:

Shortcuts

Share

Category