Formerly The Percy French Hotel and Paddy Reilly Bar (Now an apartment block)

Ballyjamesduff (Irish: Baile Shéamais Dhuibh, meaning Town of Black James) is a medium-sized town of population 2240 persons in County Cavan in the Republic of Ireland, located on the R194 regional road. It is famous for being in the Percy French song "Come back Paddy Reilly to Ballyjamesduff", which was written about a man from the area who acted as Jarvy (coach driver) 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. Legend has it that the horse ran all across Ireland looking for Paddy, until Paddy Reilly was said to have returned. Paddy Reilly is now supposedly buried in St Josephs graveyard, in Ballyjamesduff. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 533 pixelsFull resolution (3888 × 2592 pixel, file size: 2. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 533 pixelsFull resolution (3888 × 2592 pixel, file size: 2. ... Statistics Province: Ulster County Town: Cavan Code: CN Area: 1,931 km² Population (2006) 63,961 Website: www. ... The R194 road is a regional road in Ireland linking Longford in County Longford to Virginia in County Cavan to Moynalty in County Meath. ... A Regional Road in the Republic of Ireland is a class of road not forming a major route (such as a National Primary Route, or National Secondary Route), but nevertheless forming a link in the national road network. ... William Percy French (May 1, 1854–January 24, 1920) was one of Irelands foremost songwriters and entertainers in his day. ...

Notes on Population

Formally a market town and an all-Ireland winner of the 1966 Tidy Towns Competition Ballyjamesduff is now one of the fastest growing towns in the region due to its proximity to the proposed M3 motorway and the Greater Dublin area for commuting ; Between census years 2002 and 2006 the population of Ballyjamesduff has risen by a massive 59.9% (ref. data from Central Statistics Office). A major factor in the increase has been immigration from outside Ireland. The 2006 census results showed that more than 25% of people in the town were from overseas.

According to the Sunday World newspaper, 1 in 12 men are single. This is the 9th highest rate of single men in the country. The Sunday World is an Irish newspaper published by Sunday Newspapers Limited, a division of Independent News and Media. ...

Notable Places In Ballyjamesduff

• The Tannery has been in Ballyjamesduff for 309 years. In 1983,it was destroyed in a fire, but was rebuilt near a local petrol pump station a year later. The ashes of the old tannery were ceremoniously converted into 2 1/2 bricks (One of which was subsequently stolen). These bricks formed the corner-stone of the new building.

• Ballyjamesduff once noted for having the largest pub to person ratio in Ireland. There was approximately 1 pub for every 34 persons in the town.^{[citation needed]}

• The Market House was built in 1815 to commemorate the military achievements at Waterloo of the Duke of Wellington, was designed by Arthur McClean a Cavan born architect who also designed the Anglican church in Virginia, County Cavan. McClean left Ireland around 1825 and settled in Brockville Ontario, Canada where he built a number of Anglican churches.

• St Joseph's Town Hall was built in 1959 and was opened officially in 1968 by showband act Big Tom and The Mainliners.There was nearly a riot in the hall in 1978 when the Sex Pistols were being advertised as playing a concert, but ultimately failed to show. It later transpired that they were never aware of the gig in the first place.

Tanner is a surname, and might refer to Alain Tanner, Swiss film-maker Adam Tanner (Tannerus), Austrian Jesuit mathematician and philosopher Beatrice Stella Tanner, the British actress Mrs Patrick Campbell Charles Albert Tanner, Canadian politician Chuck Tanner, American baseball manager D.J. Tanner, fictional character from Full House Danny Tanner... Virginia (Irish: ) is a town of population 3,188 persons located in County Cavan, Ireland. ... Big Tom and The Mainliners is an Irish Showband of Country and Irish genre from the Castleblayney area of County Monaghan, Ireland. ... The Sex Pistols were an iconic and highly influential English punk rock band, formed in London in 1975. ...

The "Frolics"

Ballyjamesduff annually holds "The Frolics", a 8 night showcase of music and "comedy". The show was originally held in the nearby town Mountnugent where it was known as "The Mountnugent Frolics". The rights to the show were bought by the Ballyjamesduff Frolics Club in 1943, and the show was moved to being in Ballyjamesduff. In 1957, due to confusion, the event was renamed from "The Mountnugent Frolics" to "The Ballyjamesduff Frolics". One year, Terry Waite famously made a cameo appearance.^{[citation needed]} Terry Waite at April 1993 Allentown College speech Terry Waite CBE (born May 31, 1939 in Styal, Cheshire, England) is a British humanitarian and author. ...

The show uses special sound recording equipment to measure crowd cheering levels during the entire run of the Frolics. The act that receives the highest cheer wins the "Silver Spuckle Award". This is an award named after Monsignor Sylvester Spuckle, who was a patron of the show. It is made of solid silver and is worth €4000. A cash award of €1000 is also given to the winner.

In 2003, to celebrate the shows 60 years, the list of the highest cheered acts was revealed. The winners were "The Duodenums", a 3-piece group playing a version of "Duelling Banjos" on their tracheas. This was a parody of a scene from the film 'National Lampoon's Animal House', where a character did the same with the William Tell Overture. Billy Redden as Lonny- the banjo kid. ... The Deltas in front of their house Movie poster of Animal House National Lampoons Animal House (also called Animal House) is a 1978 comedy film in which a misfit group of Delta fraternity boys takes on the system at their college. ... The overture to the opera William Tell, especially its high-energy finale, is a very familiar work composed by Gioacchino Rossini. ...

The Pork Festival

This was an annual town festival started in 1994.[1] It celebrates all things pig-like. This is largely due to a nearby pork-rendering factory regularly supplying a large amount of pork for use in the town festival. The festival is one which celebrates the commercial value of the pig to the town. Highlights of the festival included:

• Kosher Kraziness: An Kosher food eating contest.

• The Pig Run: Similar to the Running of the Bulls,but with boars instead of bulls.

• The Swine & Cheese party: A more cultural Pork and Cheese tasting party.

• Grills Gone Wild: A pig and pig-farmer beauty pageant. It was largely a joke version of most beauty pageants. It took its name from the popular Girls Gone Wild series.

• The Olympigs: A day of track and field events for pig farmers. The main event of the Olympigs was the 10-legged race, where each contestant raced with a pig attached to each leg. This was often a source of controversy, with protests taking place each year from animal rights protesters. However, the festival committee always maintained that no pigs (apart from ones eaten) are harmed during the festival.

• The Speaking in Pig Latin Debate Competition: A competition where people must speak as long as they can in Pig Latin. The current record is over 9 hours, held by a local teacher.

• Pig Racing: Pigs are raced with knitted jockeys attached to their backs.

The circled U indicates that this can of tuna is certified kosher by the Union of Orthodox Congregations. ... An encierro in Pastrana, Spain. ... This article is about the franchise. ... Olympic Games Summer Olympic Games Medal count Winter Olympic Games Medal count Olympic sports Medal counts Participating NOCs Olympic symbols Olympics WikiProject Olympics Portal Athens 2004 • Beijing 2008 Torino 2006 • Vancouver 2010 ... Pig Latin (Igpay Atinlay in Pig Latin) is a language game primarily used in English, where the syllables of English words are spoken in inverse order and an ay is affixed, to both obfuscate the encoding and to indicate for the intended recipient the encoding as Pig Latin. ...

Rainbow Culture Festival

In protest to the American war against Iraq, since 2002, the festival committee have postponed the Pork festival. (A large portion of the pork meat produced in the town was exported to America. This has stopped since.) In its place, the Rainbow Culture Festival has taken place.[2] [3] While there is still a partying element to the festival,almost all of the Pork element has been removed. Oddly enough, Pig Racing still continues.[4] Due to the associations of Rainbows to the gay community, the festival enjoys a more LGBT friendly following. This was completely unintentional on the part of the committee however. This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Famous Names Associated with Ballyjamesduff

• Percy French poet, songwriter and noted Board of Works Inspector of Drains with Cavan County Council.
• John Wesley preacher, theologian and founder of the worldwide Methodist Church, preached in Ballyjamesduff and built a church here during 18th century.
• Noel Monahan the internationally recognised poet and writer teaches in St. Clare's College in the town.
• Shane Kitson, International President of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association.
• Padraig Smith, auctioneer.
• Clancy D'arcy,grand-uncle of Ray Darcy. He is often mentioned on the Ray Darcy Radio Show on Today FM.[5]
• Phil Smith, former pro-wrestler and multiple time candidate for a Teachta Dála position.
• Cyril McKevitt, Trombonist for Big Tom & the Mainliners, lives in Ballyjamesduff when not on tour.
• Pete Briquette of the Boomtown Rats came from Ballyjamesduff. His real name is Peat Cosgrave.
• The owner of the Eastern European shop was featured on RTÉ's Nationwide in 2006.
• The town also was once featured on RTÉ show Ear To The Ground.
• Jimmy Magee proclaimed on a chatshow hosted by Miriam O'Callaghan that he had been to Ballyjamesduff once.
• The Endemics, one of Ireland's most successful Death metal/Jazz fusion bands, come from Ballyjamesduff. They describe themselves as "Satan's Own Lounge Band".
• Hall's Pictorial Weekly did a program on the town in 1977. It was watched by the whole country and is still talked about in places of renown.
• Johnny "Mad Dog" Adair had his wedding reception in the Percy French hotel.
• Marcus Daly known as "the Montana Copper King" was born in 1841 near Ballyjamesduff. He died in 1900 in New York.

William Percy French (May 1, 1854–January 24, 1920) was one of Irelands foremost songwriters and entertainers in his day. ... John Wesley (June 28 [O.S. June 17] 1703 – March 2, 1791) was an eighteenth-century Anglican minister and Christian theologian who was an early leader in the Methodist movement. ... The Pioneer Total Abstinence Association of the Sacred Heart (or PTAA) is an Irish organisation for Catholic Teetotallers. ... An auctioneer and her assistants scan the crowd for bidders An auction is the process of buying and selling things by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder. ... Ray DArcy Ray DArcy (born September 1, 1951) is an Irish television and radio presenter. ... Ray DArcy Ray DArcy (born September 1, 1951) is an Irish television and radio presenter. ... 100-102 Today FM, formerly called Radio Ireland, is Irelands only independent national commercial radio station (there are many other independent local commercial stations, however). ... A Teachta Dála (Irish for Dáil Deputy, pronounced chock-ta dawla) is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower chamber of the Irish Oireachtas or National Parliament. ... Pete Briquette is the stage name of Patrick Andrew Cusack (born 2 July 1954, Ballyjamesduff, County Cavan, Ireland). ... The Boomtown Rats The Boomtown Rats (1975-1985) were a punk rock/new wave group headed by Bob Geldof, who was later known for organizing charity rock concerts such as Band Aid (intended to help famine victims in Ethiopia), Live Aid, Live 8, and Hands Across America (intended to help... Jimmy Magee is a longstanding RTÉ sports broadcaster. ... Miriam OCallaghan (born 1961) is a television current affairs broadcaster on Radio Telefís Éireann in Ireland. ... This article is about the musical genre. ... Jazz fusion (or jazz-rock fusion or fusion) is a musical genre that merges elements of jazz with other styles of music, particularly pop, rock, folk, reggae, funk, metal, country, R&B, hip hop, electronic music and world music. ... Halls Pictorial Weekly was one of Irelands most popular television shows. ... Johnny Adair (b. ... Marcus Daly (December 5, 1841 - November 12, 1900), was an Irish-born American businessman known as the Copper King. He emigrated from Ireland to the United States at the age of fifteen, arriving in New York City. ...

See also

• List of towns in the Republic of Ireland