Letterkenny man’s poem sparks nostalgia and dereliction concerns

My Home Town

What have they done to my home town?
Lower Main Street’s falling down
We used to have a Market Square
And everyone would gather there
Butchers, bakers, real shoemakers
Old style pubs and undertakers
The Dolphin café, the Centre Spot
There we would meet and talk a lot
The Fiesta ballroom, the Golden Grill
I sometimes wish we had them still
So many buildings now closed down
It’s such a shame, in my home town
At the cinema we’d while away
Some afternoons at the matinee
The alluring smell of Oatfield sweets
Would linger in the summer heat
Now shopping malls and takeaway
Are the order of this modern day
It’s hard to get from place to place
Now the traffic system is in chaos
One way streets and roundabouts
There’s no way in and no way out
When I think back I sometimes frown
At what they’ve done to my home town
What is done must be undone
And everyone must work as one
It’s just not right, it’

by Louise Doyle

A MAN who grew up in Letterkenny in the 1960s has penned a poem charting a nostalgic look back at his beloved childhood neighbourhood, but also calling for its current dereliction to be tackled.

Sean McGlynn is proud to have been born on Lower Main Street in Letterkenny.

This is evident in his poem, ‘My Hometown’, which has received much praise online.

When Sean stands today on Lower Main Street, where he was born in 1959, he remembers vividly the bustling business neighbourhood of yesteryear, and going ‘downtown’ to meet his friends.

There was Fullertons for ice cream and wafers and McCauley’s shop for sweets and dulse.

“In my youth, the Main Street comprised mainly of business premises, but unlike today, many people lived adjacent to or above their business. Some of these probably opened their business in their houses, while others like Hugh McGovern and Nellie McGovern of McGovern’s Bar (late Nellies) came here from Cavan, purchased the premises and used it both as business and residential,” he told the Donegal News.

“The Main Street was the hub of the town with various businesses, including Kelly’s Hardware, Clarke’s Newsagents, Comiskey’s Shop, O’Donnell’s Bakery, Larkin’s Bakery, Toyland, Harkin’s Drapery, McCaul’s Bar and of course The Devlin Hall and the Garda Station.”
Sean said a highlight of the year was the Letterkenny Folk Festival, when various groups and dancers would come to town.

“There were no mixed shops or shopping centres in those days of course, each shop supplied what they specialised in, butchers (Kelly’s, Doherty’s, McGlynn’s), Electrical (Fenton’s), Television (Joe McDermott in the Port Road), Newspapers (Clarke’s at Lower Main Street and McGraths in the Port Road), Shoes (Dobson’s and Ramsay’s). Flemings in the square sold nick-nacks for tourists as well as cigarettes, sweets, ice cream.

These much loved places of his stomping ground are now long gone. I

nstead, many buildings in Lower Main street lay vacant or derelict.

A feature analysis by the Business Post ‘Forgotten Heartlands’ paid a visit to the empty streets of Ireland. It found that one in four of Letterkenny’s commercial premises are currently vacant.

“I have an affinity with Letterkenny, in particular the Main Street. I lived at 101 Lower Main Street in my early years as well as spending time there with my mother’s aunt and uncle even after my parents moved in the mid 1960s. I also worked with my uncles in the butcher’s shop in the Market Square until my teenage years, and when I started my solicitor’s practice in 1990 I chose Church Street.

“When I was growing up in Letterkenny the Main Street, Upper and Lower as well as the Port Road were the places for people to locate their business, no matter what it was, and this attracted all the people from the town and coming into the town.”
Sean said he believes whereby instead of developing by building outward from the Main Street, a ‘disjointed’ town emerged.

“Historically all settlements expand from the inside out, are enlarged from the centre or central location, and it works.”
Having started documenting the many unused and dilapidated buildings in Letterkenny by taking photos in the early morning and weekends, Sean said it became clear just how much things had deteriorated from the 1970s and the 1980s.

“It is obvious to anyone that Lower Main Street has been neglected, as were other parts of the Main Street until the Urban Renewal Scheme of the late 1980s and 1990s. Unfortunately not all the benefits of the scheme extended to Lower Main Street, there were limited relief for rates etc., resulting in most of the rebuilding or renovation being concentrated in Upper Main Street.

“Some businesses have survived in Lower Main Street, despite the state of a lot of the buildings, such as Clarke’s Newsagents, County Dry Cleaners, and Donegal Printing. I applaud Paddy Delap of Clarke’s Newsagents for relocating Letterkenny Youth Club to the aforementioned Devlin Hall at Lower Main Street. He has put in a lot of work for them over the years, so well done to him and his volunteers for bringing some life back to the Lower Main Street.”

Sean penned his poem after seeing the Motor Show taking place at Lower Main Street, which he described as a positive event, but one which also drew attention to the need for traffic improvement in the town.

Like many others, Sean said he has felt frustrated by Letterkenny’s traffic system.

“There has been a lot of discussion over the years about the traffic system and I have often expressed the opinion that the one way system on the Main Street is not working. I have said that it would be worth considering reversing the system so that the traffic would travel up the Main Street from Dunnes Stores to the Port Road, High Road and Justice Walsh Road. It makes sense as it would allow the traffic to disperse from the Main Street in three directions, High Road, Port Road and Justice Walsh Road.

“The Port Road would obviously have to be either one way in the other direction, or possibly two way. This is something which could be done with minimal expense, even on a trial basis. It would also alleviate the congestion at Dunnes Stores Lower Main Street, as the traffic coming from Ballymacool and the Back Road could travel up the Main Street, instead of being stuck at the Dunnes Stores roundabout.”
While pleased Donegal County Council has made a plan for Urban Renewal in Letterkenny, Sean said he believes the traffic system must first be addressed.

“Most cities and towns have a central parking area, from which people can walk to the shopping areas, cafes, bars, restaurants. In Letterkenny we only have public car parking that is shared with other facilities, and there is obviously not enough spaces reserved for tourists or people simply wanting to spend a while in the town. There are areas such as Kelly’s Hardware and adjacent houses, unoccupied and in need of substantial repair, that have land around or behind that would be suitable for a proper car park. These properties taken together would provide a large frontage onto the Lower Main Street. Having such a facility would also allow for the pedestrianisation of parts of the Main Street.

“In my view, any town or city needs an attractive and bustling central area, as most people visiting, especially tourists and people not familiar with the town, will naturally head for the centre. If you think about it, it would be unthinkable for Dublin or Belfast city centre to have so many unoccupied or dilapidated buildings. We have neglected the core of our town to our detriment, and should have a Main Street that we are proud of, as it reflects on the people of the town. We should be trying to make a good first impression on first time visitors and tourists. As they say Rome wasn’t built in a day and Letterkenny won’t be rebuilt in a day, but hopefully we can do it over a period of time, and sooner rather than later.”

Receive quality journalism wherever you are, on any device. Keep up to date from the comfort of your own home with a digital subscription.
Any time | Any place | Anywhere