We have been busy researching and creating our 2024 calendar- “The Old Ways of Ballybay”, which is a collection of 13 premium photos of some rare old views of Ballybay. We also have included some tales of Ballybay and some of its old traditions provided by many generations of the town’s inhabitants. All the profits from sales of the calendar will be going towards putting up some of these lovely views of Ballybay back in the day, up around the town for everybody to enjoy today. The cost is 20 euros. The perfect Christmas gift for anyone with an interest in the history of Ballybay. The calendars are handmade right here in Ballybay using the best of materials. For that price you get 13 historical photos of Ballybay that can be reused and displayed for future generations. If you’re in the town, you can pick up your copy of the calendar from Kevin Quinn’s hardware shop, or the post office. For those of you who are far away from Ballybay, you can place an order by emailing feargalnorton@gmail.com or send us a message to our group on facebook. If that’s not an option for anybody, you can still enjoy some of the pictures and stories that we’ve gathered by viewing the images below. Thanks for your support.
2 replies on “Calendar”
My grandfather, Paddy Gavney of Drumskelt, was well known and thought of back in his time, and it was long reputed that made away with Sam Gray’s sign and disposed of it as he had the means, the motive, and it aggravated him so much to have to come into town under it. He had publicly announced that he thought it shouldn’t be there, and shortly afterwards it disappeared. For years after my father returned to Ballybay in the 1940s as a child neighbours and townspeople would ask him if he knew where his father stashed the sign, but of course he didn’t, as his father had passed away when he was only 15 months old, and there was no sign of it hidden on the farm. My father supposed that his own father had thrown it in a lake.
Fascinating stuff, thanks for sharing. All new information to me, it’s amazing to think the sign might well have survived somewhere until this very day…