1. Community Recreation Groups a) Gaelic Athletic Association (G.A.A.) St. Ronan's G.A.A. Club St. Ronan's G.A.A. club is the Kilronan Parish Gaelic Football club. Its headquarters is in Ballyfarnon where they have a very fine playing pitch, well fitted dressing rooms, facilities for many other games and could accommodate over 5,000 spectators if necessary. It is the most northerly club in County Roscommon and borders other clubs in Leitrim and Sligo. These other clubs are Allen Geals, Drumkeeran and Geevagh. The club fields teams at all levels throughout the year. Boys and girls are catered for. Underage teams are especially strongly promoted. There are very committed trainers of all the youth teams. The work and time that these helpers expend for the youth is sometimes not fully appreciated outside the club. Running a major club costs a lot of money. Funding is mainly provided from a very successful and well organised club Lotto. The President of the club is Dr. Hugh Gibbons who is the club's most famous former player. Dr. Gibbons is the holder of three All Ireland Medals while playing for County Roscommon. In 1940 he played with the County Junior team which won the All Ireland Junior title that year. Then in 1943 and 1944 he was a player in the County Team which won all Ireland Senior title in that year. He played a very major part in those two great All Ireland Title wins. In 1948 Dr. Gibbons was elected Chairman of Roscommon County G.A.A. Board, a position he held until 1954. He has been President of the County Board since 1996. This great ambassador for Gaelic football lives in Keadue. He is still very involved in everything concerning football in the parish. But his interests go far beyond just football. He is an outstanding parish and community worker who takes an active interest in every facet of life in Kilronan Parish. "Read Dr. Gibbons Essay on the Kingston Evictions." Gay Sheeran is the best known of the present crop of players. He has played at all levels with great distinction. It was as goalkeeper that he really made his name being one of the best goalkeepers the country has seen. He was goalkeeper in the defeated team which played in the All Ireland final in 1980. Gay was a successful team manager of Roscommon Senior and Junior teams. His Junior team were All Ireland champions in 1999. Two present club members were on that 1999 team. They were Andrew MacPadden and Patrick MacTiernan. Joint Presidents :- Dr. Hugh Gibbons and Paddy Guihen Chairman:- Sean Martin Vice Chairman: - Francis Cooney Secretary : - Declan Noone Assistant Secretary:- Patrick MacTiernan Treasurer:- Gary MacDonagh Assistant Treasurer:- Damian Killoran P.R.O. :- John Lynch Insurance Officer:- Brian Sheeran b) Community Games: The Community Games movement has been a phenomenally successful Initiative throughout the country for many years. It promotes sport of all types and codes for the youth of Ireland. Competitions in the various sports start at Parish level and then on to County level. The winners compete at Provincial level and finally at National level. Many thousands of young people are very heavily involved over the Summer months each year. The Kilronan Branch of the Community games has been very successful and has produced County, Provincial and All ireland winners. But its real success has been in getting out those who are often not athletically gifted at all. They have special competitions for those who do not manage to qualify for a higher level. The young people compete as avidly in all those competitions as if they were competing in the Olympic Games. Even a loser's medal can be very treasured. Kilronan Community Games recommenced in 1995 after a break of over fifteen years. In that first year one Gymnast and the boy's under 15yrs Volleyball Team succeded in getting through to the National finals at Mosney recreation grounds. Since then the, games have been going from strength to strength in the parish. Children have been participating in swimming, gymnastics, athletics, track and field events, badminton, indoor soccer, volleyball, cross-country running, and quiz competitions. They have attained high levels of success at County level in all these activities. In August 2001 the Girls Under -12 relay team and the Boys Under -14 shot-putt represented County Roscommon in the National Finals in Mosney. An organisation like this for our youth needs a large and very committed team of officers and coaches. They are as follows:

Parish Community Games Officers :

Offficers Chairperson...........Nuala MacNamara, Secretary................Margaret Grimes. Assistant Sec..........Kathleen Lavin. P.R.O......................Margaret Kelly. Dvlpment Offcr......Carmel Benson.
	Coaches ( Athletics ) . Michael Grimes. .......................John Willbie. .......................Hillary MacCawley. ( Volleyball ) .Liz MacCabe. .......................Carol O'Dowd. .......................David Duignan.
( Badminton ........Berna Gibbons. ..............................Niall Fearon. ( Indoor Soccer ) : Michael Grimes & Emmet O'Connor. ( Quiz Teams ).....Peggy Campbell.

c) Foroige Clubs:

The Foroige initiative is a National Youth movement. At least one branch has been activated in almost every parish in the country. In Kilronan Parish we have two very active branches in Ballyfarnon and Keadue.

I Arigna Foroige Club: The youth of Arigna are trying to form a new foroige club in the Arigna area in the near future.

The Photo above shows : Emma Conway, Miriam Rynn, Tanya O'Loughlin, Zona Christi and Amanda Gaffney on the very first feasibility walk along the proposed Miners Way walking trail. This was a thirty mile trek from Dowra to Ballyfarnon in 1991. The leader on that day was Liam Keaveney.
This group were also among those who were the inspiration behind the very successful "Arigna Capers" variety shows which were staged for several years by a cast of over one hundred on the Arigna Hall stage in the 1990's. "Capers" leaders were Joe and Teresa MacPadden. They were members of a very active youth movement in Arigna at the time. Perhaps the proposed New Arigna Foroige Club might be the inspiration behind a similar resurgence of youth community involvement in the Arigna area in future years.

II Ballyfarnon Foroige Club: This branch was set up in September 2001 and meets on Sunday evenings in Ballyfarnon Community Centre. There are at present thirty two members aged between 12 and 18 years. They have six adult leaders and their own elected committee that are elected by the members.
The adult leaders are:
Brendan Coen, Aidan Higgins, Helen Maher, Donal O'Connor, Jimmey Cullen, Bobbie Lowe.

e) Halls of the Parish :
There are three halls in the parish. They are in 1. Keadue 2. Ballyfarnon &
3. Arigna.

I. Keadue Hall or "St Ronan's Hall".
St. Ronan's Hall is built on the site of the former Keadue Church and so dates back over most of the 20th century. It has , of course, had many "face lifts" over the years. It is, by far, the most used hall in the parish and one of the most used community halls in the West of Ireland. Every night for practically the whole year it is the venue for some kind of community activity or meeting. It is the venue for Bingo, Badminton, Youth Club, Development Association Meetings, Drama, Music Classes or Sessions, Concerts, Traditional Dance Classes, Computer training, Art Classes etc. In the past year an ultra modern Restaurant , public Toilet and Shower facilities and a fine Conference Centre have been built on to the hall to help cater for the many visitors who come to Keadue during the year. A new entrance and some finishing touches have to be added on to some of the new facilities, at the time of web site creation, before everything is fully operational. The hall is governed by a "Limited Co. Without Share Capital".

Chairperson : Ronan Glynn Secretary : Padraig Noone Treasurer : Sean Mc Morrow

The Hall Board of Directors and Keadue Development Association have done Keadue and the parish proud in their endevours to make St. Ronan's Hall a
really excellent community facility.

II. Ballyfarnon Community Centre :
Ballyfarnon Community hall is some twenty years old. It is a small but very functional community building, The facilities it offers include good Meeting Rooms, small Kitchen, Concert and Drama Facilities and, of course, very good, if a little on the small side, Indoor - Games Facilities. It has an advantage for indoor games over the halls in Keadue or Arigna in that it is very high and has almost damage-proof walls. It caters for much of Ballyfarnon's indoor recreation needs. It is a well-used facility by a long list of Community Recreation Groups and is managed by Ballyfarnon Community Group.

Chairperson : Mary Shivnan Secretary : Anne Healy Treasurer : Sean Lavin

III. Arigna Hall :
Arigna Hall is a parish owned hall and was built in the 1930s. It is a hall that has had a very "up and down" history. At present is on a downward trend.
It has been renovated on a number of occasions over the years and then enjoyed a period of great activity and use. Several new Community Groups and Committees have taken on the management. But always something happened to kill the initial enthusiasm.

.

During the 1990s it saw the staging of "Arigna Capers", a spectacular annual Variety Show with a cast of over a hundred.
( Click Here "gallery" to see photographs of Capers ).
But the show had to fold because enough behind the scenes helpers could not be found. Bingo had to close for the same reason. The foroige Club closed soon after that. At the present the future of the hall is in doubt. If no community interest is forthcoming in the near future there is a real danger that the hall will collapse. It seems at the present time that the Arigna Community are not very interested in having a community hall. Perhaps an alternate use for the hall may be found - perhaps a factory or some other type of employment or training facility.

f ) Kilronan Ramblers :
Kilronan Ramblers is a Walking Club promoted by a community group representing the entire parish and surrounding area. It was founded following the opening - up of the "Miners Way" walking site. The aim was to promote walking as recreation, tourism promotion and, generally, to help open a window into the area with its spectacular scenery, history and really unique character. The group have arranged a walk for each weekend throughout the year. Anyone interested in really seeing the countryside is welcome to take part in these walks. They do not have to be members.

Each year this group organises two walking Festivals. One starts from Ballyfarnon in conjunction with the Josie MacDermott Festival in May and
the other Festival starts from Arigna in October . These Walking Festivals have been very successful and have drawn very big numbers of hill-walkers into the region.

g ) Comhaltus Ceoltoiri Eireann :
Comhaltus Ceoltoiri Eireann promotes Irish traditional music, song and dance. Kilronan Parish has been the home of some of the foremost Irish traditional musicians over the years. The first and most famous, of course, was Turlough O'Carolan (1670 - 1738) Harper, Composer ,the last and best known of all Irish of the old Irish Bards and the best known internationally of all Irish musical composers . But he has been followed by many other outstanding musicians in the area such as John McKenna, Josie MacDermott, Packie Duignan and Tommy Guihen to name just a few.
The tradition lives on and thrives in this area of the country. The local group helps to keep the musical tradition alive by promoting classes in traditional music song and dance sessions and training which is aimed primarily at
the upcoming generation. It is based in Keadue.

h ) O'Carolan International Harp Festival & Summer School :
The O'Carolan Festival was started in 1978. Since then it has grown into being one of Ireland's premier musical festivals and draws over five thousand traditional music enthusiasts from all over the world. It commemorates, of course, Turlough O'Carolan harp music composer supreme. He lived and died in Alderford House near Ballyfarnon and his grave is in Kilronan Abbey near Keadue. The Festival is in the first week of August each year. In the past few years a Summer School was added to the festival and is growing into being a very successful venture.

i ) Ballyfarnon Josie MacDermott Festival :
This festival which is held at the beginning of May each year commemorates
Josie MacDermott traditional musician, composer, music teacher supreme, playwright and folklore specialist. The Josie MacDermott Memorial Festival committee was set up in Ballyfarnon in 1993 to ensure the legacy of music and song left by Josie would be preserved, promoted and remembered.
The first festival was in July 1993 and since then it is held during the May Bank Holiday weekend each year. It incorporates musical competitions, dances, ceili, concerts and music sessions.A fine memorial to Josie was erected in the town of Ballyfarnon in 1999 and has become the focal point of the town.

2. Community Development Groups
Parish Development Groups:

a. "Arigna Community Development Co. Ltd ( A.C.D.C.)".

This Community Co. was set up in 1990 after the mines closed. Its purpose was to try to rebuild morale in the entire parish and to do something to alleviate the huge unemployment problem that followed the closure.
Various ideas and schemes were explored. Some didn't work and some were quite successful. Several major F.A.S. or Community employment schemes were initiated which employed a considerable number of ex- miners.
An Enterprise Centre was built in an attempt to attract employment.
A National Way - Marked walking route, called "The Miners Way", was opened up to attract tourism." A 200 Club Draw" was organised to provide day to day funding for the different initiatives. "Arigna Leader" was mooted early on and the idea bore fruit when the area became one of the benefactories of this major European Community initiative. At the moment the Company are in the process of setting up a major Mining Museum and Arigna Heritage facility in one of the old mine sites in the hills above
Arigna Village.

b. " Ballyfarnon Community Group " was set up in 1992. It replaced a very long established and successful group known as "Ballyfarnon Development Association." The aim of the group was to promote, market and revitalise the town of Ballyfarnon by looking for maximum community involvement in all their projects. Since 1992 they have achieved most of their aims but continue to pursue their objectives with vigour and determination. Meetings are held on the last Monday of every month with other meetings arranged to suit and organise different projects during the year. At present a hard-working core committee of eight people with full backing by the Ballyfarnon community when help is needed. Their task is to motivate and organise the different community events as they arise.

c. " Keadue Development Association " is almost an umberella Group that motivates, co-ordinates and organises practically all community development initiatives in Keadue Village . It does the work of the most successful of all "Tidy Town" groups in the West of Ireland. It has been in existence now for almost thirty years. It is the group that does a lot of the groundwork behind the very successful O'Carolan International Harp Festival each year, F.A.S. schemes, litter control, the visual impact of Keadue, the motivator for almost all community funding, the day - to - day running of St. Ronan's Hall' and all its facilities and the motivator behind most new initiatives around the village. Most community initiatives have their own community groups heading them up but the Development Association probably provided the inspiration behind the initiative or project in question. There is a danger, though, for Keadue Community that they might take the Development Association for granted. Things get done by a small core of extremely committed and motivated people who often work quietly but very efficiently and with great competence. They do not get paid for what they do. This is a totally voluntary group. The danger is they might get tired . If such were to happen then Keadue might very quickly revert to being just another unexceptional Irish rural village instead of being one of Ireland's tidiest and best kept towns. It will be very difficult to replace the existing Association leaders. But they must be replaced by "new blood" and that probably sooner than most people in the community realise. For a place like Keadue mere "Community backing", while very necessary, is not enough in itself. Very committed and ongoing competent new leaders are needed to help and, eventually, replace those who have given so many years to the community on a totally voluntary basis. Officers :- Chairperson - Peter MacNiff   Secretary - Pauric Noone d. " Lough Allen Region Community Development Co. " was formed in the 1980s to promote the tourism potential of this unique body of water and the surrounding hills and general area. Chairman - Rev. Sean Tynan P.P.Kilronan Secretary - Sean Wynne , Drumshanbo. Lough Allen is the first of the three great Shannon lakes. The other two are Lough Ree and Lough Derg. The Shannon is, of course, the largest river in Ireland and Great Britain and almost divides Ireland in two on its way to the Atlantic Ocean at Limerick. The lake is some ten miles long and four miles wide at its widest and about 300 feet deep at its deepest point. Its setting amid the mountains makes it by far the most scenic of the great lakes. Kilronan Parish has over five miles of its shoreline . The rest of the shoreline is shared by the three Leitrim parishes of Drumshanbo, Drumkeeran and Ballinaglera. Lough Allen is open to Shannon Cruiser traffic since the early 1990s. It is a very good fishing lake with good stocks of very large pike, strong fighting trout, perch, bream, rudd, roach and large eel. At the Northern end there is a fine strand at Corrie and also on three sites along the Eastern shore. Back to Top of Page Previous Next ....Home For Printer Friendly Version Click Here >