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| Happy
Birthday Jack Benton. 80 years young. On 27th April 1926 the bells rang out in Balbriggan to greet the birth of Jack Benton and we are now stuck with him for the past 80 years; Yes, Jack is 80 years of age but successfully hides the fact by acting as though he were half that age. Many of you will be aware that he broke his hip in a most unfortunate accident on Christmas Day and from this he has made a dramatic recovery. If you meet him this week wish him well; he is a great guy and is respected by all who know him. Anyone abroad who wants to wish him a happy birthday can do so by using the guest book. Happy birthday Jack from all the team. 26.04.06 Click on the thumbnail to read the greetings to Jack |
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| Big
Deal for Richie Delahide On Thursday night the White Hart Card Club held a tournament for all its previous winners that participate in it's weekly Tuesday night game at the White Hart Inn.As well as the usual prizes the winner also received a superb trophy and a ticket worth 500 euro to one of the big texas holdem tournaments.Congratulations to the eventual winner Richie Delahide who just pipped runner-up Gerry Leech in a gripping final.Newcomers are welcome to come on down, Tuesday nights, to try their hand in the renowned friendly atmosphere of this unique card club.25.04.06 |
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| Balbriggan
Awareness of Drugs Group launch web site. This new Web Site has been launched to help parents understand the dangers of drugs. As one of the speakers said, the drugs situation is only going to get worse with Cocaine as the dominant drug. Click HERE to see some photos of the launch and click on the thumbnail to go to the new web site. 24.04.06 |
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| Cricket,
Ireland V Hampshire with locals involved. Ireland played Hampshire in the first round of the C&G Trophy on Sunday and regrettably lost the game.Local players of interest were Eoin Morgan and Andre Botha of North County who performed well for Ireland. Paul Mooney is injured but hopes to be fit in the next week or so. 24.04.06 JC |
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| Skerries,
Balbriggan Karate Club One of the team met Mick Blaunt recently and he asked could we give the the club a mention. As usual, we are only too delighted to mention any club that has a Balbriggan connection. Click on the thumbnail to be taken to their to their web site. 24.04.06 |
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| Where
on earth is Balbriggan? We have received several emails over the past few months asking us "where the hell is Balbriggan" in relation to Europe? Ok, 99% of us know that this beautiful seaside town is 20 miles north of Dublin, in Ireland, on the island beside Britain to the west of mainland Europe. We have to constantly remind ourselves that people are finding this site from all over the world who never heard of Balbriggan, never mind Ireland. So, on the "home" page we have placed a link to a map showing where Balbriggan is in relation to London. Lets hope this keeps many surfers happy. It's hard to please everyone. 24.04.06 |
| Aerial
Photographs of Balbriggan. Three brilliant photographs for you today, this time we have made them big, 900 pixels wide for your enjoyment. These are the kind of photos that need to be big, to be appreciated. First is Cardy Rock, then Chapel Gate and lastly a view of Balbriggan from high above Dunnes Stores. We sincerely thank Photographer, Barry Geraghty, for these stunning images. Click on the thumbnail to view and see how big the town has become. 23.04.06 |
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| Church
Roof Fund. Super Valu Balbriggan are holding their 2nd Annual Wine Fair in the Bracken Court Hotel on Wednesday the 26th April from 7pm – 9.30 pm. A great chance to sample some of the finest wines from around the world, with over 100 wines available to taste on the night.Tickets are €12 available in store and from the Parish Office and all proceeds go to the Church Fund. Judging by the response to last years Fair it will be a roaring success, with rumours of a special guest appearance on the night!!!!Get your tickets early as its sure to be a sell out… |
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More
Video Footage. Brilliant sunshine brought out our two budding actors. Firstly Martin & Tony show, for those "Briggers" abroad, the current state of Georges Square which is nearing completion. Then, who do they bump into only Jim Walsh, May and Christy McAleer and finally Tony talks about the Canal area where a huge development is set to start. If you have broadband, they will download in seconds. We hope you enjoy. Click on any of the thumbnails to start. 21.04.06 |
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| Last
load from Harbourstown and Ardee Photo. Two photos for you here today, the first is Ardee Station in 1951 with team member Joe in the cab along with his brother Phil. The second is of Harbourstown House and the last load of wood leaves with Pat Gleeson. 21.04.06 |
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| Hurricane
Charlie hits Balbriggan. If our memory serves us right it was October 1987 that this storm hit the country. We all remember BBC Weatherman, Michael Fish, dismissing reports of a storm coming our way. Here are some photos from The Benton/Curtis Collection and they show how Balbriggan and Julianstown were affected. 21.04.06 Correction Hurricane Charlie hit ireland in 1986 (August perhaps?) whereas the Michael Fish incident was the October 1987 storm. I think it was the night of the 15/16 October. It hit southern England & northern France. We were living in Brittany then and I have vivid memories of the wind and the leaves & twigs being blown around like snowflakes. Hurricane Charlie was the previous Summer when we were still in Ireland, but it wsn't so severe.But despite the minor mistake, the photos are as usual, superb.Catherine |
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| Balbriggan
/ North County Irish Guide Dog A.G.M........ Today we bring you some photos of Balbriggan branch of Irish Guide Dogs for the blind.Great to report a total of €86.144(to be confirmed)was raised to the end of Dec.05 by the branch.This money will go into national funds.The money is then used in any part of Ireland to train or buy much needed guide dogs.Balbriggan.net was on hand to cover the night and the team would like to wish the branch continued success in 2007.Click on thumbnail to view photos.MF21.04.06 |
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| 90th
Anniversary of Easter Parade in Dublin. Sunday started off with beautiful sunshine, and Martin, Ronan & Tony met at Balbriggan station for the 9.15am train to Dublin. Martin, nursing a severe hangover was in great form and eager to take lots of photos of the Easter parade. The parade was an annual feature for the city but it stopped when the troubles erupted in the north. Thankfully, following the Good Friday Agreement, a new climate prevails and we can all remember those who lost their lives in 1916. A great day was had by the team who were joined by about 150,000 others who all seemed to enjoy the very colourful parade. We would like to take the opportunity to thank Dermot Ahearne TD and Minister for Foreign Affairs for his kindness and warmth along with Garreth Fitzgerald, Albert Reynolds and Trevor Sargent TD for all his help. Over 700 photos were taken by the team but thankfully we bring you about 15. Click on the thumbnail to see the photos. 21.04.06 |
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| Cost
Cutting on the Irish Sea. Here is a superb photo by team member Joe. Words are not needed, so just click on image. 20.04.06 |
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| Extra
names supplied. We have received an email from Mona Smith and she has added some more names to this photo that we brought you on the 4th of April. Click on the thumbnail to see the extra names. 20.04.06 |
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| Balbriggan
Chess Club Balbriggan Chess Club won promotion for the second year in a row. Promotion was secured in the final round in a tense home game against Portmarnock which ended in a 2.5 – 2.5 draw. Next season the team will be playing in the so called O’Hanlon League, which is the Leinster 4th Division. Top scorers this season were Peter Wherety on board 1 and Agis Makris on board 5 with solid performances from the rest of the team. Click on thumbnail 20.04.06 |
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| Charles
Dillon Photo(Smyco). We received this email recently from Catherine Busse in USA but originally from Doncaster and she writes Attention of Jack Benton and Joe Curtis, I just finished reading your wonderful article on Smyth & Co. I found it to be so interesting and informative. I never knew that Balbriggan hosiery was famous around the world! I was casually surfing the web when I found your terrific website. I have recently become interested in my family geneaology, and since I knew that my great grandmother (Catherine Dillon) was born in Balbriggan around 1854, I was curious about the little town of her birth. more |
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| Accommodation
in Balbriggan? |
| Round
Ireland Swim Hi,I'm wondering if you can help. A team of swimmers, including Tom Watters from Gormanston, are taking part in a round Ireland swim commencing 2nd July of this year. A self-contained Marine Rescue Unit from Sheephaven Sub-Aqua Club will accompany a team of six brave swimmers from the four provinces of Ireland on one of the most unique, challenging and exciting events in the first ever attempt to circumnavigate the island of Ireland by swimming around its entire coastline, a distance of more than 1,300Km. The RIS Expedition is a non-profit charity event, the organisers of the RIS Expedition will donate 25% of all money raised to the RNLI Crew Training Campaign in Ireland. Any funds remaining after the event will also be donated to charity.You can view the website www.roundirelandswim.ie for more information.Thank you so much,Linda McNally / Watters (originally from Balbriggan) |
| Smith
the Barber, and his bride Caroline Rankin c1935. Here is a great photo from The Martin Fanning Collection and it shows Seamus Smith on his wedding day to Caroline Rankin. We hope you enjoy. 20.04.06 |
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| An
expats' view on today's Balbriggan. Hi There. My family and I tried to relocate to Balbriggan last year from London, but for a variety of reasons it proved to be just too difficult. I'm from balbriggan myself, one of the generation that left the country during the 80's. I settled and married in the UK and was really hopeful that we could improve our quality of life by moving to Ireland.One of the first things we noticed (especially as we have 2 small children) was that the streets are full of dog sh*t ( I didnt see a single dog pooh bin anywhere). It was really unbelievable and really disgusting.Read more Here |
| James
Woods and his family. We received two photographs from Ken McGrath and he tell us they are of a Mr James Woods, my connection is James woods is my g grandfather. He bought the house in 1919 in the street I think is now called Hampton st. The last time I was in balbriggan the house was still there. my father used to go to balbriggan for his holidays maybe you have a photo of him. I looked at your photos and did not see any of him . Can anyone help us here, we dont recognoise any of the names that Ken has given us, where on Hampton Street could this be? Click to see the two photos Ken has sent us and see if you recognoise any of the names. 14.04.2006 |
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| Jack
Benton & Martin Fanning say hello on Video. What have we started here, first is our Tony down by the lighthouse and today Jack & Martin insisted on saying hello to all out there in B.net land. To say we had a laugh while filming is an understatement, click on the thumbnail to see two videos, Jack first and then Martin, excuse the noise on Martins video as he is suffering from wind which he hopes to have sorted very soon. If you're on dial-up it could take about 5 minutes to download, 10 seconds with broadband. Click on thumbnail to view. Thanks to Paul Connell for his help today. 08.04.06 |
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| Gerry
and Maria Halpin We received this email, can anyone help? Sirs, I have lost contact with a Balbriggan family and have exhausted all avenues and previous contact details. My friends Gerry and Maria Halpin and family have grown up in the town and if there is anyway that you can possibly give them my e-mail address should they wish to get to get in contact with me please? I too have visited the beautiful Balbriggan on a number of occasion and would hope to do so again! With kindest regards, Nic Morgan. If you can help here is the email address to reply to. nicmorgan@ntlworld.com 05.04.06 |
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| Short
Video Clips of Balbriggan. Here is something that we have considered for some time and today we have put together a short video clip of 1 minute. Its of our Tony and its really just a test to see if it works. The video clip is 2.5mb so even if you only have dial-up, it shouldn't take too long. Let us know if you like or dislike the idea. . 04.04.06 |
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| School,
Mystery Group and Nora Brennan photos. Here are 3 photos that Martin gave us some months back and they went missing in the dungeons of B.net. Anyway, here they are, the first is a St. Peters & Paul's school photo obviously on a day out at Naul during the 50's, the second is of a group, maybe some Smyco workers, posing for the camera in the grounds of the train station and the last photo is of Nora Brennan when she worked in Spicers on Drogheda Street. We are always looking for photos so if you have some, contact us on info@balbriggan.net. Click on the thumbnail to view and email us with any names you have. Thanks and enjoy...04.04.06 |
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| Smyco
1928 photo. Here is an unusual photo, it's of Lewis & Dorethea Whyte and the occassion is their 25th wedding anniversary. Lewis was the managing director of Smith & Co. Click to enlarge.03.04.06 |
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| Naul
School The Naul School photo, sad to report the death of Mr. Moore last week, in his 96th year we think, and his death brings down the curtain on this class of Naul National School. Mr. Moore was a wonderful historian and always willing to give his time to 'students' of a younger generation.03.04.06 |
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| Photographs
From Maureen Heeney Collection.......... Following a chance meeting with Martin from the team and Mrs.Maureen Heeney when they were discussing scouting in Balbriggan and the connection of the Heeney family and in particular, Maureens late husband Oliver, Martin had the pleasure of viewing a wonderful family album containing some fantastic photos of family, scouting and events down through the years. The album dates back to 1945 and we at Balbriggan.net are delighted to bring you some of Maureens collection.More photos to follow in the coming weeks.Click on thumbnail to view our latest find.02.04.06MF |
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| Balbriggan
Parish Web Site. We have been asked to let you know of a new web site that has recently launched. www.balbrigganParish.net is a wealth of information and we wish them the best of luck. Click on the thumbnail to go to their site. 02.04.06 |
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| April
Fool catches out many. Since our first April Fool, its now expected of us each year to come up with something different. Of course we have no intention of closing, we get too much enjoyment out of it and so many enjoy the photos we put on the site. Here are a few comments we received yesterday, others texted and others attached screenshots of what they were seeing on their PC. 01.04.06 |
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