This morning, Wednesday 5th May, I didn’t know where I was going to busk and had an arrangement to meet up with a writers group for a TV thing at Elphin around 11.
I made a lot of friends during the five years I busked at Dublin Food Co-op. One of these, Eoin - a plumber who should have been a mystic - has by marriage a Roscommon connection and when he heard I was moving to Roosky, he told me of a festival I should check out in a place I couldn’t remember the name of. Had I been to Ballagh yet? He asked in the message. He also said that he’d be coming to Roscommon in a couple of weeks and would like to meet up.
Ballaghaderren, I’d seen signs for and it was a bit further away than I usually travel. I had googled it to get an idea of the size and discovered that there was only one supermarket - a SuperValu - and that was in it’s own car park rather than on the main road - not good, so far.
When things wrapped up in Elphin, I asked how far it was and found I was almost half way there and would pass though Frenchpark - somewhere else I’d still to check out - and so Ballaghadereen it was going to be.
It turned out to be quite a large town - by local standards and a very pretty town too with rolling hills in and out in all directions. There is also a large square with a car park, a bank and a mix of shops but not a lot of people on the street. I drove on through the town and noticed a closed down SuperValu shop with a sign directing to their car park.
When I parked, I answered Eoin and let him know where I was but told him I wasn’t anticipating getting permission to busk here and that, while it didn’t look promising, I’d likely play min the square.
This SuperValu was like a min mall (not at all minimalist) and had a garden centre and a huge fuel depot all rolled into one. If Ballaghaderreen is a one horse town, this is the horse. At the entrance, there was a wooden bench that looked perfect for a sunny day busk - not that this was a sunny day. I asked at customer service, was introduced to a middle manager who gave me a number for John or Kevin who could decide. Tracy answered and, while she couldn’t get hold of either, said she’d find out and call me back. She also said that the answer was more than likely to be NO.
I wheeled around for the square and a couple of minutes later, Tracy called and NO it was.
The Square, and town centre generally - like most towns in Ireland now, are fairly quiet as people are driving more than they walk and, if theatre’s a Lidl, Aldi, or any big supermarket on the outskirts with parking….
About 80 minutes busking and a nice conversation with Scouser, Michael McNamara, who also gave me a plectrum (I’d changed my trousers and was without) - before a torrential shower put play to it - raised about €15, just about enough to cover my petrol for the day.
A message to Eoin to ask if he knew who I should contact re the festival and yes, Shells Bar and mention his name.
Shells turned out to be just around the corner - a lovely bar with a roaring fire and a few customers haven a pint. Neil was most hospitable and after a few songs, offered a sandwich which turned out to be just about a dinner. I’d told him about my busking and he was very surprised that SuperValu had turned me down. He rang Kevin Duffy who was a friend, must have given me a positive reference as Kevin said, ‘Come on up’ and I did.
I was met by Eileen on arrival who suggested I play in the atrium connecting it to their garden centre and fuel depot. It was covered too and the grey sky not a problem. I was even allowed to bring in my four legged significant other.
Ninety minutes later I was homeward bound - with a pocketful of change and a dinner invitation from my new friend in Roosky, Martin.
STOP PRESS - Kevin Duffy of SuperValu has given me permission to do a busk for Nepal in the near future.
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