Letterkenny's Cathedral Quarter: Review of 2025 - part one January to June

January: At the start of the month, my family and I suffered a devastating blow as we sadly lost my nephew Daithi Harvey. Daithi had lived on/off with me in Church Lane. Like lots of people, Daithi did struggle with his mental health, and his sad passing has cast a long shadow for the rest of the year. There is a line in Don McClean's song Vincent and it reads "This world was never meant for one as beautiful as you". Rest in Peace, Daithí

That month we made an application into the Heritage Council’s Heritage Organisation Support Fund for a salaried development officer. Unfortunately, our application was unsuccessful. During the month, we met representatives from the Travel Bloggers Exchange (TBEX) who were visiting Letterkenny and Donegal in preparation for their conference at the ATU Donegal in September.

Our first event of the year is always St Brigid Cross-making in memory of St Brigid and to mark Imbolc.  It was a really wonderful event as all ages came together to keep this ancient Irish tradition alive. There was beautiful singing from Sinead Gallagher, along with her friends Mark O'Sullivan and Layla Noblett. 

February: Last year, we started an International Fund for Ireland Connecting Communities programme with the Steinbeck Festival in Limavady and the Frances Browne Literary Festival in the Twin Towns, which was organised through the Rathmullan Way Forward Group and Enterprise Causeway. A delegation from our Literary Festival sub-committee visited Limavady and went a number of the Festival events. This included a walking tour of sites associated with John Steinbeck’s grandfathe,r Samuel Hamilton who hailed from Ballykelly, located outside Limavady, talks associated with the author, a visit to Limavady Workhouse, Ireland’s only fully intact workhouse and the day finished up with a wonderful concert in the Roe Valley Arts Centre where the magnificent Muireann Bradley was supported by Highly Strung. 

Both ourselves and the Frances Browne Literary Festival participated in the closing event of the Steinbeck Festival – ‘Voices from a far field'. his fantastic night was compered by the renowned Ulster Scots poet and writer Anne McMaster and featured music by Nollaig Brolly and Martin O'Kane. Representing our group was our Festival director, Mary Turley McGrath, and the runner-up from last year's Flash Fiction competition, Lee Sheridan.

Everyone knows that our project is about collaboration and co-operation, and the Tidy Towns flowers in the area best exemplify it. So, we were delighted that teachers and staff from Errigal College were presenting beautiful spring window boxes to the area. David Donnelly, Town Gardener, Greg from Alcorn Garden Centre, Paul from Ballaghderg Garden Centre and Paul from McFadden’s Timber Yard in Kilmacrennan were all involved in the project. We, along with the local businesses, were incredibly appreciative of all their endeavours. 

March: This month, we went on our first-ever International visit when we were invited as ‘Guests of Honour’ at the St Patrick’s Day Activities in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. Last year, Kim Winey from Discover Elizabethtown and her sister Dana Smith were guests of the Cathedral Quarter as they sought to rekindle ties between our two towns. Elizabethtown and Letterkenny Town Council had been Sister Cities up until town councils were abolished in 2014. In January, Letterkenny Milford Municipal District members voted to re-establish these connections. 

The warmth extended to me by the people of Elizabethtown during my short stay there will live with me for the rest of my days. It was a packed itinerary with the main event was a special conference titled 'Elizabethtown & Letterkenny - The Sister City's Past, Present & Future' held in the Elizabethtown Historical Society. The conference focused in our shared history, reviving our friendship and establishing a new ‘Sister City Friendship Agreement between Lettekenny Milford, MD of Donegal County Council and Elizabethtown Borough Council.

Those to address the conference were Kieran Kelly of Letterkenny History, Teresa StAngelo from Winters Heritage House Museum, Kim Winey, me, along with a bridge which joins us together – a couple, Sean and Brittany Cafferkey, Sean is from Letterkenny while Brittany is from Harrisburg, half an hour outside of Elizabethtown.The final section of the conference was our political representatives - Deputy Mayor Cllr Ciaran Brogan and Mayor Cllr Gerry McMonagle representing Letterkenny with Jeff McCloud representing our hosts on Elizabethtown Borough Council. 

Also in the room for the conference were Letterkenny natives John McDaid and Steve Larkin to witness a new dawn in the friendship between our town and Elizabethtown. Part of the American trip included a few days in Philadelphia, where John McDaid and his family hosted me. It was great to meet people from home, including Louie Bradley, whose family once lived on Church Lane. My last official engagement in Pennsylvania was meeting Rebekah and Sue from Eastern Pennsylvanian Branch, Mary Ellen from the Maryland Branch of the Jane Austen Society of North America to inform them about the Irish side to the Jane Austen story and our Literary Festival, which highlights the link. 

April: At the start of April, we hosted a Variety Night in Studio 58, upstairs in the Central Bar with Donal Kavanagh from Highland Radio News acting as MC. The first half of the evening was comedy with performances from Barry Mac, Andy McGranaghan and the ‘Old Git, Young Skelp’ sketch from the Elusive Theatre. Following the interval, it was music with Carol Wilson, Sean Purser, Mary Dunne, Himalayan Cafe House Band and Maria McCormack. It was a truly magical evening that reinforces the fact that there is so much creative talent here in Letterkenny and its hinterland. We certainly hope to have more Variety Nights in the future.

On Easter Saturday, we held our second Easter Craft Fair in Conwal Parish Hall despite the atrocious weather conditions. Big thanks to all the vendors who participated and to Highland Bakery, Boyce Van Sales, Magees Pharmacy, Cathedral Quarter and Brian McCormack Sports who all for sponsoring our prizes for our raffle. 

May: May is traditionally the month that we start to begin to get the area ready for the summer with the support of Letterkenny Tidy Towns, and we also host our annual Street Feast in the yard at the rear of Church Street Cycles. Volunteers clean up the yard and its entrance in preparation for the Community Event. This year, heavy rain was forecast, but we were able to counteract it with the erection of our large Marquee. We had purchased the marquee from Raymond Holmes through the Local Enhancement Grants Fund the previous year, but this was the first time that we used it. So despite the rain, people were having music and games with food provided by the local eateries. 

Oleh, who was on a TUS Scheme and employed through ourselves and the Tidy Towns, had cleared away a lot of vegetation from the top of the wall of Grieve’s, creating a pathway for many of the flowers to be planted. This year, a greater variety of flowers were used on the top of the wall, including French Marigold, Calendula, Cosmos flowers and dwarf Sunflowers, as well as the Nasturtiums, which are reseeded every year. We also upgraded our Water Harvesting system in conjunction with the Tidy Towns, thanks to a grant from the local authority Climate Change Fund.

At the monthly meeting of the Letterkenny Milford Municipal District, Cllr Tomas Sean Devine brought forward a motion calling on Donegal County Council to fund an administrator for the Cathedral Quarter Project. In April, I had given a presentation to the Municipal District members outlining our achievements to date but also highlighted the obstacles which impede our progress.

June: Dereliction is a problem that is widespread across Ireland and we have very vocal in highlighting the issue and we have taken measures along with the local authority to create the conditions to reverse this situation, helping to bring these buildings back to life. We, along with Letterkenny Tidy Towns, have held two conferences about dereliction, which has been attended by delegates from various parts of the country. Our activism has been acknowledged and I was delighted to be asked to speak at the opening event of the Drogheda Festival of Ideas organised by Development Perspectives. 

‘Drogheda Revitalised: Lessons from Cork and Drogheda’ saw me share the stage with Jude Sherry from Anois Agency. Jude, along with her partner Dr Frank O’Connor started the #DerelictIreland campaign and is responsible for bringing the issue onto the National Stage. While Jude gave an overview of the national picture, my presentation demonstrated how it is possible for the situation to be reversed.

All the Tidy Towns flowers prepared by Alcorn’s Garden Centre were put out in the locality. This extra colour, along with our striking murals, were certainly catching the attention of tourists visiting Letterkenny. I also met up with Reverend Adrian Dorrian, who was instituted as Rector of Conwal Union with Gartan earlier in the year, to inform him of the ongoing work in the area. 

At the end of the month, we also launched our writing competition for our tenth Literary Festival, which is happening in October. The category this year was Non-Fiction, and our judge was acclaimed local writer Denise Blake. We were delighted to have a new sponsor of the main prize – Brennans Pharmacy.