Insider's Guide to Donegal
Tuesday, 15 November 2022
From Derry to Ballyshannon - in 1780
It's been a while
Not sure when was the Last Post on this blog, but it's been a while. I chanced 'Sign In' and suddenly here I was. I'm about to do a Facebook post about the fiddle weekend coming up in Dunkineely so here are some details, specially prepared for this week's Democrat. Can't imagine too many will catch it here before Thursday morning. It's an 'all roads lead to' story . . .
Fiddle to the fore in Dunkineely this weekend
It’s all about the fiddle in Dunkineely this weekend, with a concert in the Community Centre on Saturday night (19th), fiddle classes, a film on the travelling fiddler John Doherty, and sessions around the town.
One of fiddlers in the concert is local man Aidan O’Donnell. He’s a former winner of the TG4 Young Musician of the Year award and an Oireachtas fiddle champion. Aidan is now working for Music Generation in Tipperary.
Also on the bill are Glenties fiddler Peter Campbell, Catriona and Sinead Kennedy, who are based in Dublin, and Michéal Cherry, back from the US, as well as special guests.
Doors open at 7.30pm and admission is €10.
The film on John Doherty is being shown in the Community Centre tomorrow night (Fri) at 8pm. Entry is free.
John (1900 – 1980), who’s been described as the last of the travelling fiddlers, and often stayed in Dunkineely, visiting the singer Mick Quigley and others. John is regarded as one of the most significant figures in Irish traditional music.
The fiddle classes will be held in the Community Centre on Saturday. Registration is at 10am, and tuition runs from 10.30am – 1pm and from 2pm – 4pm. The fee is €15. Places can be booked at donegalfiddlemusic@gmail.com.
The weekend is being organised by the Donegal fiddle organisation Cairdeas na bhFidiléirí. Rab Cherry of Cairdeas said they were hoping to build on the good work being done with traditional fiddling in the area.
“For instance we’re aware of the good work that’s been done by Kevin O’Donnell with his school of music in the area. There are some excellent budding players and we’ll be hearing some of them in Saturday night’s concert.“
Anyone with queries about the fiddle classes or the events over the weekend can phone 086 340 9019.
This week's quiz - one of these fiddlers is Aidan O'Donnell, the other is John Doherty (hint - Aidan O'Donnell doesn't, usually at least, wear a cap).
Wednesday, 19 August 2015
Tourism Ireland - have they ever been to Donegal?
Friday 28th August 2015 - Some changes have now been made to the suggested tour 'County Donegal in 5 days' and more are promised.
The Wild Atlantic Way is one of the most positive things that has happened for tourism in Donegal tourism. By all accounts Slieve League is very busy with visitors this summer. The two other 'signature discovery points' in Donegal - out of fifteen along the route - are Fanad Head and Malin Head, and they're bound to benefit.
That's what makes it all the more irritating to see the shambolic 'County Donegal in 5 days' presentation at http://www.ireland.com/en-gb/itineraries/wild-atlantic-way/donegal-in-5-days/
Some of the highlights include -
- moving Errigal close to Dungloe
- assuring visitors that Dungloe people do speak English
- suggesting that Fanad people think their lighthouse is taller than the Eiffel Tower [lighthouse c22m, Eiffel Tower 301m]
- re-locating North West golf club to somewhere around Burnfoot
- recommending a trip "to Buncrana castle" (a private house)
- talking of Glenties' "strong links with the sea" (it's one of the few Donegal towns and villages not on the coast)
- saying "film buffs might remember [Glenties] from Dancing at Lughnasa" (shot in Wicklow)
- missing out Glencolumbkille completely ('Ken' from Failte Ireland describes it in an email as 'just [one] of the towns and villages on the route')
- suggesting that the shopping centre and leisure centre are two of the main attractions in the Letterkenny area
- missing out Five Finger Strand, Burt chapel, Carndonagh Cross, Dunree Fort, Glebe Gallery etc etc
It seems to confirm that while you do find excellence in the public service, too often you also find mediocrity and the 'do rightly' approach. Check out the Wifi on Bus Eireann buses for another example.
Another fine pic of St Aengus' Chapel in Burt from the web - https://protumservices.wordpress.com/2013/03/27/irish-architecture-st-aengus-church-burt-co-donegal/ |
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Here's an exchange of emails on the subject of 'County Donegal in 5 days' -
May 2015 - it can be better
Hi, Perhaps I can help with your suggested 5-day itinerary covering the Wild Atlantic Way in County Donegal. It seems to have been cobbled together based on a trawl of available websites rather than 'on the ground' experience. It's doing the visitor a disservice to ignore places like Glencolumbkille and marvels such as the Irish 'Building of the [20th] Century' at Burt. I'm a former BBC journalist, local newspaper editor and fiddler, and also a Donegal person. And I'm delighted with the success of the Wild Atlantic Way :-) Regards, Martin
18 May 2015 - sure it's grand, says Ken from Tourism Ireland, have a great day
- No mention of the wonderful Five Finger Strand beach, Glenevin Waterfall near Clonmany, Carndonagh High Cross (one of the earliest and most important in Ireland - along the side of the road), Dunree Fort etc etc
- Take a trip to Buncrana Castle - this ‘castle’ is a private house and not open for visitors
- Rent a bike from Cycle Inishowen - this business is in Carndonagh about thirteen miles away
- No mention of Liam McCormick’s church at Burt - Ireland’s Building of the [20th] Century
- “Further south, Inch Island soon looms on the horizon, and an opportunity for a round of golf presents itself at the North West Golf Club.” Bunkum, the golf club is back in Buncrana, you’re already miles past the entrance to Inch.
- “Veering evermore west, and dipping slightly south again” - meaningless
- Letterkenny - attractions mentioned include the local shopping centre and leisure centre. No mention of the Cathedral, with stained glass by Harry Clarke and Michael Healy. Colmcille Heritage Centre mentioned, but not the actual reputed birthplace of Colmcille or the nearby Glebe House and Gallery, with pieces by artists including Picasso, Braque, Le Brocquy.
- 'most beautiful beach in the world - inaccurate
- “Rumoured by locals to be taller than the Eiffel Tower (we’re not so sure!)” - what locals? more drivel, Fanad Lighthouse height c22m, Eiffel Tower 301m
- ‘King Tory’ - Patsy Dan Rodgers, artist and musician, is known as the King of Tory
- Teac Jack sessions - fine. [Another] pub, Hudai Beag’s, is known internationally for its Irish music sessions all year round. Again credibility . .
- “When you do depart Bunbeg southbound, and edging slightly east” - travelling by compass? More filler
- 'Dungloe is another Gaeltacht town, meaning the primary language is Gaeilge/Irish.’ Wrong
- ‘With Dungloe as your base, you’re free to explore nearby Mount Errigal’. Once again, credibility shot. Errigal is on the far side of Bunbeg, which you left earlier.
- Glenties - ‘time in the limelight’. Wrong again, the film ‘Dancing at Lughnasa’ was not shot in Glenties.
- Leo’s Tavern - ‘singer Enya from Clannad’. Wrong again. She made her name as a solo artist.
- Ardara: No mention of Nancy’s Bar, former Irish pub of the year; Assaranca Waterfall; Kilclooney Dolmen; Narin beach; etc
- No mention of Glencolumbkille, one of the most beautiful spots in Ireland. To describe it as “just one of the towns and villages” along the Wild Atlantic Way underlines that you haven’t been there. No mention of the Folk village (including old pub, school, shop, hall). Silver Strand beach [ . . .]. Etc.
Tuesday, 11 August 2015
The map of ancient Ireland
I was brought up in the bright lights of the Tops, Raphoe, beside the car-park for that remarkable site/sight, the Beltony Stone Circle. Naturally I thought this was the most wonderful place on earth. More than half a century later, I'm still assembling the evidence.
In recent times this project has received real encouragement.
First there was the discovery, through the 'Words We Use' column by the late Diarmuid O'Muirhithe in the 'Irish Times', that 'Tops' wasn't an English word for a hilly eminence, as I feared. Instead, it refers to 'tap tineadh', the place where the torches were lit for the procession to the stone circle. (Beltony, of course, refers to the Bealtaine fire feast which has occurred for several thousand years around the eve of May 1st.)
Next, in 2006 (simply can't believe it's been that long) came the book from Brian Lacey, 'Cenél Conaill and the Donegal Kingdoms AD 500 - 800'. It's dangerous to paraphrase here, but as it's close to bedtime I'll say it establishes that the people of the countryside around the Beltony Stone Circle were very important in the early history of Ireland, and provided two or three of the first High Kings. Only surprising, of course, to those not from the area :-)
I saw Brian in Glencolumbkille last week but the rigours of Fiddle Week meant it wasn't the most opportune time to thank him properly.
Now it's the turn of two more books - and an American - to make their contributions.
I met the American woman outside Oideas Gael last Monday. I was waiting for the Donegal fiddle students to arrive and she was waiting to go on her archaeology trip. She mentioned she was doing a Master's which involves what might be called a 'holistic' approach to early Irish history and pre-history. She's looking at the archaeological evidence and also at the mythological tales and the places mentioned in them, and trying to map all the info (if I understood correctly). She said she's already unearthed some interesting connections, and enough to consider developing the project into a PhD.
I mentioned that I was reading a book which was outlining a whole series of relationships between ancient Celtic and druidical sites, mostly looking at France, but also, briefly, at England, Scotland and Ireland. As I couldn't remember the name of the book or the author, this information was of limited usefulness. But here now is the book, 'The Ancient Paths: Discovering the Lost Map of Celtic Europe'. And here's the author, Graham Robb, a biographer and historian, who has pedalled around 15,000 miles assembling the evidence for what look like ground-breaking and pretty astounding findings.
The final book, for now, is 'The Origins of the Irish' by J. P. Mallory, a solid read if a bit dismissive of the mythological stuff. I haven't finished it yet.
It's hard to believe that little systematic work has been done - or so it seems - on possible relationships between important ancient sites in Ireland (I'll probably find out there are a load of books and theses on this very subject, but I haven't seen them).
A while back I took a ruler to a dog-eaten map of Ireland with what I thought were intriguing results. As my interest was primarily in Beltony Stone Circle, I drew a few straight lines. Here's what I found -
- a line from Beltony to the stone circle in Culdaff goes through Grianan of Aileach
- a line from Beltony to Newgrange runs close to another Beltony outside Omagh and also through an important monument between Augher and Clogher, the tomb of Knockainy. It also goes through Kilmacrenan and Cashel in north Donegal, some ruins near Cashel, and ends up at the tip of Horn Head
- the five ancient capitals of Ireland form a parallelogram based on solstice lines. Uisneach (capital of Mide) is at the centre, the other four capitals are on parallel lines, Cnoc Áine (Munster), Cruachan (Connacht), Emain Macha (Ulster) and Dún Ailinne (Leinster)
- a line from Grianan Aileach through Uisneach hits the southern coast at Ardmore, probably the oldest monastic settlement in Ireland. If projected onwards towards Spain, it hits land at the exact point where a Celtic king of Galicia, Breogán, sent off his sons and a group of warriors to Ireland, according to the 'Book of Invasions'. For good measure, the line continues to the 'sacred promontory' on the south-west tip of Spain
- a line drawn from Beltony Stone Circle through Uisneach, fabled to be where first fire was lit on Bealtaine eve, is almost an exact north-south line - it pretty much follows the line of longitude all the way til it hits the coast at Ram Head near Dungarvan in Waterford
- the line from Beltony to Emain Macha appears (at a glance) to head over the monument on Croaghan Hill a few miles away
- the line from Beltony to Newgrange goes over Kilmonster, a group of passage tombs a couple of miles away from the stone circle. A monastery was established in that locality
- a line from area of the tomb complex at Malin Beg in Glencolumbkille through Beltony Stone Circle seems to finish on the east coast at a monument called the Giant's Grave near Cushendall
- a line from this Giant's Grave at Cushendall to Newgrange goes through a landmark beside Newry called Bernish Rock. So does a continuation of the Beltony/Emain Macha line. This is the vicinity of the wonderful megalithic monument at Clontygora - of special interest to me as that's where I used to go on some of my first holidays with our neighbours the Gills. I'll look into this further.
- a couple of lines seem to finish on Inisbofin Island off west Donegal - Legannay Dolmen/Beaghmore Stone Circles/ Inisbofin and also Emain Macha/Beltony/ Colmcille's Oratory/ Inisbofin
A Graham Robb 'Lost Map of Ireland' |
Tuesday, 19 May 2015
The world's second best beach
However, it's a let down. It's clearly been put together by someone well-meaning, but who's working mainly off the web and making a dog's dinner of it.
More on that anon. In the meantime, got the chance to check out one of those statements which are repeated so often and in different ways that you wonder how it all began. It's Ballymastocker Bay, which we're often told has been described as the second-best beach in the world. Who did it, and when?
This from 'County Donegal in 5 days' http://www.ireland.com/en-gb/itineraries/wild-atlantic-way/donegal-in-5-days/ -
On a less epic scale, Fanad is fringed by the “most beautiful beach in the world”, according to one British journalist…and it can be found near Portsalonat Ballymastocker Bay.Turns out it actually comes from The Observer on January 3, 1993 -
Wednesday, 18 March 2015
Donegal Bay - a guide
http://www.everytrail.com/guide/slieve-league-coastal-drive-along-donegal-bay
Sunday, 21 December 2014
Napoleon's slight on Milford recalled
Cornwell suggests Napoleon didn't think much of Jerome - "Relations between the two were often fraught, because Jerome was a spendthrift wastrel. He was thirty-one years old in 1815, but his troubles with his brother began much earlier when, aged nineteen, he had met and married an American, Elizabeth Patterson from Baltimore. The marriage drove Napoleon into a fury. He needed his siblings to marry for dynastic reasons, not for something as trivial as love, and so he forbade Elizabeth to enter France and insisted his brother divorce her."
From a Donegal perspective, this was a rather poor show from Napoleon. Because Elizabeth Patterson was the daughter of William Patterson, a Milford man. Shiela Friel, in her fine book 'Milford Towards the Millennium' (1997), says William emigrated from the townland of Rosgarrow and became a shipping magnate. Elizabeth, known as Betsy, met Jerome at a ball in Baltimore in 1803 and "it was love at first sight and within a few months they were married", according to Shiela. But the difficulties with Napoleon meant the couple parted. Betsy gave birth in London to a son she called Bo. She and the child went back to the States.
Shiela adds: "In 1816 Betsy visited Milford and spent some time here. On her return to America she spent the rest of her life alone and died at the grand old age of 94. Her grandson, Charles Joseph Bonaparte (1851 - 1921) was the US Secretary of State for the Navy from 1905 to 1906 and Attorney General from 1906-1909".
There's a photo in Shiela's book of the house William Patterson emigrated from.
According to Betsy's Wikipedia entry, her tragic romance provided material for a play, two films and a novel, and also featured in the Hornblower television series. The entry says: "Elizabeth and Jérôme Bonaparte were married on December 24, 1803, at a ceremony presided over by John Carroll, the Archbishop of Baltimore. Betsy quickly became known for her risqué taste in fashion, starting with her wedding dress." The entry adds that when she returned to Baltimore she lived with her father "while she continued to flaunt her royal connection and skimpy attire. After the Battle of Waterloo, she returned to Europe where she was well received in the most exclusive circles and much admired for her beauty and wit."
Strangely enough, after Betsy's brother died, his widow married a brother of the Duke of Wellington, who defeated Napoleon (and Jerome) at Waterloo. (That's quite confusing, so let's add that another of the Duke's brothers, William H. Pakenham, was the captain of the HMS Saldahna which sunk in the Swilly, and he is buried in Rathmullan.)
William Patterson seems to have had an interesting life. His Wikipedia entry says he was born (in 'Fanand') in 1752 and died in 1835 and "was a businessman, a gun-runner during the American Revolution, and a founder of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad". His many business dealings included shipping, baning and the Baltimore Water Company. He was said to be the second-wealthiest man in Maryland after Charles Carroll, one of those who signed the US Declaration of Independence.
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I'm on a bit of a Napoleon trail at the moment.
It all started I read Tolstoy's 'War and Peace' and scratched it off the bucket list. It's formidable in terms of its sheer length, but also an entertaining read. The setting is Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812, which turned out a disaster for him. On the same subject, years ago I also read a Folio Society edition of 'Retreat from Russia: the memoirs of Sergeant Bourgogne'. It's not quite in the Tolstoy league but worth a shot.
Tolstoy gives his own version of what happened in Russia, and paints a vivid picture of the main protagonists. The Russian Field Marshal Kutuzov springs to mind, and the Tsar. From memory, I think Tolstoy painted Kutuzov as an old warhorse who used his experience and guile to outwit Napoleon. But the soldier and military theorist Clauswitz, who served with the Russians during the 1812 campaign (and was later at Waterloo with his fellow Prussians), suggested that Kutuzov's only contribution to the victory had been his refusal, born of fear, to take on Napoleon.
To get another view, I followed up with '1812: Napoleon's fatal march on Moscow', a Sunday Times bestseller from Adam Zamoyski. Again that's full of interest, particularly in terms of the horrors experienced by Napoleon's retreating army in the depths of winter.
Another coincidence. Tonight the film choice was 'Terminal', starring Tom Hanks. Needless to say, his love interest was fascinated by Napoleon and he had to swot up, buying several books on the man.