The Boyle’d Pot 19/09/’25

Community Festival of Fun takes place this evening

The hugely successful ‘Community Festival of Fun’ is set to return to Boyle this evening Friday September 19th. Organised by the progressive Boyle Family Resource Centre and attended by a large number of people in previous years, the festival will be held in the grounds of King House from 4-7pm. This year again, the event will be FREE to all who attend, with international food stalls, face painting, ice cream van, arts and crafts, live music and information stands. There will also be a fantastic draw for Sligo Rovers match tickets and a signed jersey. This was a great community event when last held and coincides this year with Culture Night so there should be a great atmosphere around Boyle later this evening.

The Balloons are back in Boyle again

The weather next week looks like it could play it’s part in welcoming the 53rd Irish Hot Air Ballooning Championship back to Boyle. A hard working local committee, ably led by Boyle Town Team Chairman Ciaran Sheerin has been working weekly behind the scenes with Roscommon Co Co, Lough Key Forest and Activity Park, Boyle Town Team and Ballooning Championship members to ensure an exciting week lies ahead. As the Balloons will hopefully fly early morning and late evening, day time activities have had to be organised for the participants and a full line up of events and activities are ready for all when they come to the town where they are sure to receive a warm Boyle welcome. With large crowds expected both in the morning and evening from Sunday on, it’s an opportunity for cafes, food trucks and filling station delis to get their special ‘Balloon Week’ offers out to attract the visitors to stop off in Boyle after they leave the Park each morning and evening.

Many from the town and surrounding area still have great memories of seeing the Hot Air Balloons back in the late ’80’s and early 90’s. Hopefully the same memories will be passed on to another generation next week. You can see videos of the 1991 and 1993 ‘Irish Meets’ here and here and make sure to keep an eye on the “Irish Hot Air Ballooning Championship” Facebook page for updates on flight times etc.

New Library will be a modern community space

The publication of the computer generated image of the new library generated a mixed response when published on our social media last week. Some think the library will be a brilliant asset, others think it will be a waste of money while others felt we have a good library at the moment and queried the need to replace it.

Members of the public need to understand this new library will not be like the libraries of old – or indeed the one we currently have. For those of a certain generation, libraries were seen as places where you could not talk and where you were regularly told to ‘keep quiet’ and as such were places you frequented with fear. The new Boyle Community Library will not be like this. It will be a bright modern community facility housing more than books and magazines. It will be a community space with meeting and study rooms and places for people to gather and socialise and will compliment the An Rioga building and performance space adjacent to it.

Some have queried why the money that was obtained for the library was not used to build a hotel. Unlike the library, there are no grants available at present to build a hotel. If there were, you can be quite sure developers would be popping them up left, right and centre. The fact remains that hotels of a certain size are not financially viable options – but that is not to say a certain type of hotel would not work in Boyle – it would and the establishment of a viable hotel in the town is being worked on weekly behind the scenes.

But in this instance grants did become available for libraries and Roscommon Co Co and Boyle Town Team moved quickly to secure funding for such a facility in our town. If RCC and BTT did not do this then the funding would have gone elsewhere and Boyle would have lost out, which would have generated further controversy. This round of financial assistance could not have been used for a hotel, housing or other infrastructural projects.

While it is a large sum of money, we should be delighted that Boyle got this investment as other towns tried and were not successful. In addition, once the library is operational, it will release the site of the existing library in King House which lies adjacent to the large building currently occupied by the army and were all of this to become available – it would open up further opportunities for other developments in that area.

Community support needed for to light up Boyle this Christmas

A news story on our homepage this morning outlines the serious situation in relation to Christmas Lights in Boyle for 2025. The message is clear – if Boyle is to have Christmas lights this year, the lights committee need everyone’s help. With the the majority of the lights damaged in last year’s storms, new lighting is needed and that is going to cost a large amount of money. Add into the mix the fact that the fundraising is currently being undertaken by a small number of volunteers – the majority who have no business or commercial interest in the town and you will see that how serious the situation is. Therefore, the committee is asking for the communities support: “Can you or your club/community group organise a table quiz, a race, a swim, a golf scramble, a football tournament, a 5-aside match, a tennis tournament, a darts competition, a pool competition, a bake sale, a Christmas jumper day, a concert or any other type of fundraiser in aid of lighting up Boyle for Christmas”? The committee added: “We cannot do this alone, we are a handful of local volunteers who need the whole community to get involved. Every quiz night, every donation, every sponsored event directly contributes to creating a safe and spectacular Christmas display for our town that we can all be proud of”. If you can help out in any way to organise a fundraising event please contact [email protected]

News snippets from around Boyle

Tony and Claire Regan, Marian Road are hosting a Coffee Day on Thursday 25th September from 10a.m to 7p.m. in aid of Mayo/Roscommon Hospice in their home. There will also be a Coffee Morning in Boyle Family Resource Centre, Military Road, Boyle from 10a.m. to 2p.m with all donations collected locally used locally…………Good luck to Boyle GAA Senior Men’s team who take on Padraig Pearses in the Hudson Bay Hotel Senior Championship quarter final on Sunday in Enfield at 1pm. The Junior Men’s team face Western Gaels in the Junior Championship on Saturday at 5pm in Ardcarne Park………..There is so much happening around town this evening and tonight to celebrate Culture Night (see here). Please make a special effort to come out and support the events that are sure to bring a great atmosphere around Boyle……..New paving will soon replace the courtyard area at the rear of An Rioga. Currently there is a fine stone covering on the surface but this is set to be replaced which should make that area a lot more user friendly……….King House Autumn Cultural Companions returns on Wednesday next September 24th at 2pm bringing together musicians from Romania and Ireland. The InTERRActions project features recent compositions from both countries, alongside beloved works from the global classical repertoire. Tickets priced €5 available on 087 1444739………Boyle Celtic men’s first team resume their RDFL Premier Division league campaign at home tonight (Friday) against Dunmore United under lights at 8pm. All support appreciated………Despite what some would like you to believe, the traffic build up on Wednesday afternoon had absolutely nothing to do with the public realm, but was caused when a high sided truck hit an overhead cable on Elphin Street causing traffic delays (and a power outage). Add in school pick up and funeral traffic and the result was gridlock for a period of time………Deputy Claire Kerrane and Councillor Leah Cull will hold their monthly constituency clinic this Saturday in the Spool Factory in Boyle this Saturday………Good luck to Aaron Sharkey, David Kelly, Mark O’Donohoe, Seamus Keane and Roch Hanmore who are part of the Roscommon GAA Masters team that will face Armagh in the All-Ireland Plate final on Saturday in Kiltoom at 3.30 p.m………..If you are visiting the area to see the Ballooning Championship over the next few days, please remember that a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) will be in place for the duration of the event therefore no drone flying is permitted in the vicinity.

And finally…..!

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