Lauren Wall delves into the archives to bring you the news and images from yesteryear.
August 28, 1976
Folk Festival opens in blaze of colour
The eighth International Letterkenny Folk Festival got underway last night (Thursday) with one of the most impressive arrays of colour, pomp and pageantry the town has ever known.
In favourable weather conditions a very large crowd turned out to watch the mammoth opening parade make its way from the bottom of the Port Road to the festival platform at the Market Square. Dancers from Spain, India, Poland, Holland, England and different groups from Ireland, joined the parade in their very decorative national costumes. They were accompanied by a number of leading Donegal and Tyrone bands.
On arrival at the Market Square the procession came to a halt. Among those who were there to greet the dancers were the members of the Festival Committee and many of the the county’s leading public representatives. The Festival Director, Mr Barney Doherty, welcomed all the visitors to the town and asked Mr. Frank Hall, to formally declare the festival open. Mr Hall raised the flag of the O’Donnell’s, as the Festival Flag, and the 1976 event was underway.
Earlier in the day there was a reception in the Regional Technical College with over 400 guests attending. Amongst those attending were the dancers and artists from the visiting nations.
Landed plane on road
A Cherokee Plane owned by the St Angelo Flying club in Enniskillen, on a pleasure flight from Scotland back to St Angelo, ran short of petrol and had to make a forced landing at Doon on the Enniskillen-Tempo Road on Saturday.
The incident happened at 12 noon.
It appears that the plane, piloted by Patrick Corr, Killybegs, and with three passengers aboard, reached Derry and flew down the line of the Foyle estuary to Strabane and then made for Eniskillen.
Through navigational difficulties, the pilot appears to have got lost and began running short of fuel. The pilot looked around for a suitable landing spot but could not see any of sufficient length and width until he noted the Eniskillen-Tempo road where it has been greatly widened and improved at Doon.
Climbing high, he assured himself that there was no traffic within a long distance of the spot and then descended to a perfect landing.
The plane was pushed into the very wide grass verge so that the road was clear, and the pilot then made his way on foot to Tempo police station who alerted the St Angelo authorities.
Fuel arrived in a short time and the flying instructor at St Angelo himself took the plane up safely, using the road as a runway.
Killybegs through to Junior Championship Final
With the bright summer sunshine sending people flocking to the beaches , GAA field activities were interrupted this week with the County League at a very interesting stage.
And the way is clear for the Junior Championship final between Termon and Killybegs, who shocked fancied Adara last Sunday with their second-half winning rally at resplendent Mac Cumhaill Park, Ballybofey.
In this second meeting of the clubs only one point separated them at the end, an indication of how well matched they were. Now Killybegs and Termon should serve up a rip-roaring county final with certainly more life and dash than the senior final.
The fixtures committee meets on Wedneday night in Jacksons, Ballybofey, to complete the outstanding fixtures in the League. These will be vital and focus must be to some extent on Ardara. Will they collapse in the League after their Championship defeat? This is what happened to the previously unbeaten St. Eunan’s and fancied Convoy.
August 24, 2001
Good luck Sheila
Letterkenny’s Sheila Patton set off to represent Ulster in the Rose of Tralee beauty pageant this week.
The first Donegal woman to be chosen as the Ulster Rose in over 30 years, 22-year-old Sheila intends to make the most of her time in the limelight.
“I’m too excited to get nervous at the minute but I’m sure on the night that I have to appear on TV I’ll be a bundle of nerves, but I intend to enjoy every minute and go out and make the most of my five minutes of fame”, said Sheila.
The youngest daughter of Patrick and Brid Patton, Magherennan, Sheila was selected as the Ulster Rose from ten finalists at a function in the Slieve Russell Hotel in Cavan in June.
Sheila was sponsored by Belle Feast Patisserie in Belfast which is owned by the brother of her boyfriend, Adrian O’Reilly.
Last years’s Ulster Rose, Lisa Hyndman from Omagh, gave Sheila a run-down of what to expect during the week of the Rose of Tralee, which will be televised next Monday and Tuesday.
Sheila begun the whirlwind round of press calls, interviews and functions on Tuesday when she joined the 27 other finalists in Dublin for a day under the glare of the lens of Ireland’s media.
“We had a day of press calls and photoshoots in Dublin before beginning a tour of the south of the country”, explained Sheila.
From Dublin, the Roses travelled to Tipperary and cruised down the River Shannon to the Kinvara Hotel in County Clare before making the final leg of the journey to Tralee for the launch of the Rose of Tralee Festival today (Friday).
The Rose Ball held in the dome is the official launch of the Festival where Sheila will wear the first of three evening gowns designed for her by Cavan designer Betty McKeon, which was part of her prize for winning the Ulster Rose.
Fun week a success
The Glencar Fun Week in Letterkenny was a huge success, with residents of all ages taking part in the activities over the week.
The activities were launched by Dr James McDaid TD, in the Ballyboe Inn while Miss Glencar, Pauline Higgins from Slieve Sneacht Close participated in many of the events throughout the week.
The senior citizens of Glencar set the tone with a lively social night in the Glencar Inn. Over 60 residents took part in the entertainment with Miss Glencar pitching in to serve out tea and sandwiches.
A disco for the children of Glencar and U2 Tribute Band Zoo2, live on stage were on the programme for Friday with the fun continuing into the small hours with Three’s a Crowd. The Gala Day on Saturday began with a parade through Glencar led by the Letterkenny Community Youth Band.
The parade ended in Glenboe District Park where the fun and games continued with a range of events, from line dancing, bonny baby competitions, pet shows and side show entertainment.
The Gala Day was organised in association with Glencar and Ballyboe Summer Play scheme.
Kevin McFeely from the Glencar Festival organising committee thanked all those who helped make the week a success.
Lady in white climbs Errigal
A Belfast bride decided to spend the second day of her marriage climbing Errigal – in her wedding dress.
Karen Reid decided that there was no better way to celebrate the day after her wedding than to take hubby, Larry Hayward to the top of Errigal. Larry was to have initially proposed to Karen on the top of a mountain but they just didn’t get around to it so they decided this would settle the score.
The couple, who were married in St. Mary’s Church, Kincasslagh on Saturday enjoyed their reception with over 100 guests in An Cuirt Hotel near the foot of Errigal and were even photographed with the mountain in the background. They have climbed Errigal on a few previous occasions but decided this would be something different.
Karen, a pharmacist in the Royal Infirmary, is a regular visitor to Donegal where the family have a holiday home at Burtonport; while Liam, who is a doctor, hails from Edinburgh. Karen’s dad, Denis is an accomplished artist and his work often features scenes of Errigal.
As the couple prepared their ascent before noon on Sunday they were cheered on by scores of family and friends, some whom joined in and others who decided just to watch from the roadside. Several tourists and passers-by watched in amazement as the bride hitched up her dress and set off.
Climbing conditions were not great due to the misty conditions but a determined Karen was going to let nothing hold her back. Half way up she decided to gather her single female friends together for the traditional throwing of the bouquet. They got to the top in just under two hours and the happy couple celebrated with a kiss as they enjoyed the splendid scenery. The return, while a little easier, required extra caution to ensure she didn’t trip on her dress and end up in casualty for the night.
Karen said it was the most romantic thing she had ever done. “The going was tough especially with the wedding dress getting in the way but Larry was a great help.
“People probably think I’m mad in the head but it’s something we wanted to do. We were climbing many mountains in the past few years including several in Chile during a 10-day stay. This is really a great end.”