ballyshannon4
On the same page of the paper is a report of the terrible toll taken by the north Atlantic storms at this risky time of the year. �A melancholy account has reached us of the recent gale in the vicinity of Nova Scotia. The remains of 60 persons, lost during the storm, were buried in one grave. 160 vessels of all kinds have been wrecked.�
On Thursday the 22nd of January, 1852, Mother Nature, finally dealt the port of Ballyshannon a marvellous natural opportunity of improvement. In a tremendous storm it opened an entirely new channel. The Ballyshannon Herald reported on the 30th that the seas had risen to a height never before witnessed by any of the present generation. The storm had cut an entirely new channel through the sand dunes and already a boat which had been at sea had come in through the new opening. A newspaper correspondent visited the site on the following Tuesday and found people measuring and debating how to deepen this new channel to make it permanent. It was reckoned that local labourers, now unemployed during the winter, would work for a trifle � two meals daily of bread and coffee. Given wheelbarrows and organised in gangs of 20 it was reckoned that the work could be completed in two weeks. Additionally an old ship sunk in the previous channel would held direct the water into the new and thus aid the workmen. With this new channel in direct line with the flow of the river it was confidently expected that its flow would keep this new route open.
There was great excitement in the countryside and the first public meeting for the improvement of the harbour, after this new breach in the Bar was made, attracted a full house of gentry, merchants, traders, farmers and peasantry � (listed in that order in the paper.) The meeting which was convened by the Town Commissioners was held at one o�clock and began with reading the handbill which had been circulated and Mr. John R. Dickson of Duncarbery Lodge took the chair. As the meeting progresses it is interesting to see the division between the enthusiasm of the differing interests at the meeting. The first speaker was Peter Gallagher, caretaker to Mr Ffolliott on whose land the new gap had appeared. He said that he had been looking at this part of the strand for the previous 30 years and thought that this process had been underway for most of this time. In his young days the sandbanks had been three times higher than they were today. He suggested that the peasantry would come in hundreds from the surrounding countryside and would work for nothing. All the gentry had to do was horses, carts and wheelbarrows and the work would be done in a few days.
Mr. Woods, a Town Commissioner, said the purpose of the meeting was to get the opinions of people acquainted with the workings of the navigation of the port and how to improve it and then get an engineer to report on the subject. Mr. Carter contradicted Mr. Wood saying only a few of the Commissioners wanted an engineer. As far as he was concerned an engineer was an unnecessary expense and far more importantly, an unnecessary delay, during which time the channel might start to close again without a current of water running through it constantly. An engineer would in all probability suggest a breakwater, embankments etc. etc. which would cost from ten to fifteen thousand pounds which they had no home of raising. In the meantime they could do the job themselves. His suggestion that the peasantry would work for nothing was greeted with cries of �We will, we, will.� Mr. Hamilton said that the scheme of deepening was practical but as there was a difference of opinion on such an important question as changing the navigation of the channel they should have an engineer to look at it. Mr. Wm. Allingham Jun. Said that an engineer would only cost �20 and Mr. Bloomfield of Castle Caldwell had said he would pay half of this. Mr James Mc Gowan was also for pressing ahead without delay but despite all pressures to go ahead it was decided unanamously to seek the opinion of an engineer before doing anything.
A further meeting was held in Ballyshannon Market House on the 3rd of February and a letter dispatched to the Board of Works and the chief local landlord Mr. Conolly summarising the position of the harbour and the newly arrived possibilities of developing it. They urgently required a visit from a Board engineer to survey this new situation in Ballyshannon. This is how the letter describes the new passage. � On the 22d, ultimo, an unusually high tide, impelled by a furious westerly gale, forced a passage through the sandhills immediatly to the south of the entrance to the harbour. The tide had on several former occasions come into the river at the same spot, but this time it left behind it some very remarkable effects; having swept a large mass of sand into the curve of the river which it entered, and having proportionately lowered and levelled part of the sandbank between the fresh and the salt water � leaving a regular and sharply defined opening of about 80 yards in width, and not more than twelve feet at its highest point, above the surface of the river at low water. The distance from the river to the sea, at low water, is here about 750 yards. The river and the sea, at low water, opposite the new opening, are both of them deep; and there are no rocks, or obstructions of any kind.� William Allingham Jun. Secretary.
Meanwhile this violent period of weather had great effects all round the locality. The Fermanagh Reporter states that the Erne has never been seen so high and coaches have to take long detours around floods to get to Enniskillen and that there were regular ferries on Her Majesty�s highways. The Ballyshannon Herald reports among other things that the East Port of Ballyshannon is so flooded that persons go from house to house in large tubs and that � A great flood still exists in Lough Erne which has flowed into the distillery of this town, Mr. Kelly�s brewery, and other establishments along the banks of the river � several walls have been thrown down and piers and ramparts carried off. Great fears are entertained for the safety of the bridges of this town and Belleek. Never has such a flood been seen in the lake. Cathleen�s falls is quite level with the water beneath, and the eel weirs are covered � not a particle of them to be seen but the fishhouse. The streets in the Purt are nearly impassible. If the new approach to the harbour had a cut of a few feet broad through it to let the river flow to the sea, so great is the body of water that in 24 hours a passage fit to float a 74 gun ship into the port would be effected. That is our reason for wishing as little delay as possible to be made in the experiment, as, if the river lowers, as it soon will, there will not be the same facilities.
The Ballyshannon Herald of April 30th, 1852 notes the arrival of the Brig Malvina from St. John�s New Brunswick, John Beer, Captain, Schooner Heather Bell from Liverpool with J. Hendry Captain and the Salathiel from London, R. Jones, Captain. These ships had made their way in through the newly opened channel. The Heather Bell drew 8 feet and entered at low water and the paper adds that this new channel is 13/14 feet deep at neap tides and 18/19 feet at spring tide. John Beer of the Malvina made a statement which the paper printed. I, John Beer, Master of the Brig Malvina, of Waterford, entered the harbour of Ballyshannon on 17th of April, 1852, in perfect safety, with that vessel drawing eleven and a half feet, by the channel or passage now open to the south of the Bar, between South Rocks and Finner Strand. John Beer Ballyshannon, 27th April, 1852.
The Malvina is an interesting example of a shipping triangle. Waterford has a very ancient link with the Canadian Maratime provinces. English fishing vessels used to set out in Spring to fish the Grand Banks and on their way picked up provisions and workers in Waterford. These people gutted and salted the fish and made barrels in which they were shipped and a very early Irish colony developed in New Foundland, New Brunswick etc. as people srtayed on rather than come home for the Winter. The Malvina may have made an early season trip to New Brunswick and returned with a load to timber to Ballyshannon and possibly intended to return with a cargo of emigrants.
The local newspaper reports on the Custom�s Receipts and the number and tonnage of vessels inward and outwards, �from the port of Sligo, subport of Ballyshannon and creek of Donegal� for the years 1851-52. These make dire reading from the point of view of Ballyshannon.
Sub Port of Ballyshannon. Customs Revenue - 1851 - �115-5-4 � 1852 - �338-7-5. Vessels inward 1851 � 23, tonnage 1443 tons. Vessels Inward 1852 � 26, tonnage 1841 tons. There are no outward figures which suggest that there are no local Ballyshannon ships operating and all departed in ballast.
Creek of Donegal. Customs Revenue - 1851 - �1,031-17-1 � 1852 - �1196-17-0. Vessels inward 1851 - 116 vessels, tonnage 9,716 tons. Outward 39 vessels � 5,067 tons. Vessels inward 1852 � 90 vessels, tonnage 8,193. Outward 41 vessels, tonnage 5,607.
It is plain that the figures of Donegal Town dwarf those of Ballyshannon and both miniscule in relation to Sligo � 1851 Custom�s Duties c�20,000 on 238 vessels coming in and 170 vessels going out. Sligo�s figures are also put in context with Derry in 1851 producing Customs Revenue of c�110,000 on 1200 vessels with a combined tonnage of 194,207 tons.
In the same issue of the paper the Londonderry Steam-Boat Company was advertising sailings of the fast steam ship Admiral from Derry to Liverpool every Thursday evening at a quarter to five calling off Portrush at a quarter to eight. Shipping heavy goods cost 2 shillings and sixpence per ton, eggs, bale goods and cases at one penny per foot, butter at one penny per firkin, pigs 3 pence each and cattle, according to size, from one shilling to two and sixpence. Passengers in first cabin and saloon paid 10 shillings, second cabins were 5 shillings and steerage passengers on deck paid a mere one shilling. Steerage was only 7 pence to Glasgow and for even the commonest labourer the passage across to England was cheap. Daily wages were 10 pence per day in Ballyshannon at this time.
�On September 17th, 1852 the same paper notes the arrival of the Ochiltree, from Glasgow with coal and castings and the Elizabeth and Mary from Liverpool with rock salt. In an adjacent item it mentions that the engineers for the Dundalk and Enniskillen Railway are busily engaged in surveying the line between Enniskillen and Castleblaney. The demise of both rivals, the seaport of Ballyshannon and the Ulster and Newry Canals has appeared on the horizon.
The Impartial Reporter of May 6th 1852 takes up the cudgels on behalf of this project again. - Ballyshannon Harbour Improvement. - We request the particular attention of our readers to the following letter from the Board of Public Works. This, with the important report accompanying it (which may be had at our office) places the question of the improvement of Ballyshannon Harbour in an entirely new light. It is almost unnecessary to say that that Port has about the worst character of any in the Kingdom. This arises entirely from the nature of the entrance, for the channel within is, at all seasons and all periods of the tide remarkably safe and deep, up to the very quays.
The plan therein recommended coincides with the judgement of every person acquainted with this locality; namely to shut up altogether the Bar course, and confine the whole body of the river, at all seasons, to the Southern Channel. This might, at first glance seem a difficult operation, but it would, in fact, be an easy one. We learn from the report that the �South Rock� forms a permanent natural foundation for the pier-head, and the water between it and the north shore is quite shallow, as long as the south channel remains open; while the materials for the work lie ready to hand on the shore, in the shape of stones and boulders of every dimension. The mole once made, in a season or two the dreaded Bar, and patch, and the whole of that channel would lie buried under a hard sandy beach, and time would only add to the permanency of the barriers.
The estimate for this pier-head and mole, constructed in the best manner, amounts to the comparatively insignificant sum of �10,000. Further improvements are recommended to be pursued at a future time but this (see fully described in the report) is the main one, and would be permanent and complete in itself making Ballyshannon a safe and useful harbour. Should the result, which the Board of Works deem probable, be realised, namely, �deep water at the entrance at all times,� � there would be very few ports in the kingdom to compare with it in advantages.
The Board �regret they have at present no funds at their disposal for this purpose,� but the time is considered a favourable one for making an appeal to the Government on behalf of the plan so strongly recommended by Mr. Forsythe, and which could not fail to be of importance to the whole district connected with Lough Erne. The Enniskilleners have hitherto held aloof from schemes for the improvement of Ballyshannon Harbour, being unable to see any reasonable prospect of success, but now that this new plan, pointed out by nature, advised by the highest practical authority in the country, and in every way so feasible, is submitted to their consideration, we hope they will prove themselves willing to co-operate in influencing the Government through our Borough representatives, the Solicitor General, and County representatives to at once grant this very moderate sum.
Despite all the favourable remarks of potential developers it is clear that officially Ballyshannon was considered a risky harbour. Even to go into Donegal Bay is considered fraught by The Irish Coast Pilot p 429 � �Donegal Harbour, at the head of this large and rather dangerous bay ........� and even more definitely on the same page, �Those bound to Donegal or Ballyshannon should not run into the bay so late in the evening as to be left in it during a long winter�s night. In summer, there is but little danger in running in at any time; but it would be advisable that those bound to Ballyshannon should not run to leeward with a north-west wind, or any wind blowing upon that part of the bay, so as to make it a lee shore.� On page 433 it pulls no punches, �The entrance to Ballyshannon is perhaps as dangerous as the entrance of any harbour that is at all navigable can well be, in all cases a pilot is indispensable. In summer, vessels may freely stand in towards the bar in order to pick up a pilot; but the surf or other accidents might prevent this coming off; in which case, and perhaps always in winter, it would be wise to proceed to Donegal harbour, or, still better, to Killybegs and to send overland to Ballyshannon for a pilot, if none should be at either of those places. There is an instance on record of a vessel having been actually detained at Killybegs for three months, before the wind, the bar, and the period of the tide, permitted the pilot to enter the river. It would be worse than useless to give any detailed directions or marks, as they might perhaps lead some imprudent person to venture in without a pilot. It will therefore be sufficient to add, that, from the bar up to the town, the channel, though winding, is free from much obstruction, and is well marked by poles and perches; and though it offers nowhere one cabel of navigable breadth, it carries ten or twelve feet in depth up to the quays of the town, where there are from three to five fathoms, and room for a considerable number of vessels.
The Ballyshannon Herald of July 26th, 1852 highlights the problem again of the Bar and how ships tried to surmount them and the attendant dangers in doing so. Melancholy Loss of Life � On Saturday evening last, while the smack Adalanta, of Liverpool, was putting out to sea from this port, the winds being contrary, two boats were attached to tow her over the Bar; when nearly over, she struck against a bank, and the boats turned around with the tide, their broadsides coming in contact with a heavy swell, one of them upset, and the crew � seven in number � were thrown on the waves; the other boat succeeded in picking up five of them, but melancholy to relate, the other two ( named Michael O�Donnell and at Mc Gowan sank to rise no more. They were very industrious men, and have both left wives and young families to lament their untimely end. Their bodies have not yet been found. Too much praise cannot be given to Simon Shiel, Esq., M. D., for the exertions he made to restore animation to the men who were rescued from drowning � some of whom were apparently dead for several minutes. He sent to town for warm clothing, wine, and spirits for them, and had them brought home in his cart � the smack got off the bank the next day, and was brought back to the quay to undergo repairs.
By April, 1853 all the fuss re hiring a steamer and the deepening of the channel had all come to naught. The Ballyshannon Herald reports that the commerce of the town was in a deplorable state. So many meetings had been called to so little effect that to call another was likely to invite ridicule but something should be done. It then prints a letter from the Enniskillen merchant with local interests, James Creden. Enniskillen, 22nd March, 1853. Dear Sir, You are correctly informed as to the difficulty there is in getting a vessel charted for Ballyshannon, owing to the character of the Bar, which is ten times worse than it really is. I have at present a vessel loading at Newport, for Ballyshannon, and was obliged to submit to 15 shillings per ton � the Master of the same vessel offered to take nine shillings to Donegal; so you see it is no wonder that Ballyshannon is going down. If there is not some exertion made, and that immediatly, to obtain Government aid to improve the harbour this summer, I fear that the port is doomed......... James Creden.�
The storms of 1852 were followed by similar and indeed even greater floods in January the following year. Despite the headlines of the year before the editor seems to have forgotten all about 1852 by January 7th, 1853. The Floods � Since Noah�s flood, which �the oldest man� whom we have been speaking to quite forgets, no such flood in Lough Erne has been observed. The lough, which empties into the sea at our river, is two feet higher than ever remembered. At the east end of the town the lake has flown into the public passages, and in the street the the water in the low parts is four feet deep. On Monday last, a lad who wished to spend the Christmas holidays pleasantly, went out with his fishing rod to angle in the street, and he was not long threashing the waters when he caught a fine perch, which was brought in by the flood within a few yards of Mr. Duffy�s shop. Several otters have been carried down, and it is supposed have taken forcible possession of the houses, which have been vacated by the inhabitants, owing to the floods rising five feet in their kitchens, and likely to rise to their parlours and drawing rooms. The houses at the bridge end are filled to a bumper to the second storey. The only inmates that brave the torrents are the rats; according as the water rises they ascend another storey, and if any opposition is given to them they dive into the water and swim to another part of the building. The inhabitants leave the doors open, and the flood runs through.
This advertisement in the Impartial Reporter of January 1856 indicated the range of goods imported through Ballyshannon by James Creden and Son who had premises in Enniskillen and Ballyshannon and who list the following ships� cargoes for sale.
The Margaret of Glasgow, John Gardiner, Master, from Liverpool with 100 tons of best stoved Lump Salt, and 140 tons of best Curing Salt. The Energy of Belfast, M. Small, Master, from Newport with 80 tons of assorted Bar Iron, and 140 tons of best Smithy Coals. The Melbourne Trader, from Port Madoc, with 150 tons of Queen slates, Duchess, Princess, large and small Countesses slates, together with our usual stock of Memel timber, plank and lath.
�On Friday evening, the 29th ult, about 9 p.m., this vessel after discharging her cargo, was proceeding down river, when by some mismanagement, she went aground at the Abbey Bay, being at the time from 50 to 70 yards north of her proper course. On Monday an enquiry was held in the Market House, before J. K. Atkinson, Esq, and E. Allingham, Esq., J. P�s and the witnesses examined on oath.
James Daly, the pilot in charge, deposed that he gave the necessary orders for steering the ship in the right course, but could not say whether they were attended to. Shortly before she touched, he gave orders for �full speed� to make her steer better; could take her a thousand times past the same place, if he had his own way; could not say if �he got justice� or not (in steering); considered it a late hour to take a vessel out; admitted there was sufficient water and light to cross the Bar had no delay occurred after leaving the Quay; there were a number of visitors on board, and some confusion, admitted that He had very little experience in steam navigation.
The Master (Thomas Rigby), the head engineer, the second mate, who was at the wheel, and others deposed in substance that all orders issued by the pilot were immediatly obeyed, and that the ship worked perfectly. They concurred in the opinion that she was out of the channel course for some time before the pilot gave the word �starboard!� and that when he did give it, it was too late, as, being, then in shallow water, or as sailors express it, �smelling the ground� the ship would no longer answer the helm. Had full steam being given the ship would have run further on the mud; she was drawing ten to ten and a half feet; they sounded the channel and found nuneteen and a half feet at that turn; she was a long way out of her course; there was plenty of daylight.
Head Constable Armstrong was on board from the steamer�s quitting her moorings till she went aground. He saw some of the stokers intoxicated, but those engaged in running the ship were sober; he observed them particularly.
Several persons came forward to state that they had heard some of the sailors say that the captain was paid to wreck the ship, but nothing of the least importance was elicited on this head.
Mr. John Graham, of Graham Brothers, the charterers, explained that they were responsible for the vessel till her return to Liverpool, and were most anxious that she should make a rapid and successful trip; they were undergoing a serious loss per diem by her detention; the former Captain (Reid), having left, he engaged Captain Rigby in Liverpool, who had been a sailing master in the navy, and had the highest certificates of competency.
Captain Rigby stated that he saw very little difficulty in coming in or out of the port of Ballyshannon � he could do it by himself if proper buoys were laid down. The decision of the magistrates was that the casualty was wholy owing to the inexperience of the pilot in steam navigation, and recommended that the pilots of the port should be put in the way of acquiring the necessary experience, and further, that the harbour should be buoyed. A subscription for this latter purpose was at once opened, particulars of which shall appear in time. The steamer, Isabella Napier, got off without injury by Thursday morning�s tide, and proceeded to sea.
The first mention of the Myles family in the shipping business is on February 12th, 1858. John Myles is described as an agent for the White Star Line of Australian Packets and offers for sale the cargo of the Brig Peru from St. John, New Brunswick. There are 5583 pieces of battons, deal and ends on offer. On July 23rd, the ship Falcon arrives from Liverpool with coals and earthenware, the Mary Kern with Indian Meal (Maize) and French flour and the Betsy with American Barrel flour. The Peru above is mentioned in January 1847 being used to import Indian Meal (Maize) to Derry. It had brought in a cargo of 150 tons on behalf of the Fermanagh landlord, the Rev. Grey Porter. He had bought the grain at �10-10-6 pence and intended to sell it to his tenants at cost which was expected to be around �12 per ton as against the current price of �24-10-0 for maize and �30 for oaten meal.
The inaction of local business and landlords in dealing with Ballyshannon Harbour�s problems is soon to come home to roost permanently. With the arrival of the railroad its long term doom is sealed. The local papers report on 28th October, 1865 that the railway is almost ready for service the 9th A.G.M of the company has been told. It has cost �300,000 and �30,000 is still owed to the directors of the company. They are at present considering building hotels for tourists using the line. At present the new steamer service on Lough Erne had doubled the number of people going to Bundoran. There are 16 ships plying from Sligo to Scotland.
The story goes on May 5th, 1866 - The Bundoran Branch of the GNR has been passed inspection on Tuesday last. It is to open soon. On May 15th, 1866 Henry Mervin D'Arcy Irvine of Irvinestown complaining about the building of the Great Northern Railway. He had been overruled after suggesting that the railway should have been built a bit at a time. Mr. Mc Birnie, the financial founder of Belleek Pottery and a major shareholder in the new railway [he invested �20,000] said that the agreement made with the Irish Northwestern Railway Company to run the line had been repudiated at the last moment. The agreement had not been written down and the new arrangements for the line were organised in a very anti-Ballyshannon fashion. This was especially so in regard to the price of coal. The line was being run for the benefit of the port of Derry.
Meanwhile life goes on in the town as recorded in the papers. The �Purt� of Ballyshannon (as it is said locally) is divided into two sections officially known as East and West Port. This area catered for the pleasures of sailors from doss houses to brothels and eating houses to whiskey shops. In June 1869 it was reported that there were 13 whiskey shops along the port and 26 in the rest of the town. In the Ballyshannon Herald of July 1st, 1871 is an account of the taking of 245 fish; the biggest number of salmon ever caught in one �shot.�
There was a rush of Ballyshannon shipwrecks in the ten years from 1874 to 1884 which must have painted an even blacker picture of the port. The Anne was wrecked on the 12 of November, 1884 on Ballyshannon Bar with China Clay for Belleek Pottery from Charlestown. The Ada Letitia of 96 tons was wrecked on the 16th of September,1880. The Widow, a 90 ton brig, was wrecked on the 10th of August 1884 with timber from Barrow but the crew of four survived. Finally the Rockabill, a 136 ton, iron steamship was wrecked in the channel on the 25th of July, 1884 from Liverpool. Ballyshannon has had more than enough of natural hazards but down through the years questions have been raised or suspicions aroused by some of the various shipwrecks. In his book, Ballyshannon Past and Present, Canon Maguire, writing about the difficulty of exporting salmon from Ballyshannon puts into print what many thought. �No railway transit nearer than Enniskillen was available till the sixties, but shipping had not then reached its present state of decay at Ballyshannon, though it had got some reeling knocks from fraudulent claims for wrecks.�
On December 21st, 1878 the local newspaper reported protest meetings in Ballyshannon. At the time the idea was being considered of linking the Great Northern Railway branch line from the main GNR line at Bundoran Junction near Irvinestown to Bundoran to the town of Donegal. A proposal to make this link from Castle Caldwell was enraging the people of Ballyshannon who wanted the link made from Ballyshannon instead. In time a link was made between Donegal and Ballyshannon with the building of the Donegal Narrow Guage Railway. Since the railway guages were not compatible Ballyshannon ended up with a railway station on either bank of the Erne and people, goods and animals had to be transferred from one side to the other. It was an economic and logistical mess. One of the main points made by the supporters of Ballyshannon was that 40 ships had entered the harbour in the past six months. In 1882 three local fishermen were drowned at the eel weir in Ballyshannon. These were James Gallagher and James and Francis Grimes as reported in the local newspaper of January 21st that year. In the issue of February 10th that year the death is recorded of Andrew Greene newspaper editor and proprietor.
In a surviving minute book of 1889 the Ballyshannon Harbour Commissioners note some of their pilots and the regulations they operated under. They employed the pilots who guided ships in and out of the harbour. Their pilotage rates were two shillings and six pence per foot draft for all ships inwardward or outward bound from a port in Ireland or Great Britain. The rate was three shillings and sixpence per foot draft for any vessel coming from or going to a foreign port. They appointed new pilots, John Mc Carthy, James Daly and John Morrow all of Kildoney at their meeting of 15th October, 1889. Kildoney was where the pilots boarded and disembarked from the ships entering Ballyshannon harbour and they obviously need to reside in that area.
The following regulations were set down for the pilots. The pilots were to be registered in order of seniority. Pilots were to have a cap with a pilots badge on it. The same pilot who took in a ship was to take her out unless he was engaged in taking in another ship. Every pilot was to take his turn and for missing his turn the pilot was denied any share in the pilotage money of that ship and he was to be fined not more than �5. No new pilots were to be appointed unless they could read and had legible handwriting. This regulation was not to apply to existing pilots. Each pilot was to ensure he had a good boat and crew to put him on board and the boat was to have a flag staff and have the flag flying. All pilotage money was to be paid to the secretary of the harbour board and the pilots would be paid monthly. Each pilot had to have a licence costing �1 and to be paid five shillings per day if he had to stay longer than 24 hours on a ship. Under a penalty of �2 no pilot was allowed to take a ship out of port without clearance from the port authorities. Pilots must keep a sharp lookout for incoming ships. Mr. Neely was appointed a pilot in 1887 and in addition to those above John Mulhartagh and William Ward are mentioned in 1888.
This process of crippling the port of Ballyshannon economically is an ongoing allegation from the coming of the railway. The Great Northern Railway and its local center in Derry were not going to tolerate competition from even such a minor facility as Ballyshannon. Belleek Pottery which had shipped china clay from England through Ballyshannon added their anger against the railway in January 20th, 1893. The rise in railway rates is crippling Belleek Pottery according to Mr Robert Sweeney, chairman. He indicated that the Pottery had been on the verge of buying new machinery to make more commonware and increase employment in the district but the idea had been dropped when the new railway rates were announced. The Erne Mills at Ballyshannon are to ship in grain in future rather than rail it from Derry.
The Myles family were the last of the merchant shipping families of Ballyshannon. They came to Ballyshannon in 1607 with Elizabethan forces. Their premised, now Heighton�s Hardware premises, is the last major remnant of shipping architecture in Ballyshannon. In the early 1800s this belonged to the Green shipping family. The family had a flour mill in these premises and a mill race ran through the yard to power the wheel. Electricity was generated here in 1908 for their own consumption and Ballyshannon lit in September 1910. In 1911 commercial premises were supplied in Bundoran via an underground cable. A descendant of the Greens, Janet Reed, great, granddaughter of John Green, Master Mariner, lives in St. John, New Brunswick and apparently each of the seven sons of the founder of the dynasty was given a ship by their father. The Myles family owned two sailing ships, the Julia and the Beta and these brought timber from New Brunswick and unloaded it at their pier formerly known as Credens pier. Mr. James Creden had also built Ballyshannon Workhouse. Emigrants were taken out on the return journey as human ballast. Later the family became heavily involved in the importation of coal from Whitehaven in Cumberland and many Ballyshannon people got a cheap emigrant trip across to England. Frank Morgan imported coal to a pier on the north bank of the river. The Donegal Vindicator reports on August 27th, 1927 that a sailing ship for Myles and Company was to arrive on next Saturday or Sunday and that it was almost 25 years since the last sailing ship had visited Ballyshannon.
These are the final ships lost entering or leaving the Port of Ballyshannon. On the 30th of April, 1932 the Texa, of 186 tons from Preston was wrecked on the South Rock at Ballyshannon with coke and coal for Morgans of East Port. She had a crew of six who had got off as the vessel was breaking up. She was built in 1884. Wreck of historic �Mayflower??� Reported in the paper of May 7th. In 1934 on the 29th of October the White Abbey was wrecked on Ballyshannon Bar with coal from Whitehaven. This was a 263 ton, steel, two masted barque built in 1915. The wreckage was dispersed with explosives as a danger to shipping.