Qualla: Swanlinbar https://qualla.com/swanlinbar en-us © 2026 Bendyline Wed, 08 Jul 2026 02:40:12 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: Swanlinbar https://qualla.com/swanlinbar Swanlinbar: Introduction https://qualla.com/swanlinbar/ In 1728, Jonathan Swift wrote an essay called On Barbarous Denominations In Ireland, in which he singled out a Cavan town for particular abuse. There is likewise a famous town, he wrote, where the worst iron in the kingdom is made, and it is called Swandlingbar. He went on to explain the name's origin with relish. Sw stands for Swift, the satirist's uncle Godwin, who had ruined himself in the venture and for whom Jonathan had no special regard. And was for Sanders, meaning Robert Saunders of Dublin. Ling was for Darling, Richard Darling of Dublin. Bar was for Barry, Richard Barry. Methinks I see the four loggerheads sitting in consult, Swift wrote, each gravely contributing a part of his own name, to make up one for their place in the iron-work; and could wish they had been hanged, as well as undone, for their wit. Swift was perhaps not at his most charitable. But the name stuck. The village remains Swanlinbar, locally Swad, three centuries after the ironworks failed.

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]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/d/s/swanlinbar-wp/gcds-swanlinbar-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Swanlinbar: The Valley of the Pigs https://qualla.com/swanlinbar/ Before it was Swanlinbar, the area was called Sra-na-muck, which translates as the valley of the pigs. The modern official Irish name is An Muileann Iarainn, meaning the iron mill, a reflection of the ironworks established here in 1700. The four entrepreneurs whose surnames made ...

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]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/d/s/swanlinbar-wp/gcds-swanlinbar-the-valley-of-the-pigs.mp3 0:06 2 full Swanlinbar: From Iron to Mineral Waters https://qualla.com/swanlinbar/ As the ironworks declined, Swanlinbar discovered a different economic future. About half a mile from the village, mineral springs produced water rich in sulphur, salts, and what one eighteenth-century guidebook called fossil alkali. The Post-Chaise Companion of 1786 gave detailed...

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]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/d/s/swanlinbar-wp/gcds-swanlinbar-from-iron-to-mineral-waters.mp3 0:06 3 full Swanlinbar: Dances at Dawn https://qualla.com/swanlinbar/ In his 1732 book A natural history of the parish of Killesher, the local rector Reverend William Henry described the social mixing at the spa in unusually vivid terms. He painted what he called an idyllic picture of the fine beau and the country girl with her hair plaited behind,...

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]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/d/s/swanlinbar-wp/gcds-swanlinbar-dances-at-dawn.mp3 0:06 4 full Swanlinbar: Fire and Decline https://qualla.com/swanlinbar/ In 1786, a fire destroyed twenty-two houses in Swanlinbar. The village never quite recovered. By the time Bishop John Jebb, who had been the Protestant curate of Swanlinbar in 1799-1801, returned in 1824 after a twenty-three year absence, he found a sad transformation. He met, wi...

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]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/d/s/swanlinbar-wp/gcds-swanlinbar-fire-and-decline.mp3 0:06 5 full Swanlinbar: The Bishop Caught in a Snowstorm https://qualla.com/swanlinbar/ John Jebb himself left one of the more memorable accounts of life in Swanlinbar. In a letter dated 18 January 1800, written during his curacy, he described being called out at no very seasonable hour to visit a sick parishioner. The journey took him through snow, and bog, and mou...

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]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/d/s/swanlinbar-wp/gcds-swanlinbar-the-bishop-caught-in-a-snowstorm.mp3 0:06 6 full Swanlinbar: What Swanlinbar Sends Out https://qualla.com/swanlinbar/ Modern Swanlinbar is a small village sitting on the N87 road near the Fermanagh border, close to the Cladagh river. It has produced its share of notable people. Michael McGovern, the Northern Ireland international goalkeeper, was born in nearby Enniskillen. Owen Roe McGovern play...

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]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/d/s/swanlinbar-wp/gcds-swanlinbar-what-swanlinbar-sends-out.mp3 0:06 7 full