Arnolds Hotel in Donegal, which is well-known to thousands of Northern Ireland guests, is celebrating its centenary this weekend with the publication of a new book by the Dunfanaghy Writers Circle.
Titled “The Jacaranda Tree”, it contains a selection of poems and prose by writers from all over the North who have attended the hotel’s weekend workshops in Dunfanaghy under the direction of the author and well-known Belfast Telegraph journalist Alf McCreary, who has produced the publication together with the distinguished Holywood book designer Wendy Dunbar.
He says “These workshops have been going on for nearly 25 years, and I am delighted that our new book is being published to coincide with the Arnolds Centenary. This is the fourth book in our series, and I am pleased that our workshops have taken up nearly a quarter of the Hotel’s 100 year history.
“I am also pleased that so many people from all walks of life have taken part over the years, and I am constantly amazed by the hidden talents of ordinary people who have never written before but whose work is now included in a creative writing book.
“This gives them great fulfilment and a sense of achievement, and I am pleased that I can help them turn their ideas into print. Different people have attended the workshops in different years, but we all have the same motivation to develop their writing skills and to become published authors.”
The writers included in the latest book include two former barristers, a former primary school vice-principal, a former bookseller, a career nurse, a poet and a former deputy mayor of Coleraine who is currently on the Causeway Coast and Glens Council.
Alderman Yvonne Boyle, whose poems have given the title to the group’s last three books, says “I am delighted to be in another Dunfanaghy Circle anthology with my fellow writers and I appreciate Alf McCreary’s skills in encouraging and editing new writings in such special surroundings.”
In 1922 William Arnold bought a house in Dunfanaghy with only 850 pounds, and today it is one of the best-known hotels in Donegal which is very popular with Northern Ireland visitors.
Over the years it has adapted to the many changes in the hospitality industry, and it remains a mainstay of the village of Dunfanaghy and the local area.
Aisling Arnold, representing the third generation of the family to run the hotel, said: “we are delighted to welcome back the Dunfanaghy Writers circle in our special centenary year and we congratulate them in publishing their fourth book this weekend. This really is an outstanding achievement.”
The hotel has attracted many celebrities over the years including Olivia Newton John who stayed there some years ago to record a travel programme for BBC television and who died this August.
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