Robert French - Ice House, Ballina, Co. Mayo

Today we will leave politics aside for a while as we visit Ballina in Co. Mayo and a fabulous house on the banks of the beautiful Moy! I spent a lot of time there as a child but I must admit that this house does not register in my memories of the place...Am glad however to say that, while my memory may be a little worse-for-wear, the building pictured still stands - confirmed by today's contributors to have been repurposed as a hotel. With thanks to B-59 ( /photos/66311327@N05/ ) , BeachcomberAustralia ( /photos/beachcomberaustralia/ ) , and Niall McAuley ( /photos/gnmcauley/ ) (and the entry in the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage ( http://www.buildingsofireland.ie/niah/search.jsp?type=record&county=MA®no=31303029 ) ) we know that the building dates to (at least) the 1830s, and was further developed in the late 1850s. Originally a store and hub of the river's main salmon fishery, one imagines any ice found here now is used less for keeping fish from spoiling, and more for keeping drinks from warming......Photographer: Robert French..Collection: Lawrence Photograph Collection ( http://catalogue.nli.ie/Collection/vtls000313414 ) ..Date: Catalogue range c.1865-1914..NLI Ref: L_ROY_07426 ( vtls000320169 ) ..You can also view this image, and many thousands of others, on the NLI’s catalogue at catalogue.nli.ie ( http://catalogue.nli.ie )