A soggy day in Burtonport

Before we go there - here's an archive pic of Brendan McGloin from Bundoran working on his High Cross, modelled on  the 9th century one from Clonmacnoise. Pretty remarkable work, and is now in Portland, Oregan. Nationwide film can be seen at 'High Cross' on YouTube -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nYediXGvwY

If you plan to stay in the old coastguard station in Burtonport, bring an umbrella

Minimalist playground in Burtonport. Like the statue - you'll have to visit to see the front! As for the harbour area, couldn't get the phone camera to work in the rain . .

Burtonport.
At first glance, not too promising as the rain is whipped around by the wind on this May morning. There isn't even a vista of heaving Atlantic waves as a respite from a close encounter with the elements. Hardly surprising - this place was chosen because it offers shelter for boats, not the sight of spectacular waves crashing them against the rocks.
A pillar on the pier offers some shelter, and the chance to enjoy that thrill of freshness on a western coastline. But there's no queue forming for the opportunity. The odd car comes and goes, probably to take another look at the eejit standing with the skimpy coat on the pier. That's about it for the port area itself.
It's been years since I was in Burtonport, or across to Arranmore Island. Time for some drippy familiarisation as I wait for VB and the lift to the next destination. A rock has a plaque recalling two sea tragedies from the 1970s, both still recent when I started with the Derry People and Donegal News in 1978. A statue of the Virgin Mary nearby. A demountable with the legend 'Festival Office'. A nearby building with a paper sheet in the window saying we're closing and thanks for your custom. It's dated 2004.
But there are stirrings of life around. The ferry to Arranmore brings in some traffic - later in Bunbeg I meet a serviceman from Ramelton who was on the ferry at 7.30am this morning, and wasn't alone. There's smoke rising from the chimney of the Lobster Pot, a pub which does seafood. In the window of another building there's a neon sign flashing about coffee. At first glance it looks like it wasn't disconnected when a cafe moved on several years ago. But no. Inside there's a big space, a counter, a heater, a local woman volunteering from a community group and a display of art works. And tea, coffee and chocolate, including Tunnock's Teacakes.
Tuesday morning in Burtonport is looking up.
And it gets busier. An Englishman who moved to Kilclooney near Ardara years ago arrives, saying he's been taking an art class with a local artist. Then somebody's delivering something.
There's a visitors' book, and 'best wishes' cards. This place is a community initiative and it opened its doors over the May Bank Holiday weekend. Initiative, self-help - certainly what we're looking for these days. Okay, there's no sign of coachloads yet, and maybe it's up against it, but best wishes are in order. Perhaps they should link up with the new 'Daniel O'Donnell' museum/display which we spotted going through Dungloe. Seems it's been busy since its recent opening. . .
An English couple also struggling through the drizzle ("it was good enough when we started") say that the big ruin just off the road is the former coastguard place. Seems it was destroyed during the War of Independence, with the ivy-clad walls still there to tell the tale. In the community exhibition I spotted a photo of a monument to a local moment in Irish history - apparently the first action in the War of Independence, an action to rescue two IRA men.
The big house on the left on the way up to the paper shop and garage is, of course, where the Screamers used to live. Those that followed included another group who, as far as I remember, dressed in 19th century clothing and were the source of further conjecture about what happened behind closed doors. The house is an impressive size but looks empty.

Atlantis House in the rain, former home of the Screamers, who arrived in 1974. Have one of Jenny James' books on that period - interesting read. They moved to Colombia and suffered tragedy later with the death of Tristan James at the hands of 'leftist rebels'

Okay, I did little more than get out into the rain, walk to the paper shop, go back and have tea and a Tunnock cake. And a few conversations. I got pretty damp. I bought a present, a little artwork by Emily Bazeley 'The Fairie Tailor', handmade in Donegal from 100% natural materials. Number 78. www.faerie-tailor.com It's "Rose and Lily Petal Ballgown fit for the Midsummer', a little dress of leaves hanging from a tiny wire hanger attached to a twig, all in a light box and at a very reasonable price. I took some pictures.
All in all, I had a pretty good time.

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More about Burtonport, or even Burton Port, or even Ailt an Chorrain (have to look that up), from Wikipedia -

Napper Tandy landed a French force just across the way at Rutland Island. It didn't help.
Peadar O'Donnell (1893 - 1886) was born there - among other things, a novelist worth reading, from what I remember. Islanders, Adrigoole. Years ago I gave a biography of Peadar to the great fiddle Danny O'Donnell from Dungloe. Not only did he remember Peadar, he recalled Peadar's father and uncle playing fiddles at a house party in his youth.

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One of my favourite books is The Buildings of Ireland: North West Ulster by Alistair Rowan (Penguin: 1979). Because he wasn't working for the tourist board, Alistair could give his own impression of the areas, towns and villages he was dealing with. Falcarragh probably wasn't particularly pleased with the one-line description - "A straggling village in the heart of the Donegal Gaeltacht, with an Irish summer college." I like his description of Ramelton, which at the same time doesn't pull any punches about the county generally - "Ramelton is one of the few towns in Donegal that is large enough and sufficiently urban in character to justify a peregrination." I knew I was up to something in Burtonport this morning . . .
Burtonport, which he calls Burton Port, doesn't delay him unduly. He notes it was developed as part of the fishery there by Colonel Conyngham in later c18. When the herring left, Burton Port 'dwindled in importance'. He speaks of "a seven-bay, three-storey stuccoed classical HOTEL and a large late c18 grain store of four storeys, derelict at the time of writing". Not sure if I spotted those. He likes Templecrone Parish Church, about four kilometres from the village, a T-plan Gothic church on the shore opposite Cruit Island (where the fiddler Danny O'Donnell and the composer of the 'Homes of Donegal', Master McBride, are buried). He continues; "It is the perfect seaside Catholic church, brightly painted in black and white, with big Y-traceried windows. The inside is simple but light and airy." Alistair deals separately with Rutland Island, formerly Inishmacadurn, and the great herring fishery which ended in disaster. Good story, of herring mysteriously disappearing and then a sand storm half burying the buildings on the island. . .

'KNOW YOUR DONEGAL' QUIZ  - okay, where is it?? Clue - not far from the old coastguard station in Burtonport.  And that's a prancing horse to the right, while other scenes are from the LeBrocquy illustrations for the Thomas Kinsella version of The Tain (as seen on the floor of the Verbal Arts Centre in Derry, not to mention the book of course). But you better be quick!