Local heritage walk held as part of 'That Beats Banagher' festival
by Eddie Alford
As part of the 'That Beats Banagher' festival on Sunday, July 27, the erudite and witty James Scully entertained and enlightened a large group of very interested people.
Thanks to the vicar, he opened in St Paul's Church and spoke about the Brontes' close connection to the Church and the surrounding area.
Moving to the graveyard he pointed to the family graves and the proximity of their abode, Charlotte's Way and of course Charlotte and Arthur.
We proceeded to the monument for a young man called Barnes, who was executed in the UK in 1940 for exploding a bomb on the carrier of a bicycle in Coventry and killing a lot of people. The evidence was clouded, as in the 1950s another man claimed responsibility the incident.
James noted the steeples on St Paul's Church and St Rynagh's were of a similar height! The latter were only allowed to build a steeple after many years? The railings were due to be scrapped, but luckily that was stopped.
An teach beag is a grey brick construction from local Bricks. The Bank of Ireland is an early 20th century construction. We were reminded that Banagher was always connected to horses and the Great Horse Fair is held on the Sunday closest to September 15.
Crank House is an early Georgian building, it was a brewery in the early 19th century. It’s now a community owned enterprise for local development and has a tourist office and meeting space.
The ironwork of Roger De Bassile a Belgian based in Lusmagh was a distinguished maker of gates seen in town. His wife taught French to adults. If you missed your homework or couldn’t parlais vous you were banned from class until you could! The Masonic Lodge was revived. One story says that after a meeting they went home early to observe the Sabbath. However one diary said that 80 bottles of claret were purchased in Mann’s Hotel!
We moved on to see the ironwork pieces in the Napoleonic fortifications at the bridge. During WW2 there was concern that Hitler might invade, so a mortsafe for dynamite was constructed to blow up the bridge, if there was an invasion. It’s still there. They were positioned along the Shannon at Athlone, Shannonbridge, Banagher and Meelick.
We finished at the Bridge Barrack Yard where 'The All Ireland Blacksmiths Event', was taking place over the two days of the 'That Beats Banagher' festival.
The challenge was to make various pieces smelting iron ore from Offaly. They have a grant from the Heritage Council for training people and keeping this ancient and wonderful skill alive.