|
 In
the "Last of the Name" Charles McGlinchey tells
many stories which demonstrate the power of borders and divisions -
real or imaginary - in the lives of the people of Clonmany. He tells
us of the Clonmany girl who many years ago was seized and abducted by
men from Kinnagoe or Buncrana. Her father secretly visited her, but
had to head off quickly when he discovered that his new 'in-laws' were
returning. He ran from them in great fear until he crossed the stream
that divides the parish of Buncrana from the parish of Clonmany. "As
soon as he got across and into his own parish he turned to face them
and put his trust in God and the Tearman (monastic sanctuary) of Cluain
Maine (Clonmany), and fell to them with a cudgel of a stick he had and
killed them as they came forward to him. The people that were killed
were buried at that spot, and it was always called Sruthan na gCorp
(the Stream of the Corpses)".
The relationship between borders, boundaries and divisions and the
lives and deaths of the people in this story is quite stark.
Seamus Heaney in his
address will extend the exploration of the theme starting with a poem
by the Monaghan poet, Patrick Kavanagh's. In Epic, Kavanagh presents
a dispute between two Monaghan farmers over land ownership. The poem
suggests that many territorial conflicts, great and small, arise from
the reality of "imagined communities", i.e. from what it means to belong
to a home ground, and what it means to dwell on the border between them.
Tommy Sands, singer, guitarist,
songwriter and social activist will join with Heaney in projecting our
theme with music of his own composition. He has unique experience in
a current project in which he teaches underprivileged prisoners in Reno,
Nevada to write songs with which to defend themselves in court. His
musical work with Protestant and Catholic school children in Northern
Ireland gives voice, as it were, to how he helps deal with border issues
there.
Another remarkable feature of McGlinchey's story of a border skirmish
is the practice of fuadach, i.e. the abduction of women. To a great
extent, fuadach succeeded because women felt constrained by the boundary
between the domestic and the public spheres. So real were the effects
of this constraint that women were prevented from leaving their abductors
and going back to a home which was often only a few miles away.
Times have changed of course, and to chart the course of that change
for this year's McGlinchey Summer School, Myrtle
Hill, in her talk "Breaking Out", will focus on some of the
many ways in which women have challenged the restrictions imposed on
them. Hill will also celebrate how many individual women transgressed
the boundaries of society's norms to empower themselves and others.
Border conflicts on both a global and a provincial scale will also
be discussed at this year's Summer School, with particular focus on
World War II.
The fact of our near neighbours being at war has had a significant
influence on our own local history. Richard
Doherty, the Derry historian and author, will illustrate and
discuss the effects of World War II on Derry and the north-west.
 Professor
Eunan O'Halpin will look
at some of the intrigues of war and division when he addresses the question
of British black propaganda in Ireland in the Second World War years.
This appears to have been waged both through Ireland and through America
as part of the British war effort.
Col. Brian O'Reilly's
talk will highlight the role of Forts Dunree and Leenan in guarding
our boundaries at the entrance to the Swilly. The strategic importance
of Dunree and Leenan, among other things, will be indicated in the course
of his subsequent field trip to both Forts.
To manys the intrepid Inishowener, a border exists to be flouted, and
never more so than when war and conflict cause shortages. Many of us
brought up in the border counties know of attempts to breach regulations
with a bit of smuggling during the emergency years, with most of our
friends and neighbours taking to it like it was second nature!
The address of these minor offences, and the much more serious activities
of the past and present, are of course the responsibility of the Customs
and Excise Department of our State. Two of the Department's officers,
Pat McNally and Paddy
Ryan will enlighten us about their experiences and techniques
as they recount the exciting life of a Custom's man.
Be advised to leave your contraband at home this weekend, folks, as
Pat and Paddy will also be treating us to a demonstration of their sniffer
dogs at work!
 The
Second World War of course posed problems for the Irish State on several
fronts, not least of all by causing fuel shortages.
Paddy Doherty will
cover emergency measures put in place to deal with the threat of invasion
of our boundaries. He will also explain the remarkable story of the
emergency turf campaign set up to deal with acute fuel shortages. These
efforts, as Paddy puts it, made places like West Inishowen one of the
power stations of the 1940's.
In conclusion, in this year's McGlinchey Summer School we hope to explore,
both in serious detail and with wit and levity, the distinctive influence
of Borders Boundaries and Divisions on the culture and imagination
of those who live with them. The people of the northwest will recognise
the traces of that influence as well as any, and maybe better than most.
So as we head into this weekend of talk we could perhaps leave the
last word to Derry's Seamus Deane, in his poem The Broken Border:
'The only road we can take now
To get us home crosses and recrosses
The border, making a loop
Of quiet fields where there are
Strange, scattered boulders
That look as if a meaning
Might have existed once for their exploded
Circlings. I don't know. But we
Could talk about that on the way back.'
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5th
- 7th July 2002
