Clones Town (Updated) - A Visit Through The Years

Greetings to all from Clones Town

(The original Clones Video with 10K views disappeared from YouTube)
I have taken the opportunity to update the video a little bit and have uploaded it again. It now includes a short segment of the 1964 Fleadh Ceol. It is a very grainy piece of film and of poor quality, but I think it is worthwhile seeing in any event. This was taken from a short BBC film.
I also managed to include a few segments of film of the GNR Trains coming into Clones Train Station. I would love to find more of this film as I think it's a very important part of our heritage)


I hope this video appeals to everyone who lives in Clones, anyone who has ever lived in Clones, and to all it family decendents researching their roots. Clones is a town of which we should all be proud.

In compiling this video I could not help but be humbled by thoughts of our ancestors walking the same streets, past the same buildings, worshipping in the same churches and hearing the exact same bells of the Sacred Heart Church which are on the soundtrack of this video.. Some of these old photographs go back to the late 1800s' (not photographed by me!)

It is often said that a town is only as good as it's people. Clones Town has great People. Despite all the adversity visited on Clones Town over the years, it's people have always bounced back and come through with it's tremendous community spirit.

One of the biggest blows ever suffered by Clones (in living memory) was undoubtably the closure of the Great Northern Railway in 1957. It's effect at the time is impossible to put into words. Growing up in Clones during the sixties, it's closure was constantly bemoaned by everybody. Of course the town also had to deal with the woes brought on by the Troubles and the unavoidable economic difficulties of being a border town.

Clones Town has always punched above it's weight with it's number of well known sportsmen, authors, playwrights, musicians and composers.

Soundtrack on Video: 'The Clones Suite' (by Enda Whyte)
Nice to see you
Where the heart is
On the road again
Bricks n' Brass
In a Heartbeat
© Enda Whyte, 2011, all rights reserved, Copyright Control

History
Clones was the site of a monastic settlement in the kingdom of Dartraige Con-innsi, originally founded by Tigernach (anglicised Tierney) in the 6th century, until the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII. St. Tigernach or Tierney's abbey, built in the early 6th century was dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul. Tigernach later became Bishop of Clogher and removed that see to Clones, where he died of the plague in 550. The abbot was the Primus Abbas, or first mitred abbot of Ireland. The ruins of a 12th century abbey building can still be found in the town, along with a sarcophagus reputed to have been built to house the remains of Saint Tighearnach, and a 9th century round tower and high cross.

Transport
The town was the site of a major junction on the Great Northern Railway during the 19th and early 20th centuries, where routes from Enniskillen, Armagh, Cavan, and Dundalk converged. This formed the focal point of the railway network in what is now the border area between the Republic and Northern Ireland. The railways were finally closed after unilateral closure of the Northern Ireland route sections by the Northern Authorities and the Ulster Transport Authority (see History of rail transport in Ireland). Clones railway station was opened on 26 June 1858, closed for passenger traffic on 14 October 1957, and finally closed altogether on 1 January 1960.