Ballyjamesduff


Ballyjamesduff is a town in County Cavan, Ireland. A former market town, it was the winner of the 1966 and 1967 Irish Tidy Towns Competition.

History

The first mention of Ballyjamesduff is found in The Registry of Deeds, Kings Inns, Henrietta Street, Dublin, Deed No.12-294-5122, drawn up on 12 May 1714.
In A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, first published by Samuel Lewis in 1837, its entry reads:

Demographics

The population was 2,661 at the 2016 census. At that census, Ballyjamesduff had a similar population to the County Cavan towns of Bailieborough, Virginia and Kingscourt: each with about 2,500 people. The town's population is diverse, with about 35% born outside of Ireland.

Transport

The town is located on the R194 and R196 regional roads.
Bus Éireann Route 187 provides service to Oldcastle, Mountnugent, Virginia and Kells.

Notable places in Ballyjamesduff

"The Frolics"

Ballyjamesduff annually holds "The Frolics", a music and comedy event, initially held in the nearby town of Mountnugent, where it was known as "The Mountnugent Frolics". The rights to the show were bought by the Ballyjamesduff Frolics Club in 1943, and moved to Ballyjamesduff. The 2013 Frolics was titled "70 years of Frolicking", running from 20 to 29 June 2013. The 2017 Frolics, titled "Fro17cs", was planned to run from 17 to 27 May 2017.

In song

Ballyjamesduff is referenced in the Percy French song "Come back Paddy Reilly to Ballyjamesduff", which was written about a man from the area who acted as jarvy for French and decided to emigrate to Scotland. It is said that he drove his horse and cart to Carrick-on-Shannon, parked the horse and cart outside the railway station and took the train to Dublin. Paddy Reilly is supposedly buried in St Joseph's graveyard in the town of Ballyjamesduff.

Pork Festival

The Pork Festival was an annual town festival started in 1994. This was largely due to a nearby pork-rendering factory supplying a large amount of pork for use in the festival.

People