Ballymote is about to step back in time for Heritage weekend
Ballymote is gearing up for its annual Heritage Weekend from Thursday July 28th to Monday August 1st.
The bank holiday weekend of cultural and historical events, some of which are connected with the Ballymote area, has always created a huge interest for locals and indeed those from further afield, with an action- packed programme of events pencilled in for 2016.
“It helps to bring attention to the public about things from the past that there is a general interest around and it helps to show the huge amount of heritage we have,” according to Pamela Benson, treasurer of the Ballymote Heritage group.
The weekend kicks off on Thursday evening, with a documentary screening of the Battle of the Somme at Ballymote Community Library, and that is followed at 8pm with Hamlet at the Art Deco Theatre. Friday sees the official opening with a lecture from Anne Haverty on Constance Markievicz entitled ‘ Being Miss Gore- Booth’. Saturday’s programme includes a day trip to Cong near Ballinrobe in Co Mayo with a tour with local historians, and on Sunday there is a tour of the old castle at Temple House with Dr Paul Naessens.
There is also a trip scheduled for the final day on Bank Holiday, where attendees will travel to Monaghan to view historical buildings and landmarks in the company of Kevin Mulligan, the author of ‘ The Buildings of South Ulster’. “The day trips are fantastic and we will be going to Cong Abbey and viewing the stained glass windows in Ballinrobe, and then on the Monday going to Monaghan where there is wonderful heritage.” Pamela said. All events in 2016 keep in mind three particularly important anniversaries that occur this year. William Shakespeare died in 1616, 400 years ago, it is 100 years since the Easter Rising and it is also 100 years since the Battle of the Somme, in which 3500 Irish soldiers died. Ballymote Heritage Group is behind the weekend, and since it was founded in 1984 it has met on a monthly basis to help raise awareness of all matters of heritage. This is the 27th instalment of the Heritage Weekend, and it also coincides with the publication annually of the Corran Herald, which reflects the unique blend of styles and subjects, and has an increasing readership year on year. Pamela says there is always a strong interest in the activities during the weekend: “It depends on the weather and other factors obviously, but on average there are usually around 100- 120 people at the launch and last year we had 52 people on the coach to Monaghan.”