Two rescued at Main Beach
Two women were rescued at Main Beach
Church of Ireland built
The Church of Ireland at the Bridge was built. It was designed by William Hagerty who helped to design St Anne’s Church in nearby Ballyshannon.
Bundoran Lodge Constructed
Bundoran Lodge constructed by Viscount Enniskillen as a holiday home. The building still stands to this day and is known as Viscount Lodge on Bayview Avenue.
First official record of Bundoran
The first official record of Bundoran is in a deposition by Hugh Gaskein on 16 May 1653. He was a witness to events during the 1641 Rebellion when he was an apprentice butcher in Sligo. In 1689 a skirmish was fought near Bundoran between a Jacobite force under Sir Connell Ferrall and the retreating Protestant garrison of Sligo.
Beautiful Bundoran Written
The song made famous by Sinead O’Connor in the 1997 film “The Butcher Boy” and by local woman Kathleen Fitzgerald as well as Jim Finnegan is written by Mai O’Higgins with music composed by Bert Flynn. Legend goes that Mai had never been to Bundoran but wrote the lyrics from a tourist brochure!
Astoria Ballroom Opens
What would become one of the most famous ballrooms in the country, The Astoria, opened its doors for the first time. It would host nightly dances as well as national and international musical acts like The Kinks, Thin Lizzy and Meatloaf.
Halifax Crash
On Sunday 23rd January 1944 during World War 2, tragedy struck at the Fairy Bridges at Tullan Strand Bundoran. A Handley Page Halifax bomber crashed into the top of the cliff killing all 8 crew members on board.
Catholic Church built
The Church of our Lady Star of the Sea was built by Canon Francis Keleghan and the local Gilroy Brothers. The church was solemnly blessed and opened by the Most Rev. Charles McNally DD on August 15th 1859.
Bundoran Railway Station Closes
After 91 years in operation, Bundoran Railway Station and the line to it was closed bringing to an end the town’s association with the railway and the arrival of thousands of people on a weekly basis to the seaside.
Bundoran Railway Station opens
The Great Northern Railway comes to Bundoran. In 1866 the village is still known as “Single Street” but soon merges with Bundoran on the western side of the bridge to become the town we know today.