BSW3 24. Talking Shop
Nov 04, 2021, 07:17 PM
Speaker: John McGroary
From the Bluestack Way Part 3 playlist.
Youtube video showing the strange case of why Fr. Barney was singled out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HzOkonTzcY
Glenties is commonly regarded as being the mythical village of Ballybeg in Donegal that playwright Brian Friel has used in a dozen or so plays, where his real life aunts and uncle lived in the 1930s.
Just before we get into Glenties, there's a story for all theatre buffs - look at the graveyard on your right. See where the real life Fr. Jack who went 'native' in Africa is buried. Listen to the video clip above to learn how the Catholic church had their own way of showing their disdain for a shepherd wandering from the flock.
Glenties is special enough in real life, but the fact that this is where some of the greatest drama of the last 50 years is based gives it an added lustre.
Unlike the house on Dublin's quays, which Joyce never actually set foot in but in which he placed the action in 'The Dead', Friel knows this area well: he's attended three of the festivals that are held here in his honour and, with a deceased uncle in this grave, there are events etched in his mind that go beyond fiction.
Writing in the MacGill summer school programme of 1981, Friel wrote: -
'A community that celebrates a local writer does two things. Rightly, and with pardonable pride, it participates in the national/international acclaim. And rightly, and indeed as importantly, it celebrates itself because the writer is both fashioned by and fashions his people.
Because of my own close connections with Glenties- it occupies a large portion of my affections and permanently shaped my imagination- I am delighted that this festival is taking place and I congratulate the people who dreamed it up and made it real. Long may it prosper!'
In our audio piece, John McGroary tells us a bit more about the MacGill Summer school.
From the Bluestack Way Part 3 playlist.
Youtube video showing the strange case of why Fr. Barney was singled out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HzOkonTzcY
Glenties is commonly regarded as being the mythical village of Ballybeg in Donegal that playwright Brian Friel has used in a dozen or so plays, where his real life aunts and uncle lived in the 1930s.
Just before we get into Glenties, there's a story for all theatre buffs - look at the graveyard on your right. See where the real life Fr. Jack who went 'native' in Africa is buried. Listen to the video clip above to learn how the Catholic church had their own way of showing their disdain for a shepherd wandering from the flock.
Glenties is special enough in real life, but the fact that this is where some of the greatest drama of the last 50 years is based gives it an added lustre.
Unlike the house on Dublin's quays, which Joyce never actually set foot in but in which he placed the action in 'The Dead', Friel knows this area well: he's attended three of the festivals that are held here in his honour and, with a deceased uncle in this grave, there are events etched in his mind that go beyond fiction.
Writing in the MacGill summer school programme of 1981, Friel wrote: -
'A community that celebrates a local writer does two things. Rightly, and with pardonable pride, it participates in the national/international acclaim. And rightly, and indeed as importantly, it celebrates itself because the writer is both fashioned by and fashions his people.
Because of my own close connections with Glenties- it occupies a large portion of my affections and permanently shaped my imagination- I am delighted that this festival is taking place and I congratulate the people who dreamed it up and made it real. Long may it prosper!'
In our audio piece, John McGroary tells us a bit more about the MacGill Summer school.