24 June 2012
Our first Field Day of 2012 was to the Isle of Doagh, near Clonmany, with Marius Harkin and some of his colleagues as our guides.
The first stop was Carrickabraghy castle. Here we stood the foot of one of the O’Doherty castles of Inishowe and were given a most informative talk on its history. Sadly, only part of this 16th century castle now remains.
“The view from this spot on a fine summer’s evening is singularly beautiful”, wrote Maghtochair the local historian over 100 years ago and luckily we were blessed with the weather and able to agree unanimously with his observation.
We also heard about Sir Cahir O’Doherty’s sister, Rosa, who left Ireland with the Earls in 1607 and became a most influential leader of the Irish community in Flanders. She died in 1660 and is buried in the Irish Franciscan
college in Louvain.
From there we drove back to the Famine Village, dedicated to the history of Ireland from famine times up to the present. This is a most impressive museum, full of artefacts reflecting everyday life in the area especially
over the last century and our guide was a mine of knowledge regarding the social history of rural Ireland.
A visit of this nature is a stark reminder of the incredible changes in Ireland in our own time and the rapidity of progress, if indeed progress is the right word for such.
Our afternoon in the Isle of Doagh finished with light refreshments in the café and most welcome too.
