BY SEÁN P. FEENY
A young woman from Glasgow with very strong ties to County Donegal is behind an upcoming event that is being billed as the ultimate Donegal night out in Glasgow.
Donegal Rocks, a new event celebrating everything Donegal, was the brainchild of Clare-Ann Coll who wanted to keep the great Donegal Spirit alive after being involved in the recent successful Donegal Live event in Glasgow.
Clare-Ann is a regular visitor to Donegal and in her younger years spent every summer in Gweedore and it is some of these memories that inspired her to organise an event to celebrate to home county of her ancestors.
The Glasgow native is the granddaughter of the late Maurice Coll (Doire na Mainsear) and Annie Coll, nee Ferry, (Bun a’Leaca) who met each other while they were both working in Glasgow.
Clare-Ann’s father Frank met hermother Stevie in Hamilton where he grew up and he was also raised with a great sense of pride of his parents’ native county.
Clare-Ann runs two business, Coll Design, an interior design company and, and the events and branding company Hotpants Media who were involved in the organisation of the very first Donegal Live event in Glasgow earlier this year.
“We joined the Donegal Live team to take care of all the promotion and branding, from posters to the website and organising local media coverage,” said Clare-Ann.
“Although there has always been that strong connection between Donegal and Glasgow, Donegal Live really helped in reviving the interest.
“There are a lot of festivals that celebrate our Irish connections here in Scotland, but there has never been an annual event celebrating Donegal specifically.
“That is why I came up with the idea for Donegal Rocks. We want to keep the profile of Donegal alive in Glasgow and so it will be an exhibition/celebration of all things Donegal.
“It will be a night of modern rock/trad fusion. We have a very strong and proud Donegal Community in Glasgow and we want to give them a voice within the Glasgow music/event scene that has been missing for a long time,” said Clare-Ann.
By hosting this event Clare-Ann is hoping to bring a bit of Donegal Spirit to the people in Glasgow.
“We also want to bring a flavour of Donegal to Glasgow and there will be some very familiar/nostalgic treats available that will bring back memories for people.
“We will also have Donegal Images on display as well as some fund-raising for local Donegal Charities and prize give-away. we want people walking away proud and of course having shown Glasgow how to party the Donegal Way,” she said.
“We’ve been getting a lot of postivie feedback from the community who are looking forward to the event which will also have a lot of authentic Donegal products for sale and we are expecting up to 1,000 people.”
The talent on the night will include Lifford’s own Mickey Harte and from just across the river, the man behind the recent hit ‘My Donegal Doll’, David Oliver from Strabane is also on the bill.
Glasgow band The Wakes will also perform, while top Irish artist Mundy will also be making a very special appearance with mroe acts to be confirmed.
Donegal Rocks will be held at the world famous venue The Arches, Glasgow on Saturday, August 27. Doors open 7pm