Míchéal Ó Cléirigh Summer School launch in Rossnowlagh

Feast-Food-Famine/ Féasta–Bia-Ganntanas provides the theme for this year's Mícheál Ó Cléirigh Summer School will take place over the weekend of Friday, May 5 until Sunday, May 7 in Rossnowlagh.

It will feature various talks that will explore the hardships of day-to-day life in post-medieval Ireland in the period from 1500 to 1800 where seasons good or bad could determine the life expectancy of men, women and children.

The event was established in Rossnowlagh in 2013 with the first school taking place on May 17, 2014.

The purpose of the school is to celebrate the life and achievements of Mícheál Ó Cléirigh and his colleagues, the other members of the ‘Four Masters’.

It also commemorates the work of the Franciscan friars of the period who lived in Donegal and in Louvain. Mícheál Ó Cléirigh was born in Creevy, between Rossnowlagh and Ballyshannon and the Franciscan friary, today is located in Rossnowlagh. It is entirely appropriate, then, that the Mícheál Ó Cléirigh Summer School is located in Rossnowlagh, in the friary itself and its environs.

The organising committee met in the Friary Hall, Rossnowlagh recently to progress plans for this year’s event.

The committee is working hard to ensure that it will provide something for everyone. The speakers have been confirmed. They will share their knowledge and lead discussions and conversations.
Invitations to enter the popular art competition have been sent to primary schools, and 4th and 5th-year students from local second-level schools have been invited to enter a historical fiction competition.

The results of both competitions will be announced on the opening evening of this year’s school.

The formal launch of this year’s gathering takes place on Friday, April 14 in the Sandhouse Hotel, Rossnowlagh starting at 7pm.