Expanding lough forces elderly couple from Roscommon home
Ballagh ‘on a knife-edge’ as lake has already swallowed up over 100 hectares of farmland
Thu, Feb 4, 2021, 01:58
Edward Beattie (82) stands in front of his house near Lough Funshinagh in Co Roscommon looking at flood waters creeping up towards his house last month. Photograph: supplied by family
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A couple in their 80s were forced to evacuate their Roscommon home earlier this week fearing it would be imminently flooded.
Edward John Beattie (82) has watched from his window over the past few weeks as the expanding Lough Funshinagh inched closer to his front door. The retired farmer said he was advised by senior Roscommon County Council officials on Monday to leave his house in Ballagh Cross, Rahara, where he has lived since 1951, as an embankment keeping the water at bay was at risk of collapsing.