Your article touched me on this very rainy, dreary day ! I especially related to the remark by the American gentleman. I am getting ready to take off on my bi-annual trek to Ireland and my visit to my cousins in Donegal is always the highlight! I savor the essence of Donegal, especially the beaches and the people themselves. I cry when the time comes to depart, as it seems my heart wants to stay there. Thanks for sharing. Frances ----- Original Message ----- From: "McFadden" <McFadden@ntlworld.com> To: <DONEGALEIRE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, September 09, 2004 4:12 AM Subject: [DONEGALEIRE] Dear Donegal > > Here's an article I came across from Pat Byrne's column in the Irish > World newspaper from Sept 2003 > > > Dear Donegal > Going back to Donegal is like going back to fairyland. > It is the mountains that make the place so strange and haunting, that > raise the heart. > And then the sea thundering in unhindered from the vast Atlantic gives > the place an awe and power that few counties in Ireland possess. > > But it is the ordinary people of Donegal, I think, who give the place > its unique and special warmth. There is something about the Donegal > people that has remained unchanged in spite of all the upheavals in > the world around them. > They are the kind of people who welcome strangers and treat the > passing world with a deference completely undeserved. > > No wonder so many war-weary, sectarian-saddened Belfast people head > for Donegal when they want to get away from the awfulness of the > knee-cappings and the kitchen-window assassinations of the Falls and > the Ardoyne. > > I went there myself last week to let nature’s beauty and the gentle > people work their magic on my mind and body. > Donegal’s spell grips you as soon as you pass Letterkenny and see the > mountains rising before you. You begin to feel at home and to relax > after the dark uncertainty of Tyrone, where you don’t really know > where you are. It is a return to the old decencies. > > We try to come to Donegal every year, to a spot on the northern coast > between Creeslough and Port na Blath. Our view is of the camel’s hump > of the Downings Peninsula beyond a wide inlet of blue water, framed by > crescent-moons of beaches which are as unspoiled as if God had just > created them. > > “It was love brought me here,” says the owner of a little man’s shop > (Siopa Fir) in Falcarragh. “I talked a bit of Irish to the wife and > learned it that way. And then the children came along and we talked to > them.” > Which, of course, is the best way to learn Irish or any language, > marry one of the natives. > > You get so laid back in Donegal that you feel you have been here all > your life. I looked out our big picture-window onto the long field > where seven fat heifers grazed, taking their work seriously as they > moved from one lush clump of grass to another, putting on the > condition almost visibly as I looked. They looked at me, but got bored > and returned to their work. > > I met a man on the beach from Minneapolis, Minnesota, and says he to > me: “I’d settle for this any day, over that.” A major admission by an > American. > “We’re here for the day,” he added. ”I wish we were here for a month.’ > > Back in Creeslough, I went into a little shop and got talking to the > owner about the Donegal football team. “They’re a brave wee team,” > says he to me. “They could win it next year.” > I had intended buying the newspaper, and he didn’t have one, so I was > feeling a bit bad about not giving him any business. But he was as > happy as a badger in rushes just talking to me. I think Creeslough > folk are just happy to see strangers decorating their village and > bringing their home place into the mainstream of greater Ireland. > > Driving out of Creeslough, I spotted something through the corner of > my eye which you don’t see much of anywhere nowadays. A homemade > signpost pointed its wooden finger to the attraction, which seemed to > merit only one word, probably because everybody would have known about > it. > The word was: WAKE. > > --- > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.754 / Virus Database: 504 - Release Date: 06/09/2004 > > > > > ==== DONEGALEIRE Mailing List ==== > Try searching the Obituaries at Rootsweb: Interactive search > http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/obituary/obituary.pl > To browse through the archives of the list go to > http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl > Visit my homepage at http://freepages.genealogy.com/~donegaleire > > ============================== > Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration > Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click to learn more. > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237 > >

Of course you all know about Lindels great web site,but there's also this one with excellent photo's of Ramelton ( where my wife Frances,nee McGarvey comes from) and Donegal. http://www.ramelton.net/ Frank McGonigal Ont.Canada ----- Original Message ----- From: "Fran Miller" <ancabhan@taconic.net> To: <DONEGALEIRE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, September 09, 2004 7:09 AM Subject: Re: [DONEGALEIRE] Dear Donegal > Your article touched me on this very rainy, dreary day ! > I especially related to the remark by the American gentleman. I am getting > ready to take off on my bi-annual trek to Ireland and my visit to my cousins > in Donegal is always the highlight! I savor the essence of Donegal, > especially the beaches and the people themselves. I cry when the time comes > to depart, as it seems my heart wants to stay there. > Thanks for sharing. > > Frances