Mary Leadbeater was born in the village of Ballitore in 1758 and spent most of her life there until her death at the age of 78. She was born in the master’s residence in the school that her grandfather had established and where her father succeeded him. After her marriage in 1791 to William Leadbeater she moved from the school to the house on the square, it was here that she reared her children and served the community as postmistress, while also acting as healing woman, friendly gossip and revered and respected friend. It was said that the pen never left her hand as she recorded her interactions with local people and events of the town. 

It was her exceptional skills as a writer and her habit of keeping a diary that has kept her memory and that of her contemporaries alive. Two years before her death she set to work on compiling the material in her diaries into a narrative of her life, the village and its inhabitants. The result was a manuscript of extraordinary interest from many angles.

This it is the life story of a very remarkable woman who gave us great insight into the social and national history over a period which includes first-hand accounts of the horrors of the 1798 Rebellion and the effects it had on the local population.

Produced by John McKenna (First broadcast in 1987)