Riverstown
Encyclopedia
Riverstown, historically called Ballyederdaowen , is a village in County Sligo, Ireland
. It is located at a bridging point of the River Unshin (Arrow), about 19 km south of Sligo town and 4 km east of the N4.
Notable buildings include the Garda Barracks, the Church of Ireland
and Roman Catholic churches, Cooperhill House and the Post Office. There are also a number of pubs and shops.
Each year the village hosts the James Morrison Traditional Music Festival during August and the Riverstown Vintage Festival during June.
In 2002 Riverstown and the Brookeborough
Community Development Association launched the Riverbrooke Cross-Border Initiative linking the two villages in a programme of cross-community/cross-border working.
His compositional output, although small, includes several songs, and poems put to music . He was involved with the melodies for Burl Ives Irish melodies He wrote the first book on conducting an orchestra.Today some of his compositions are listed in the Leinster School of Music examination pieces
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
. It is located at a bridging point of the River Unshin (Arrow), about 19 km south of Sligo town and 4 km east of the N4.
Notable buildings include the Garda Barracks, the Church of Ireland
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church...
and Roman Catholic churches, Cooperhill House and the Post Office. There are also a number of pubs and shops.
Each year the village hosts the James Morrison Traditional Music Festival during August and the Riverstown Vintage Festival during June.
In 2002 Riverstown and the Brookeborough
Brookeborough
Brookeborough is a village in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It lies between Enniskillen and Belfast just off the A4 trunk road, about five miles from the County Tyrone boundary....
Community Development Association launched the Riverbrooke Cross-Border Initiative linking the two villages in a programme of cross-community/cross-border working.
People
- Ambrosio O'Higgins, Viceroy of Peru, 1st Marquis of Osorno was a Spanish military officer and colonial administrator in ChileChileChile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
and PeruPeruPeru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
from 1788 to 1801, was born at Ballynary, on the shores of Lough Arrow, about half way between Riverstown and Ballinafad. His son, Bernardo O'HigginsBernardo O'HigginsBernardo O'Higgins Riquelme was a Chilean independence leader who, together with José de San Martín, freed Chile from Spanish rule in the Chilean War of Independence. Although he was the second Supreme Director of Chile , he is considered one of Chile's founding fathers, as he was the first holder...
, was a commander of Chilean forces against Spain in the Chilean War of Independence. He also served as Supreme Director of Chile (effectively President in today's terms) from 1817-1823. - Riverstown is also the ancestral home of Munster and Ireland fly half, Ronan O'GaraRonan O'GaraRonan John Ross O'Gara is an Irish rugby union player, playing at fly-half for both Munster and Ireland. He is the all time highest point scorer for both Munster and Ireland. In addition to his prolific point-scoring, he has captained Munster, Ireland and the British and Irish Lions...
, whose grandfather hailed from the village. - Patrick T. Hynes, renowned expert in American / Irish construction laws and customs, was born in Riverstown.
- The Irish musical maestro Michael Bowles was born in Riverstown in 1909 . He joined the Army School of Music in 1932 and obtained a Mus.B from University College DublinUniversity College DublinUniversity College Dublin ) - formally known as University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin is the Republic of Ireland's largest, and Ireland's second largest, university, with over 1,300 faculty and 17,000 students...
in 1936. He trained as a conductor under Colonel Fritz Brasé and joined Radio Éireann as conductor of the Radio Éireann Symphony OrchestraRTÉ National Symphony OrchestraThe RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra is the concert music orchestra of Raidió Teilifís Éireann...
in 1941. He resigned from the army in 1942 and became the first permanent director of music at Radio Éireann. He was guest conductor for the BBC orchestra on numerous occasion In 1948, he became conductor of the National Orchestra of New ZealandNew ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. He moved to the USA in 1954 to take up a professorship at Indiana UniversityIndiana UniversityIndiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
and later became director of the Indiana Philharmonic Orchestra He returned to Ireland in 1970 and ran a small bed and breakfast in Cork. Despite spending only a few of his early years in Riverstown he regularly returned to the house where he was born on his return to Ireland. His last visit to Riverstown was in 1997 a year before he died.
His compositional output, although small, includes several songs, and poems put to music . He was involved with the melodies for Burl Ives Irish melodies He wrote the first book on conducting an orchestra.Today some of his compositions are listed in the Leinster School of Music examination pieces
See also
- List of towns and villages in Ireland