Not really related to Donegal but it is my favourite YouTube video – if only something like this could be done for Donegal eg Letterkenny to Bunbeg. Are you listening Danny!
Way Back Home is the incredible new riding clip from Danny MacAskill, it follows him on a journey from Edinburgh back to his hometown Dunvegan, in the Isle of Skye.
Derry Voices
The official film produced to support the Derry~Londonderry UK City of Culture 2013 bid. The film was produced by the award winning arts organisation the Nerve Centre with contributions from Willie Doherty and Seamus Heaney. The film captures the vibrancy of the cityís cultural scene and gives voice and vision to the enthusiasm, passion and commitment with which the city has embraced the City of Culture bidding process.
Featured music by Snow Patrol – Just Say Yes.
Producer: Pearse Moore
Writer/Director: John Peto
A Nerve Centre Production for Derry City Council, Ilex, NI Screen, and Strategic
Investment Board.
http://www.nerve-centre.org.uk
http://www.culturenorthernireland.org
Video of seaside village of Rathmullan
Rathmullan is situated on the western shore of Lough Swilly and is renowned for its fabulous 3km long, tree lined, sandy beach. The village has a large pier and marina making it a popular spot for aquatic sports and fishing. There are 2 fully equipped boat available for charter from May to end of September. In the summer months a car ferry crosses Lough Swilly from Rathmullan pier on an hourly basis connecting to Inishowen’s largest town, Buncrana.
The local Golden Sands Equestrian Centre organises a range of horse riding activities. The village has a fine selection of restaurants and lively pubs. Hotels include Rathmullan House Hotel and Fort Royal while the newly opened Water’s Edge Restaurant offers superb seafood with unparalleled views across Lough Swilly.
The countryside surrounding the village is ideal for walking and the magnificent golf links at Portsalon is only a 20 min. drive away.
For more details about Rathmullan visit www.rathmullan.net
Paul Brady sings the Homes of Donegal.
This song was written by Seán McBride in about 1955. Seán was a native of Cruit Island which is in the Rosses area of Donegal (West Donegal). He was a school Teacher at St.Baithins school in the Carrigans/St.Johnston area (East Donegal) for most of his life. Seán passed away at the age of 90 in August 1996 and is buried on Cruit Island.
Seán only wrote the lyrics, the actual air itself is maybe 150 or more years old. There are many songs around using the same melody, but to my ears the closest one is a song called “The Faughan Side”, This song was part of the Curriculum in national schools in East Donegal and as Seán was a Teacher in the “Laggan Valley” (South Inishowen) I’m pretty sure that is where he got his inspiration for the “Homes of Donegal”.
This version by Paul Brady is from his 1985 album “Back to the Centre”
These photos were taken on a trip to Aranmore Island during the summer of 2011.
Most of the population lives along the southern and (comparatively sheltered) eastern coast. It has been settled since pre-Celtic times, and the few remaining signs of early settlement include a promontory fort to the south of the island and shell middens dotted along the beaches. Its position near the Atlantic shipping lanes was exploited, with a coastguard station and a lighthouse positioned on the most north-westerly point, and a World War 2 monitoring post set up to look out for U-Boats.
The permanent population is 650, but this rises to well over 1,000 during the summer months. A large proportion of the housing stock are holiday homes, with both native islanders and their descendants, as well as non locals being attracted to the beauty of the island.
Photos taken in The Carrigart and Downings area by Paul Redmond
A trip around the beautiful scenery of Donegal.
For many years, the annual Harvest Fair in Ballyshannon was one of the biggest days of the year in south Donegal.
And next weekend, thanks to the efforts of a hard-working organising committee, the Harvest Fair will return with a host of events planned over the two days.
The event is being organised as part of the ‘Backing Ballyshannon’ project and one of the organisers, Mai Kelly, says the reaction from people when the idea was first mooted was better than she could ever have expected. “It’s been brilliant. People aren’t just talking the talk, they are happy to put their shoulders to the wheel and get behind this,” she said.
Sticking with tradition, the Harvest Fair will run on Friday and Saturday, September 16th and 17th.
And it will be preceded this coming weekend by the Glenties Harvest Fair which is set to once again, draw huge crowds to the area. A bumper programme of events starts this evening with the official opening at 8pm. See our Sunday/Tuesday papers for the best coverage next week from Glenties.
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Apart from the major effort and expense of laying track on the old Donegal Railway trackbed, one of the few ways left to keep the old railways in the minds of local people and to attract outside interest is a model railway show.
Local enthusiasts County Donegal Railway Restoration Ltd who operate out of the restored old station building in Donegal Town have just such a show at Kee’s Hotel in Stranorlar this weekend starting tomorrow, Friday 9 and Saturday, September 10 from 11am to 5pm each day. There will be working small scale layouts of original Donegal railway stations – Letterkenny and Donegal Town, plus a similar scale model of Schull Station on the old Schull and Skibbereen line in Cork. There will be other working models including Hornby tinplate and Meccano, plus big garden railway size models of the Donegal rolling stock.
At the last show, in August, the digital displays of local railway photos on a computer screen caused a lot of interest, so this time there will be more emphasis on this and bigger screens, plus the facility to ask to see photos of a given part of the railway, and possibly, where copyright permits, to order prints of these.
This is a real opportunity for locals to research and remind themselves of their old railway and for visitors to get to know the importance of the railways in the development of Donegal and to get a taste of their days of operation.
Entry is only €5 for adults and €4 for concessions and children. More information from County Donegal Railway Restoration on (074) 9722655
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