placenamesBallydangan
Baile Daighean
An unusual ice-cream shop and a community bog project give Ballydangan two very different landmarks of local enterprise.
The name
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
- Baile Daighean · Irish · main form · validated name
- Ballydangan · English · main form
Place & story
Paddy Millar’s Harp House
Paddy Millar built the little Harp House as an ice-cream parlour near his public house on the old Dublin–Galway road. Its distinctive windows take the shape of harps, set beneath a curved parapet and beside colourful tiles. Marie Monaghan’s account for the NIAH records local memories of ice cream arriving from Dublin and being sold between wafers, a treat associated with the end of a working day on the bog. [2]
Restoring a roadside landmark
The shop closed in 1970 and gradually became overgrown, with broken windows and ivy reaching into the interior. In 2013 Moore Community Council restored it as part of the Year of the Gathering. Robert Finn, Martin Greene and Derick O’Brien helped with the work, which included reglazing, removing ivy, repainting and clearing the site. The restoration preserved a recognisable piece of everyday commercial history rather than a grand public building. [2]
Conserving the bog
Ballydangan Bog became the focus of a joint conservation effort by the community and Bord na Móna from 2010. Local volunteers and the gun club worked with the company on measures including rewetting and predator control, seeking to retain active raised-bog habitat and protect birds such as red grouse and curlew. The project gave the bog another role in community life, alongside its longstanding association with turf cutting. [3]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Ballydangan. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Millar’s Harp House, Ballydangan, April2014 · Marie Monaghan, National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
- Community Conservation Project provides lifeline for iconic Red Grouse and Curlews · Bord na Móna
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.