by Paddy Walsh
Lily Doherty is considering a bus trip this week. Not just any old bus trip but one where the passengers have little idea of where they’re destined!
Tomorrow morning, a fleet of coaches will set out from Scoil Mhuire gan Smal for one of the Letterkenny Reunion’s most popular events – the mystery bus tour.
The Letterkenny woman recalls some of the mystery bus tours of the past and the enjoyment she got out of them.
“I remember one year going to Daniel O’Donnell’s home place, Kincasslagh, and I think he was performing for the Reunion that afternoon.
“And another year, we were in Donegal Town and went out on the boat. That was another great trip.”
This year, Lily and her siblings won’t make it to as many events as they normally might during the few days of the Reunion.
Their brother, Tommy, is based in Melbourne, Australia, but won’t be able to travel home for the Letterkenny Reunion.
“When Tommy comes home we usually make an effort but he won’t be here this time,” says Lily.
He is, however, at the other end of a phone and it’s from Melbourne that he reflects on some of the Reunions he has attended in the past.
“I always enjoyed the Reunion and the bus runs were great and all the carry-on that went with them,” he said.
“I also got the title Grandfather of the Year during one of the Reunions – it was always a good bit of fun.”
He and his Italian born wife, Fran, have four offspring, Angela, Michael, Christine and Brendan – “all of them in Australia” –;thirteen grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Tony has been resident in Melbourne for over forty years after initially living in Glasgow.
He remembers his school days back in Letterkenny where he sat beside John Friel and the craic he had with the likes of Mickey Blake and all his other classmates.
Remembers, too, his involvement with the Letterkenny Boxing Club.
“There was all the McLaughlins, John, George, and Niall, all of them kept the club going.”
In Melbourne, he has run into other Donegal exiles including John Rodden from Kilmacrenan, and Leonard Harkin, a native of Buncrana.
Lily and Tony hail from a family of twenty-one – many of them now, sadly, deceased.
Their parents were Michael who hailed from Cork, and Elizabeth (Lizzie) who was originally Hanlon from the Back Road.
The Doherty family resided at McNeely Villas with the surviving members including Tommy, Mary, Lily, Margaret, Eileen, Bernadette, Jean, Kathleen, Stephen, Laura and Geraldine. Four of the siblings, Bernadette, Laura, Mary and Stephen, live in County Mayo.
“I remember mammy’s sisters, Eileen and Bridie Hanlon coming home from Scotland and my uncle, Tommy, also arriving from Scotland,” says Lily.
She herself is married to Clonmany man, Paddy Doherty – “the name’s that good, I didn’t want to get rid of it”, laughs Lily – and are celebrating their 50th Wedding Anniversary this year.
Seven years ago, sixteen of the family travelled to Australia for Tommy’s 70th birthday. “He didn’t know a thing about it. Fran his wife knew we were coming but it was a big surprise for him!.”
Looking at the programme for this, the last ever Letterkenny Reunion, Lily notes the return to dancing and entertainment lined up for the old Devlin Hall.
“I never danced there, I was too young. Some of the my older sisters or brothers would have been there but I was going to the Fiesta and the Grill.”
But she will get the opportunity, like all Reunionites, to take a trip back in time during the Fair Day on Tuesday afternoon (1.p.m.to 5.p.m.) and pop into the Devlin Hall.
The full programme for the Reunion, which starts on Sunday, is available on a circular available in local outlets and hotels or online.
There is also a special booklet being produced to mark the final Letterkenny Reunion.
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