‘Biddy’ McLaughlin to unveil a life of adventure and tragedy at event

JOURNALIST and storyteller, Brighid ‘Biddy’ Mc Laughlin, has led an unconventional life that has been filled with adventure and fun yet marked by terrible tragedy.

This month she comes to McGrory’s Hotel in Culdaff for a three day storytelling event.

She plans to enchant her audience with ‘real’ stories that cram the pages from a life that takes us from the farmland of North County Dublin where she grew up to her colourful encounters with her Donegal relatives, Mike Tyson, Kingsley Amis, Pierce Brosnan, Marco Pierre White and a serial killer in Tasmania.

She will talk about events in her memoir, Tales of a Patchwork Life and her obsession with Donegal folklore, humour and heritage.

Biddy’s 92 year old father, Owen, who was born and reared in Carndonagh, and who still has relatives in Urrismanagh, is a major influence on her work.

Despite his apparent cynicism, her research on Irish folklore and traditions sparked his memories of rushlights, harnen stands for cooking oatcakes, poitín making and old Donegal words and phrases that have almost disappeared.

They are close, she agrees but Owen isn’t a man to give praise freely, so when he complimented her on her description of him in her memoir, she took a big fat sigh of relief. One of the most fascinating and comical chapters in her book describes her herculean attempts to recreate the oatcakes that her father remembered in his
youth.

Biddy’s Stories will take place at The Front Bar, Mc Grory’s Hotel, Culdaff on Monday, November 17 to Thursday, November 20 inclusive, 3.30-5pm. The event will cost €15 per person, please call reception to book on 074 937 9104.