The 9^th McGlinchey Summer School
Friday 23rd - Sunday 25th June 2006
' Inishowen at Work – Then and Now'
(Trades, Skills and Traditional Crafts)

2006 Programme

Official Website : www.mcglinchey.ie

Charles Mc Glinchey (1861 – 1955) was a weaver (fíodóir) by trade – one of the many trades - tailors, shoemakers, thatchers, millers, coopers etc.- that have disappeared from the area in the last fifty years. Although these trades have gone, many Doherty and Mc Laughlin families in the Inishowen peninsula are still identified by the occupation of their ancestors e.g. Michael the Shoemaker, Anthony Fíodóir, Corney the Tailor and Fanny Cooper.

With the decline in agriculture, much of the knowledge and many of the skills previously practised by farmers like ploughing, thrashing, growing crops, winning turf etc. have also disappeared. A well built hay or turf stack, a well tended vegetable garden, or a well turned out horse and cart expressed their owners’ aesthetic sense and pride in their work.

In rural communities too, the women played their role on the farm - milking and churning, feeding hens and foddering animals as well as possessing the usual domestic skills - cooking, baking, knitting, darning, dressmaking etc.

Conscious of the loss of many of these skills in our age of new technology and globalisation, the 2006 Mc Glinchey Summer School will celebrate the multi-skills of our ancestors. We will evaluate their many talents and explore the possibilities of adapting those same skills for modern use.

Inishowen work practices in the past will just be one aspect of this year’s programme of talks, exhibitions and demonstrations. The present and future of the Inishowen economy will also feature. The tourist potential of Inishowen, the advantages and disadvantages of our proximity to Derry and other job opportunities will be explored by leading speakers.

So make Clonmany your destination on the last weekend of June 2006 and enjoy a stimulating weekend of talks, exhibitions, field trips, musical entertainment and the golf Classic at famous Ballyliffen Golf Club.

Charles McGlinchey

Patrick Kavanagh, principal of Gaddyduff National School, Clonmany, who had spent his childhood as McGlinchey’s neighbour, realised the importance of what he had to say and chronicled his recollections over many years. 

Brian Friel, the playwright, subsequently edited the manuscript. Since it was published in 1986, The Last of the Name has become a classic. It is also available in French as Le Dernier du Nom. Last year an Irish edition of McGlinchey’s story, An Fear Deireanach den tSloinneadh (Arlen House), was launched. 

Charles McGlinchey was the direct inspiration of our Summer School set up in 1998 to explore the history and traditions of Inishowen and the North West. By this means we hoped to generate a greater awareness of our rich heritage and pass on the spirit of historical discovery to a new generation. 

2006 Programme