Aoife Doherty delves into the archives to bring you the news and images from yesteryear.
March 13, 1976
Top awards for Donegal in Colleges drama
A NUMBER of top awards in the Feile Dramaíocht na gColaistí tria leibheal, which was held in Maynooth last weekend, came to Donegal when Noel Gallagher was named as the top actor of the Feile and the Regional College, Letterkenny received a plaque for the best production in the one-act section.
Noel received his award for his character portrayal in the one act play ‘Na Cruiteachain’ which also got the award for the best play in the festival.
Another Donegal man, Patrick Boyle, from Fintown was named as best supporting actor of the festival in the three act section for his part in ‘Sive’. Both actors are students at Maynooth.
The Regional College picked up two awards. Their play ‘An Coimheassar Bacach’ was adjudicated to be the best production while Anna Nic Camharcaigh received an award for the best supporting actress in her section.
This was the Letterkenny college’s first appearance in the festival and the adjudicator, Sean A. O’Brien remarked that it was great to see Letterkenny performing so well despite their obvious inexperience.
£1,500 Taken in raid on Raphoe Butcher’s shop
A Raphoe butcher, Mr. Tony Friel, was robbed of approximately £1,500 in cash and cheques in a raid on his premises on Saturday night by two armed and masked men. The two men entered the shop shortly after 9.30pm.
They demanded the money and before making their departure they fired two shots, one of which hit shop assistant Bernard McCarron on the arm.
The raiders, not being satisfied with their haul, demanded the two shop-men to empty their pockets of cash before they left.
In an interview with the Derry People and Donegal News, the proprietor of the shop, Mr. Friel said: “We were just getting the place cleaned up when the men came in. They were masked and were carrying guns. One of them stood just inside the shop door while the other moved over to the wall, opposite the counter.
“The fellow at the wall told me to “hand it over”. Bernard McCarron told me not to give him the money and the fellow took a shot at him, tearing a piece from his coat. I then realised that these two boys weren’t fooling, so I handed the money over.”
Mr. Friel stated that he did not recognise the accents of either man as they spoke in harsh tones.
New Dungloe Community School
Mr. Richard Burke, T.D., Minister of Education, has told Mr. Paddy Harte, T.D., in response to his representation concerning the new community school at Dungloe, that although some time was lost on the planning stage of this project, this has not affected the time scale to have the building completed and ready for occupation by September, 1977; and that every effort will be made to have a builder on the site at the earliest possible date.
March 9, 2001
A YOUNG Glenties woman who now lives and works in Letterkenny has been celebrating her success in a recent national jeans design competition.
Donna McGrory (23) from Beechwood Park shared the top award in the national competition to dream up a new look for jeans. The competition was organised by the Gazara company from Kildare and attracted thousands of entries from across the country. Donna shared the top prize with two girls from Offaly and Limerick. “I’m thrilled and I couldn’t believe it when I heard that I had won the competition. It’s brilliant news,” she said.
Donna spent three years studying at York Street, University of Ulster in Belfast where she graduated with a BA Honours in Textiles and Fashion. “I am really interested in fashion. The artistic side comes from my father who is a cabinet maker and my mother who does painting and writes children’s books,” Donna added.
The former fashion student’s flame-styled jean was inspired by a design that she first came up with while at college. To create the contrast the waist band and zip are a slightly lighter blue than the rest of the trouser.
The Gazara firm was so impressed with the quality of the winning entries that they are considering making each of the girls a pair of jeans based on their blueprints.
Donna is the daughter of Eamon and Yvonne McGrory from Kilraine. She has a sister Jane and a brother Mark and is currently working in the Penny’s store in Letterkenny.
Budding chef has a golden touch
An 11 year old Buncrana girl has been named the best student chef in Donegal in a schools competition. Maria Doherly, a second year student at Crana College was informed last Saturday that she won the Donegal heat of the Uncle Ben’s Schools Cookery competition. Pupils from every secondary school in Ireland were invited to submit recipes and from the 800 entries received Maria’s recipe ‘Lentil and Rice Casserole’was selected as the best dish in the county. Maria is the daughter of Roisin and Hugh Doherty from Westbrook, Buncrana.
She has always had a great interest in cooking and was thrilled to win the county title.
Her Home Economics teacher, Mary Canning, said it was a great achievement. It is the second time in the past four years the school has lifted the award.
Maria moves into a man’s world
STRIKING a first for Donegal is Maria Sweeney, Letterkenny’s only female mechanic.
The bubbly 20-year-old is breaking new boundaries as one of the first, fully qualified female mechanics in the country .
Maria is currently studying the final phase of her mechanic’s apprenticeship at the Galway Mayo Institute of Technology, which lasts six weeks.
“All going well I should finish the end of my three-year apprenticeship in March and return to Letterkenny as a qualified mechanic,” said Maria.
“I am the only girl in my class and although I’m not the first woman to study mechanical engineering at the Institute I am the first woman to reach the final phase for a long time.”
Maria comes from Magheraroarty and is the daughter of Frank and Maria Sweeney.
Maria says she takes her mechanical mind from her father.
She decided on her career path at the age of 11 “I remember seeing a Harley Davidson on the pier at home. From then on all I thought about was having a job in which I could surround myself with machines. Becoming a mechanic was the logical thing to do. I studied Engineering and Technology for my Leaving Cert. I was really lucky that my teacher Mr Larry Smyth (at PCC, Falcarragh) let me study Higher Level engineering which enabled me to move into my chosen career a lot quicker,” she explained.
Obtaining an apprenticeship wasn’t all plain sailing for Maria who recalls trudging round many garages before arriving at Tony Kelly’s in Letterkenny where she has worked happily for over two years.