WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE A LEPRECHAN?

Would you like to see a leprechaun?  Or even be one for a day?  Would you like to be part of a record breaking attempt and be in the Guinness Book of Records?

Glenties, County Donegal, Ireland

If you have answered yes to any of the above, then Glenties in County Donegal on Saturday the 17th of March 2012, St. Patrick's Day, is the place to be.

Carmel Doherty and two of the smaller dragons

The village of Glenties County Donegal is making an attempt to break the world record for the most leprechauns in one place at one time.  Carmel Doherty, Chairperson of the Glenties Community Action Group, told us that they have been accepted by the Guinness Book of Records and so if they beat the previous records, they will be entered into the Guinness Book of Records as the place where the most leprechauns gathered in one place at one time.

The record was first held by the American TV chat show host, Jay Leno on St. Patrick's Day 2011 in Los Angeles where 224 leprechauns turned up.  However this record was then broken in November 2011 by Ireland's RTE's personality Derek Mooney when he had 250 leprechauns turn up at the Grand Central Theater in Dublin.

There are so far nearly 200 leprechauns registered for the St. Patrick's Day record breaking attempt in Glenties so they are aleardy near breaking the previous record.  Leprechauns of all ages are welcome ~ even as young as babies and there are currently four little babies entered all of whom will wear his or her own tiny leprechaun outfit, especially sized for them by the people of Glenties.  They will even have a "Dulux" (Old English Sheepdog) wearing a leprechaun outfit in the parade!

The Community Centre, Glenties

Working away in the Community Centre in Glenties is Carmel and a group of local helpers producing leprechaun outfits for all the participants.  They are inviting anyone from anywhere to be part of the this record breaking attempt.   The fee to enter is just €10 and this is to cover the cost of the outfit you will be supplied with which includes a waistcoat, hat, and beard. 

All you need to do is registered your name on line as soon as possible (link below) and turn up on the day wearing a white long sleeved shirt or Tshirt, black trousers and black shoes (if you don't have black trousers green or red trousers are accepted by the Guinness Book of Records too). 

It is very important that those taking part turn up wearing:

~ a long sleeved WHITE SHIRT or T.SHIRT 

~ BLACK shoes

~ BLACK, RED OR GREEN TROUSERS

Any variation (say jeans or short sleeved shirts or runners) will exclude that person from being included in the number count under the Guinness Book of Record rules.

The leprechauns will gather for the count on the Patrick McGill bridge in the centre of Glenties at 2pm on St. Patrick's Day when the number will be adjudicated and confirmed, after which the St. Patrick's Day festivities begin in full.

The huge head of the 30 metre long dragon

Glenties, who have not held a St. Patrick's Day Festival in many years, are intending that their relaunching of the Glenties St. Patrick's Parade to be a colour full and busy one and a great family day out.  They have been busy preparing costumes and props for local entrants in the parade including a huge and very colourful dragon which will measure some thirty metres and snake his way through the village during the parade.  Smaller dragons will bring even more colour to the parade following in the footsteps of the monster dragon.

Some of the jewel coloured headdresses

There will be local girls wearing fabulous fanned and sequined head gear in bright jewelled colours dancing their way through the streets too.

On the streets there will be traditional Irish music musicians playing for the crowds and there will also be a range of traditional games played in Ireland many years ago, mostly all forgotten now but brought back for the St. Patrick's Day festival in Glenties.  All the cafes, restaurants and bars will be open too and many of the bars will also be hosting traditional Irish music sessions.

Glenties' St. Patrick ~ in the making

Of course being St. Patrick's Day the parade would not be complete without St. Patrick himself and they have produced a very much larger than life St. Patrick to lead the parade. The photo above shows the beginnings of their St. Patrick and already it can be seen how huge it will be, possibly as high as 17 feet.

LISTEN to our interview with carmel HERE

If you would like to be a leprechaun for a day or even be part of the record breaking attempt by being there when, hopefully, the record is broken you can register (and Begora, go'wan, you know you want to) HERE


Carmel, getting the Guinness on in her bar, Keeney's, Glenties

There is ample parking in Glenties and on the outskirts of the town but it would be advisable to be there by 1pm.  Further information can be had by contacting Carmel by email or phone:  
Email: carmeldoherty10@gmail.com 
 
Telephone 087-9307423 (within Ireland) and outside Ireland 00353-87-9307423

NOTE: We will be doing a new blog post following the 17th of March reporting on the Guinness Book of Record attempt by Glenties and adding lots of photographs of the day.
 
AND IF YOU CAN'T BE THERE ...
 
Obviously many people won't be able to travel to Glenties for the record breaking attempt but if you want to send a photo of you in leprechaun gear on St. Patrick's Day or even groups of leprechauns at your St. Patrick's Day parade, you can send your photo to welovedonegal @ gmail.com (join the spaces either side of the @) and we will create a page on WeLoveDonegal especially for you all.

RORY GALLAGHER FESTIVAL

For the second year running The Rory Gallagher International Tribute Festival has scooped a major award for the Best Festival in Ireland (in the Medium crowd size section with crowds of 10,000-30,000).  (Electric Picnic took the award for the best large festival ~ crowds of over 30,000.)

Rory Gallagher statue, Ballyshannon

Rory Gallagher was born in Ballyshannon, County Donegal in 1948 and achieved world wide fame.  From our WeLoveDonegal.com website:

 "Musician and songwriter.  Formed the band 'Taste' in the late '60s.  In 1971 he was voted (ahead of Eric Clapton) Melody Maker's International Top Musician of the Year.  His albums have sold over 30 millions copies worldwide.  He died in London after developing complications following a liver transplant."

In 2010 a bronze statue, the work of sculptor David Annand was unveiled in Ballyshannon town centre (the photographs on this blog post are of that statue).  In Dublin's Temple Bar there is a place named 'Rory Gallagher Corner' and under the sign hangs a bronze replica of his Stratocaster guitar.

Along with large crowds, the festival has attracted some great musicians over the years including Rory's band, Eric Bell (Thin Lizzy) and Bernie Mardsen (Whitesnake) to name a few.  The festival is 10 years old this year so the Award is a great way for the Rory Gallagher Festival organisers to celebrate in style!

This year's festival will run between Thursday, 31 May and Sunday, 3 June.  Details can be found on the festival's site HERE and the organisers have, for the first time, a large events tent planned which will hold around 1,000 thereby allowing them to bring even bigger acts this year.


Rory Gallagher 1948 ~ 1995

RARE FIND IN DONEGAL BOOKSHOP

A bookstore in Letterkenny, County Donegal, had a pretty amazing find in one of their old books recently.  The store, Universal Books, (owned by David Faughnan) is a great place to find books on practically everything and as most are second hand books, you can occasionally find books that are out of print and even signed copies of a variety of books.  They have all sorts of books, fiction and non-fiction, and my own favourite, their section on Donegal and on Ireland where I have found many a book I just had to have!

The Irish Constitution

But a find in one of these old books recently by John, a member of staff there, was an extremely rare find. He had been checking through a box of old books and found a hardback copy of the Irish Constitution. On checking inside in the hope it might be a first edition, rare enough in itself, he found that not only does it seem to be a first edition but that it is signed by Eamon DeValera (Three time Taoiseach (Prime Minister of Ireland) 1937-48; 1951-54; 1957-59 and the third President of Ireland 1959-73).

Eeamon DeValera (from president.ie):

"He was born in New York on 14 October, 1882, and was brought to Ireland at the age of two and a half years. In 1910 he married Sinéad Ní Fhlannagáin.  A teacher and university lecturer, he joined the Irish Volunteers when they were founded in 1913. As a Commandant he took part in the 1916 Irish National Uprising. He was sentenced to death, the sentence being commuted to penal servitude for life. He was released on General Amnesty in 1917.

He was elected Sinn Féin M.P. for East Clare in 1917 and re-elected as parliamentary representative for Clare at subsequent General Elections until his election as President in 1959.

He founded the Fianna Fáil Party in 1926 and from 1932 - 37 he was President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State and Minister for External Affairs. He was President of Council of the League of Nations at its 68th and Special Sessions, September and October 1932 and President of the Assembly of the League of Nations, 1938.

Following enactment by the people of the Constitution, Eamon De Valera became Taoiseach (Prime Minister) and Minister for External Affairs from 1937 - 48. He was Taoiseach again from 1951 - 54, 1957 - 59.

On 25 June, 1959 he was inaugurated as President of Ireland.


He died on 29 August 1975."

Signed by Eamon DeValera

Naturally John and store owner, David, couldn't be sure the signature was authentic so it was sent to Dublin and I am told the report came back that it is indeed the authentic signature of Eamon DeValera. Of course this all makes the book quite valuable and needless to say the find has brought a lot of enquiries and callers to the store together with offers to purchase it.

Close up of Eamon DeValera's signature in the book

UNIVERSAL BOOKS CONTACT DETAILS

For those interested in calling to the store to view the book or those interested in enquiring about purchasing it, here are the contact details for Universal Books.

Universal Books, Letterkenny



Universal Books, Church Lane, Letterkenny, County Donegal, Ireland

Telephone: 00353-749161869

Email: universalr@yahoo.ie

Contact them via FACEBOOK

DONEGAL ~ IT'S NEARER THAN YOU THINK

From Highland Radio news 5th January 2012:

"The head of Oideas Gael in Gleann Cholm Cille has hit out at the Chairman of the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation questioning his logic as it relates to tourism in Donegal.  John Healy, in reference to the lack of growth in tourism in Donegal, stated that unless visitors are staying in the country for at least ten days they are unlikely to visit the northwest. 
Liam Ó Cuinneagáin says such a view from a tourism leader is unacceptable pointing out that areas further from Dublin than Donegal recorded an increase in overseas tourists last year.  Mr Ó Cuinneagáin says a change of attitude is required."


Beautiful Donegal ~ it's nearer than you think!

Sadly it seems the attitude of many involved in the tourist industry in Ireland, and indeed as it appears from the above news item here, even the Chairman of the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation, John Healy inadvertently continue with the mistaken perception that Donegal is just too far away.  In fairness to Mr. Healy I must point out that he would not have been trying to put people off coming to Donegal, but his words might infer that Donegal is too far away to make it your Irish destination and it most certainly is not.  Just check these distances from Dublin to two of the most popular destinations by visitors to Ireland, Kerry and Cork:

Dublin to Kerry: 286km/178 miles ~ Dublin to Donegal ~ 231km/143 miles
Making Donegal A SHORTER DISTANCE by 55km/35 miles

Dublin to Cork: 253km/157 miles ~ Dublin to Donegal: 231km/143 miles
Making Donegal A SHORTER DISTANCE by 22km/14 miles

Our tourist industry must promote Donegal as a place to visit and let's please now drop this archaic belief that Donegal is just too far away for tourists to visit.  As shown by the figures above we are nearer to Dublin than two of Ireland's most busy tourist regions.  And Donegal can definitely stand proud with the best of what Ireland has to offer in terms of the scenery, the food, the friendliness of the people and of course, the craic.

To read more about why you should visit Donegal, read my post: Why Make Donegal Your Irish Destination.

SNOW IN DONEGAL

Snow on Errigal, County Donegal

Driving through County Donegal on the 17th of October this year, we were surprised to see snow so early in the year but there it was in all it's beauty atop the highest mountain in Donegal, Errigal.

It looked so pretty we pulled over to let me get out with my camera to capture the moment.  The photographs turned out very nicely but the one above is my favourite one.  We were actually at least seven miles from Errigal but I enlarged and cropped the photograph which makes it seem as if we were much nearer all the better to see the snow and clouds around our highest peak.

I tweeted the photograph and it ended up having almost 3,000 views and was picked up by an internet weather news site slot who then put it on their facebook page where it was copied to lots of facebook users page and was 'liked' around 300 times.  It was put on the Shaun Doherty Show's wall on facebook too.

It was featured on Martin King's weather spot on TV3 and later in the evening I received an email from someone from the internet weather news site to give me a link to it on YouTube which shows it getting 'pic of the day' on the Meteor weather slot on FYI.

Not bad for a simple photograph of snow and clouds on our highest mountain eh?

It's not just we who love Donegal eh?

OH DEAR, OH DEER!

The last two days in Donegal have been fabulous ~ blue skies and sunshine so obviously I just had to get out and about with my camera. 

However, driving between Glenties and Doochary yesterday, I came across a very sad sight.  A magnificent deer lying dead at the side of the road.  Pulling over to take photographs might seem an odd thing to do but it is what I did. 

Dead Deer Donegal

It is only the second dead deer I have seen on my travels around the county which is pretty surprising as there are so many deer in certain parts of the county and although some areas are fenced, many more are not.  Even those areas that are fenced still can't contain agile deer totally and so accidents do happen when they wander onto our roads.

They are a massive danger to people using the road as impact with one could cause very serious personal damage not to mention a lot of damage to a vehicle.  Yes, there are signs warning drivers of the danger of deer running onto the road, but I travel around a lot and have only seen a handful of deer wandering around and so maybe we become complacent to the danger both to the deer and to ourselves as the driver of vehicles.

The dead deer yesterday however brought it all home just how dangerous it can be.  This deer was a pretty large animal and I can't imagine the damage the vehicle that hit him suffered not to mention the pain the poor animal must have felt.  I just hope he died quickly and at least someone moved him off the road where he could have cause further damage.

So sad ...

So remember, when driving around areas of Donegal where there are deer, take extra care ~ for your own sake and for the sake of these magnificent creatures.

YES, DUBLIN IS NOT IN DONEGAL

O'Connell Bridge, Dublin, Ireland

Yes, Dublin is not in Donegal.  Obviously.

So why on a site dedicated to County Donegal are we adding a section devoted to Dublin?

Well, firstly, Dublin is after all Ireland's capital city and in fact a great city too.  Added to that, many people coming to Ireland, whether travelling to County Donegal or elsewhere in Ireland for their holiday, spend a while in Dublin so the new section for Dublin on our site will give visitors to Dublin somewhere to read a little history of various places in Dublin and view photographs of these places, perhaps helping them decide on places they want to see when they land in Dublin.

So, whilst we do love Donegal best of all, we love Dublin too and we hope visitors to our site will enjoy our new Dublin section.

LINED UP TO APPEAR in our DUBLIN section (so far) and to include a little history, information and photographs:

~ The Guinness Storehouse (one of Ireland's most visited attractions)
~ Kilmainham Gaol
~ St. Stephen's Green
~ Croppies Acre & The Croppies Memorial Garden
~ Glasnevin Cemetery (where the most famous men and women in Irish history are buried)
~ Phoenix Park (the largest city park in Europe)
~ Dublin Literary Pub Tour
~ Statues and sculptures of Dublin (with their amusing nick-names)

... and that is just the start!