Donegal's hallowed sites
Feb 21, 2016, 04:11 PM
Enjoy Donegal's Hallowed Sites: https://www.racontour.com/dhs/
Speaker: John Ward
Welcome to the Donegal's Hallowed Sites tour, originally designed for National Heritage Week, but good to do anytime of course.
We've added a further 25 bonus tracks and Donegal-related tunes to the Spotify playlist bringing it up to eight hours of stories and song and this is the best way to enjoy the tour by far. Simply cut and paste the location details for each into Google Maps and off you go.
So why did we choose these 25 places in such a vast county? They have all been special places where people have gathered for an event of some description over the centuries. This is a chance to retrace the steps of those early 'pilgrims' and perhaps capture some of the magic these places offer.
I first came up with the idea in 2012 when it was called 'Donegal's Greatest Shrines', but as you'll see it, is a tour that does not take itself too seriously, so a softening of the name to 'Donegal's Hallowed Site's was made. I'd been putting together a lot of Spotify playlists from my archive in 2021 and thought that my favourite of the eight tours from the Donegal App deserved an upgrade for National Heritage Week.
There is a wide range of styles and takes from the audio clips - this 'zoo style' adds to the overall effect and yes, many were recorded via Zoom in a global pandemic, so bear with that and the occasional wobble in bandwidth.
The bonus hallowed sites were added as gathering places that should also be savoured and will in time become part of the proper list, as will others hopefully. The additional audio material was alluded to in either the earlier audio clips, the text that came with those clips or because it gives an added flavour of Donegal wit or occasions. We've ensured the supernatural has been included as these beliefs would have formed an important part of the culture of the county, if going back a fair bit to their heyday!
Finally, but most importantly, I'm very grateful to all of the contributors who help make this a useful cultural compass for the county. They are all great ambassadors for the county and a big thank you goes to them for sharing their knowledge and wit. A special thanks goes to Mullaghduff's Jacqui Sharkey and Carrick's Noel Carr for their help in making things happen.
If you enjoyed it, please pass on the word and let folk know via social media.
Thanks,
John Ward
Racontour Productions
15th August 2021
Original introduction wording from June 2012: -
Two of the great sacred cows of 20th century Ireland seem to be inextricably linked to Donegal, the Irish language via Gaeltacht schools and penitence via Lough Derg. They may well have cast a cloud over the appeal of the county and God knows we have enough clouds up here already. There are other places in Donegal that could rightly be called ‘sacred’ where the mind, body and heart are devoted to and where people faithfully return to as sites to encourage and inspire.
We could have mentioned atmospheric places like the Maghera caves or Lough Altan, scenic splendour like Creevy pier or Glenveagh, but the places we have chosen stand out for being just that little bit special for some and have entered a pantheon that others should seek and enjoy. Each has an aura stretching from the sacred to the salutary. Anticipation and belief occur in some, for others pure enjoyment and spontaneity and the rest are iconic sites of what we are and where we came from. ‘To each their own’ we say.
We bring you a handful of exceptional places where man has been edified, enlightened, enthroned and enraptured. These are places that have made innumerable lives that little bit richer and will perhaps be just the sort of places you need to find and savour, if only for a short while. For completely different reasons, each of these places has been singled out as somewhere that has at some stage in history made a difference – all aspects of culture are covered, from the historic to the celebrity age. From the very southern tip of the county to its pinnacle, the top ‘shrines’ of sorts are here, some secret, some known the length and breadth of the county and the country.
As for your recollection of Donegal, consider this an overdue 21st century reboot for there is nowhere in Ireland quite like it. If you can appreciate the fact that its remoteness serves as its strength, then you too will be rewarded for travelling the extra road time to get here with this guide; regard it as a pilgrimage, a chance to remove any lingering prejudice and to rejuvenate the spirit.
Ensure you familiarise yourself with the route beforehand. There are some breathtaking scenes along the way with plenty of stops required. As you are covering the full county, it would be best to do this drive over a few days, with plenty of sightseeing along the way. Come back revitalised.
Welcome to the Donegal's Hallowed Sites tour, originally designed for National Heritage Week, but good to do anytime of course.
We've added a further 25 bonus tracks and Donegal-related tunes to the Spotify playlist bringing it up to eight hours of stories and song and this is the best way to enjoy the tour by far. Simply cut and paste the location details for each into Google Maps and off you go.
So why did we choose these 25 places in such a vast county? They have all been special places where people have gathered for an event of some description over the centuries. This is a chance to retrace the steps of those early 'pilgrims' and perhaps capture some of the magic these places offer.
I first came up with the idea in 2012 when it was called 'Donegal's Greatest Shrines', but as you'll see it, is a tour that does not take itself too seriously, so a softening of the name to 'Donegal's Hallowed Site's was made. I'd been putting together a lot of Spotify playlists from my archive in 2021 and thought that my favourite of the eight tours from the Donegal App deserved an upgrade for National Heritage Week.
There is a wide range of styles and takes from the audio clips - this 'zoo style' adds to the overall effect and yes, many were recorded via Zoom in a global pandemic, so bear with that and the occasional wobble in bandwidth.
The bonus hallowed sites were added as gathering places that should also be savoured and will in time become part of the proper list, as will others hopefully. The additional audio material was alluded to in either the earlier audio clips, the text that came with those clips or because it gives an added flavour of Donegal wit or occasions. We've ensured the supernatural has been included as these beliefs would have formed an important part of the culture of the county, if going back a fair bit to their heyday!
Finally, but most importantly, I'm very grateful to all of the contributors who help make this a useful cultural compass for the county. They are all great ambassadors for the county and a big thank you goes to them for sharing their knowledge and wit. A special thanks goes to Mullaghduff's Jacqui Sharkey and Carrick's Noel Carr for their help in making things happen.
If you enjoyed it, please pass on the word and let folk know via social media.
Thanks,
John Ward
Racontour Productions
15th August 2021
Original introduction wording from June 2012: -
Two of the great sacred cows of 20th century Ireland seem to be inextricably linked to Donegal, the Irish language via Gaeltacht schools and penitence via Lough Derg. They may well have cast a cloud over the appeal of the county and God knows we have enough clouds up here already. There are other places in Donegal that could rightly be called ‘sacred’ where the mind, body and heart are devoted to and where people faithfully return to as sites to encourage and inspire.
We could have mentioned atmospheric places like the Maghera caves or Lough Altan, scenic splendour like Creevy pier or Glenveagh, but the places we have chosen stand out for being just that little bit special for some and have entered a pantheon that others should seek and enjoy. Each has an aura stretching from the sacred to the salutary. Anticipation and belief occur in some, for others pure enjoyment and spontaneity and the rest are iconic sites of what we are and where we came from. ‘To each their own’ we say.
We bring you a handful of exceptional places where man has been edified, enlightened, enthroned and enraptured. These are places that have made innumerable lives that little bit richer and will perhaps be just the sort of places you need to find and savour, if only for a short while. For completely different reasons, each of these places has been singled out as somewhere that has at some stage in history made a difference – all aspects of culture are covered, from the historic to the celebrity age. From the very southern tip of the county to its pinnacle, the top ‘shrines’ of sorts are here, some secret, some known the length and breadth of the county and the country.
As for your recollection of Donegal, consider this an overdue 21st century reboot for there is nowhere in Ireland quite like it. If you can appreciate the fact that its remoteness serves as its strength, then you too will be rewarded for travelling the extra road time to get here with this guide; regard it as a pilgrimage, a chance to remove any lingering prejudice and to rejuvenate the spirit.
Ensure you familiarise yourself with the route beforehand. There are some breathtaking scenes along the way with plenty of stops required. As you are covering the full county, it would be best to do this drive over a few days, with plenty of sightseeing along the way. Come back revitalised.