Blow-ins in Belturbet
Last Sunday, November 15th, we attended a get-together for that maligned and permanent element in Co. Cavan, the blow-in, organised in the Railway Station in Belturbet. This gave various organisations and clubs in the town an opportunity to alert people to their existence. The atmosphere throughout was pleasant, relaxed and enjoyable and tea, coffee, sandwiches and the ubiquitous buns were served in copious and delicious quantities. There was even a cake. Music was provided by the stunningly talented but modest Cormac McCann, as well as by a group of young musicians and choristers.
Amongst those to speak was my good friend George Morrissey. What George does not know about the history of Belturbet would fit into the far corner of the cheapest denomination of postage stamp. In his usual, engaging way he told of the act of phoenix-like resurrection which saw the present Railway Station complex rise from dereliction and decay. He mentioned how the funding for the vital FAS scheme which had done so much work there, had been ended. I couldn’t help wondering whether this had been to help pay for Roddy Molloy’s First-Class tickets. John Scott introduced those attending to the Bowls Club of whose existence I’m delighted to hear. Crown Green bowls is one of those games for gentlemen (which does not exclude ladies) which seems to breathe a spirit of decency and fair play, combined with consummate skill. It is a game with a long and distinguished history; we all know about Francis Drake’s fondness for it. Early eighteenth-century Dublin had many bowling greens, some of which were laid out by the unfortunate man who took on the thankless task of remodelling St Stephen’s Green in Dublin in 1708. The Reverend Stephen Clarke, the recently-appointed Church of Ireland incumbent also spoke, as did people from groups representing Active Age and the scouts.
On my arrival I was delighted to meet my good friend Canon Corrigan. We exchanged how we were both blow-ins of a sort in Belturbet, and he made the very important point that it is often the outsider who is able to realise a location’s possibilities and assets, which local people, maybe through that contempt-generating quality of familiarity, all too easily overlook. I think the capacity of welcoming and embracing people from outside has been one of Belturbet’s greatest strengths throughout its history.
