Time catches up on Belturbet tonight

“It will be interesting to see what’s now in it,” one curious onlooker commented, as the Belturbet ‘Time Capsule’, buried on August 5, 1991, was finally risen from its 25-year resting place in Morrissey Park.

 

In much the same a fashion as when it was first placed in the ground a quarter of a century ago, members of the local community, both young and old, gathered to witness the spectacle, a unique occasion to coincide with the town’s 40th year celebration of the Festival of the Erne.
To be opened at the Belturbet Town Hall and Community Centre at 7.30pm tonight (Friday, August 5), the capsule has lain a mystery to many down through the years, not least to new arrivals in the town as festival organiser Eugene Duffy told The Anglo-Celt.
“It is important and, those who do remember it, remember it being put in the ground and the festivities of that day. A lot has happened in those 25 years, there is a lot of history contained in that capsule no doubt, so it’ll be exciting for many to see what’s in it, and hopefully bring back a lot of good memories for many people,” said the local shop owner.
The brainchild of local entrepreneur and filmographer, the late Gerard Murphy, supported by the then festival committee, the time capsule was considered a novel idea to raise money to fund local events in Belturbet.
It also had definite social-history dimension with many remembering attending the Seven Horseshoes Hotel for an ‘Eve of Departure Night’ on August 4, 1991, when all contents were received and stored away.
The idea was that various mementoes - photographs, videos, reports, predictions and letters - would be placed in the capsule, showing the community, as it was, with particular emphasis on the involvement of local clubs, societies and organisations.
Crowds attending the dig last Thursday evening were led to the site by piper Sean Kelly to the plaque, presented by Smith Monumentals, that marked the burial site.
It took digger operator Michael Mulvanney and three others over 20 minutes in total to lift the cement slab covering and to crack the persistent cement pipe casing. The insulated Gem Oils barrel capsule was then retrieved prompting an approving roar from the crowd.
“Local businessman Philip Cunningham assisted in preserving of the contents. Every item was vacuum packed, put into plastic bags, with the air then sucked out and everything sealed,” explained Brendan McCann, a member of the ‘Time Capsule’ organising committee.
Paying tribute to the late Mr Murphy, Mr McCann said: “Gerry made a number of films of the town, very important records, which document the area at that time, way back in the ’70s and ’80s. He then had this idea about the time capsule, that turned out to be a brilliant idea. It will be a hugely interesting occasion to look upon what was put in there 25 years on.”
Among those in attendance at the digging up of the capsule was the late Mr Murphy’s wife, Jane, who admitted it would be an emotional time for her and her family when the capsule is finally opened and the contents explored.
She told the Celt: “[Gerard] was one of the first people in Belturbet with a video camera. Next week will maybe be more emotional, when it’s opened. Hopefully everything in it will be safe.”

Live stream
Interest in the capsule has since captured the imagination of the local community and the thousands of people who watched its digging up streamed live on this newspaper’s Facebook page.
Mr Duffy is hopeful that level of good will can lend itself towards the town, as well as reflect on future of the rejuvenated Festival of the Erne.
“The capsule is big part of the 40th anniversary. There are not too many festival that’ve stuck it out for that long. If we let it slip away now, we might never get it back again. The Festival of the Erne is important to the town of Belturbet and we’d be hopeful it can be kept going for another 25 or even 40 years,” he stated.