The 5^th McGlinchey Summer School

Exhibition Press Release June 2002

As part of the fifth annual McGlinchey Summer School there will be an impressive exhibition of World War II memorabilia. This will be one of the most extensive temporary exhibitions of wartime material ever seen in the North West of Ireland under one roof.

In keeping with the theme of "Borders, Boundaries and Divisions", it will explore life in the North West of Ireland in the War years 1939-45. The exhibition, which will open its doors to the public at 9am on Saturday 6th, will be officially opened by Mr. Liam Ronayne, Donegal County Librarian at 11am on and will run for two days.

One of the many exhibitors taking part is the Greencastle Maritime Museum. The Museum will be displaying an original Nazi Swastika, gas masks and personal effects from a B17 bomber found in the sea between Magilligan and Greencastle, including hair tonic, various bottles and a comb. Also on show will be a set of binoculars taken from a German submarine.

Among the artefacts on display from the Donegal County Museum, (Saturday only) is a selection of historical items relating to the "Emergency" from their permanent collection, including ration books and gas masks, tea coupons, shell dressings and material specific to individuals killed in action.

Selected items from the excellent "Atlantic Memorial Exhibition" in The Workhouse Museum in Derry will also be on view, including British and American Memorabilia from the forces based in the North-West. This permanent collection charts Derry's role during World War II in protecting Atlantic Convoys and in particular during the famous "Battle of the Atlantic."

Fort Dunree Military Museum which houses a collection of artillery pieces, weapons and equipment will mount a display featuring a selection of military artefacts, local memorabilia and records taken from its "Guns of Dunree" Exhibition. There will also be a selection of old photographs and archive material related to the Fort from the Donegal County Museum collection.

Tying in with the talk by Paddy Doherty on the emergency turf campaign that was set up to deal with acute fuel shortages, the Summer School is delighted to welcome Pattersons' Spade Mill Templepatrick, Co. Antirim. The director Colin Dawson still makes turfspades by hand in the traditional way and he will exhibit several examples of this dying craft including Mountain Draining Spades, Breast Ploughs, Flachter, Hilted and Non-Hilted Spades. Colin is particularly keen to see examples of local Inishowen turfspades and talk to local turfcutters. In addition Colin will be happy to answer questions and provide information on the design and usage of turfspades in Inishowen over the years.

There will also be a rare opportunity to see a mounted exhibition by Annesley Malley of the drawings of William Smith (1751-1831) - the engineer who built the Swilly Forts in Napoleonic times.

Space does not permit a complete rundown on all the exhibitions that will take place over the weekend. The other material of historical interest on display over the weekend is listed elsewhere in this programme. In addition, several surprise exhibits are planned. Suffice to say that they will add immeasurably to the quality of the material already mentioned. Admission to the exhibition space, beginning on Saturday morning this year is open to everyone and as usual is free of charge.