Web designer and Tim Younge's barman John Murphy (30), from Landen Road, launched his informative site www.ballyer.com in 2000. Since then, the site has been attracting up to 20 visitors a day from every continent around the world including places like Bahrain, Japan, United Arab Emirates and from all over Europe.

Recently, John has been receiving enquiries from people who are attempting to locate old friends and neighbours and he plans to expand his site to include a 'lost friends' section.

He said: "I thought I would put an interactive page on the site for lost friends where people can leave messages and email addresses, like a sort of meeting place.

"I got the idea from the guestbook where people would write saying where they used to live. Then I was asked would I try to trace someone."

However, some people have already spotted familiar names in the website's guestbook section including Kay Berkeley.Kay who is originally from Le Fanu Road left Ireland in 1971 and moved to Australia.

She recently came across John's website on the Internet. Whilst flicking through the entries on the site's guestbook, she encountered a name she recognised.Writing on the website Kay said: "It was great to get in touch with someone that remembered me as I left Ireland in 1971. I lived on Le Fanu Road from 1952 to 1965."

She told The Echo that she found the www.ballyer.com website while looking for some information on Ballyfermot. She could not believe it when she saw comments written by a former neighbour, Mary Shelley.

Kay said: "I contacted [Mary] in America and have maintained correspondence with her and our families still live on the same road [in Ballyfermot], so you see it was a wonderful experience."1 have found the site a great way to keep in touch with Ireland now that I have retired."

Mary also left Ireland in 1971 for Delaware in America and not only has she been in contact with Kay but she has also met up with another former Ballyfermot man who found her on John's website. She said: "I was contacted by a young man who lived up the opposite end of Le Fanu Road and I did not know him but because of our mutual love of Ballyer we became good friends." The two families have become so close that they have met up over Christmas.

Mary said: "I believe we will remain friends. Because of the contacts with local people, I have gotten the urge to go home after avoiding travelling
because of September 11.I will be travelling home in April.

"I am lucky that I still have family there but there are those who no longer have family there and only get word by what is written. I hope John
will give us lots of news from home, it means so much."

Among the plans for the popular website include the 'lost friends' section and a more detailed history of the area. John would be grateful if anybody has any old photographs of Ballyfermot which he could use on the site,
email: John@ballyer.com

Article by Joanne Ahern