The arrival of a progressive curate and the enthusiastic backing of locals ensured Ballindangan Hall became a reality, all of 50 years ago. To mark this significant milestone, the current hall committee, under the chairmanship of Eamon Coughlan, held a weekend of celebrations – a series of events that proved to be a great success.
The centrepiece of the weekend was last Friday night’s anniversary Mass and function that followed. Mass was concelebrated by Fr Michael Corkery, Fr Dan Gould and Fr Eugene Baker. As part of the proceedings, prominent community activist, Pat Landers acted as MC and conducted interviews with individuals who’ve been involved with the hall, at various intervals, over 5 decades, namely: Nell Coughlan, the aforementioned Fr Gould and former hall chairman, Michael Clifford. All provided insightful and entertaining accounts of their involvement, in a ‘Reeling back the years’ style event.
Nell, who has been active in the ICA all her life, made a special point of acknowledging the contribution of Hannah Blackburn, who she described as ‘an inspirational figure’.
Coverage in this week’s Print & Digital Edition
