The Longford France connection: 25 years of Ballymahon Landevant twinning
There was a big celebration in south Longford to celebrate twenty-five years of the twinning arrangement between Ballymahon and Landevant in France
The French twinning crew arrived in Ballymahon last week to celebrate twenty-five years of twinning between Ballymahon and Landevant and twenty years of Bridgeways. They very nearly never left.
By Friday morning they finally boarded the bus back to Brittany looking exhausted, cheerful and somewhat traumatised by Irish hospitality. They had arrived as honoured guests. They departed like distant relatives who had accidentally attended three weddings in the same week.
For the Mayor of Landevant, Pascal Le Calvé and his delegation from central Brittany, this was their first proper encounter with South Longford life. It came at them fast. Tea appeared constantly. Scones materialised without warning. Complete strangers struck up conversations in supermarket queues. Nobody seemed remotely concerned about time. The French found this deeply unsettling.
The celebrations began with The Ballymahon Twinning Group, in Ballymahon on Wednesday morning before the convoy rolled west towards Lanesboro and the peaceful waters of Lough Ree.
There they were greeted by Liam Grimes and the lively crew from Lough Ree Access For All. Their specially adapted boats bobbed patiently on the Shannon, ready to ferry the visitors and their Ballymahon hosts among the hidden islands scattered across the lake.
The weather behaved itself magnificently.There are people in Longford still talking about it.
The boats drifted with ease between ancient islands while stories floated across the water.
French monks arrived here centuries ago, settling on remote islands long before Saint Patrick appeared on the Irish scene. They built monasteries, carved crosses and prayed in remarkable isolation. One Breton visitor remarked that it was comforting to discover French people had been getting lost around Longford for almost two thousand years.
Then nature joined in.
Mayflies wriggled free from their shucks and danced madly on the lake surface like tiny drunken ballerinas. The French stared in amazement. The locals nodded calmly, as though it was all perfectly standard for a Wednesday afternoon.
Then came another kind of spirit entirely.
At Lough Ree Distillery the visitors expected a polite tasting session. Instead they encountered a full theatrical production dedicated to the wonders of Sling Shot Gin. Michael Clancy delivered the presentation with the energy of a man who firmly believes gin should be taught in schools and possibly protected by UNESCO.
The French, naturally, know wine. They discuss grapes the way Irish people discuss weather forecasts. But somewhere between the endless rounds of gin and whiskey tastings, the cultural exchange slowly turned into a test of endurance. Smiles widened. English weakened. One Breton visitor attempted to order another gin entirely in French to a deeply alarmed man from Roscommon.
Back in Ballymahon, the visitors attended celebrations marking twenty years of remarkable work by Bridgeways Family Resource Centre. The hall buzzed with speeches, community groups, banners and enough complimentary pens to open a small stationery business in Brittany.
Then the evening turned emotional.
Powerful presentations from people whose lives had been transformed by Bridgeways reminded everybody what genuine community work looks like when done properly. During Cathaoirleach Garry Murtagh’s address, Bridgeways manager Breege Campbell and the formidable Emer McGuire, described locally as playing in the “full back” position for the organisation, received thunderous applause. Several times. Entirely deserved.
The evening ended the only way an Irish evening can.
Music appeared. Then more music appeared. Sean-nós dancers emerged mysteriously from corners of the room where they had apparently been stored all day awaiting deployment. And yes, Mayor Pascal Le Calvé danced an Irish jig. There is video evidence. A great deal of it. Negotiations regarding its release in Brittany remain delicate.
One quiet but important visit during the twinning celebrations almost slipped under the radar.
Members of the Landevant and Ballymahon Twinning groups earlier paid a special visit to Mercy Convent Secondary School Ballymahon to strengthen links between second-level students in both communities and begin building what organisers hope will become a lasting school exchange programme.
The delegation received a warm welcome from Deputy Principal Pierre Boutin, himself proudly half Breton, who immediately struck up an easy connection with the French visitors. Conversations quickly moved beyond formalities and onto future plans, friendships and opportunities for students on both sides of the water.
And already the idea is gathering pace.
Thursday brought the official business side of the visit as Longford County Council guided the delegation through local government and regional heritage.
The day began at the Corlea Trackway Visitor Centre where the OPW team transported the visitors back some 2,100 years into the strange world of Ireland’s boglands and Iron Age survival.
Then came Noel Carberry. Brave man.
Armed with fragments of French, solid English and the occasional burst of Irish, all delivered in a determined Longford accent that took no prisoners, he guided the group through the mystery of the great bog road. Massive oak planks stretched silently across the peat, disappearing into the distance with very little evidence that anyone had ever used the thing to go anywhere in particular.
That hardly mattered.
The French delegation adored Noel immediately. Part historian. Part storyteller. By the end of the tour they were hanging on every word, whether they understood it or not.
Later the delegation visited the council chambers and St Mel's Cathedral before returning to Ballymahon where they met Government Minister Dara Calleary at Ballymahon GAA grounds.
To mark twenty-five years of twinning between Ballymahon and Landévant, Mayor Pascal Le Calvé and Cathaoirleach Martin Skelly planted a commemorative tree together.
Simultaneously. A surprisingly high-risk operation involving shovels, cameras and several people giving contradictory instructions.
The celebrations concluded with a civic reception at Ballymahon Library hosted by Longford County Council. Breege Murray, Chairperson of Ballymahon Twinning, spoke warmly about friendship, memory and the generations who built the bond between the two towns.
Founding members were remembered proudly. Friends who had passed away were remembered tearfully. Old stories resurfaced. So did old arguments, though softened now by time, laughter and several glasses of wine.
Both Martin Skelly and Mayor Pascal Le Calvé spoke passionately about keeping the partnership alive. They agreed it mattered now more than ever. Small towns need friendship.
Communities need connection. Besides, both towns had become very fond of each other.
Then came more food. Naturally.
More coffee. More conversation. Then everybody crossed the road to Nally’s pub where songs grew louder, stories became increasingly unreliable and all known laws regarding sensible bedtimes collapsed completely.
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The French delegation finally departed for Brittany on Friday morning carrying gifts, photographs, happy memories and what appeared to be industrial quantities of Alka-Seltzer.