Sligo Field Club presented €600 to help preserve a piece of Sligo history over 600 years old.
The Book of Ballymote is the major surviving manuscript, nationally speaking, of the late 14th century. It was compiled for Tomaltach MacDonagh about 1391 at Ballymote Castle, the largest surviving medieval castle in north Connacht.
It was sold for 140 milch cows in 1522 to Aed ”g O’Donnell of Donegal. After many wanderings, and a stay in TCD from 1686 and with Charles O’Conor of Belanagare, Co. Roscommon, it reached the Royal Irish Academy in 1785.
Recently the Academy held an international two-day conference with many members of Sligo Field Club and of Ballymote Heritage Group attending and they added a Sligo taste to the proceedings.
A plea for donations towards conservation of the book prompted Sligo Field Club members attending, Aidan Mannion, Leo Leydon, Larry Mullin and Martin A. Timoney, to agree that the Sligo Field Club would provide €600 for the conservation work and a protection box.
This donation was warmly welcomed by the Conference Chairman and attendees at the end of the Conference. Similar sponsorship by other counties for work on manuscripts from those counties was encouraged.
