The Ballyeglish Society

After the 24th January 2025 storm that wreaked havoc across Ireland and Britain, The Ballyeglish Society visited the ancient graveyard to survey the results. Although damage was limited to one tree down and two monuments toppled by it, the specifics were terrible.

Storm Éowyn tore down the famed Conwell hawthorn, a beautiful tree that had stood prominently on the site for 220 years. We decided to send up our drone to get a better view of the destruction. The following short video will give viewers a reminder of the tremendous power of nature, if such is needed.

By way of explanation for what you will see, we should tell you that our drone operator has not been practising with the equipment. We understand that he had to consult a manual to get the craft off the ground. He was also faced with a low battery warning before the drone then automatically sought to return to its starting point. It did this by zooming straight up into the distant and increasingly windy sky to where the operator lost sight of it, causing the poor fellow a few minutes whereby he imagined it coming down again on the far side of Slieve Gallion.

Thankfully, it didn’t leave Killetra, or the sky above Ballyeglish Old Graveyard for that matter. It does explain why the end of the video will show nothing but blue sky as the intrepid pilot focussed on landing the accursed craft before the battery died entirely. We’d like to tell you that it was all a piece of artsy film-making, but we respect you too much to lie.

So, we hope you enjoy this movie magic offering from the hallowed Killetra Studios, where the mascot is not a lion, but a limping hedgehog.

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