Cathedral Quarter column: St Patrick's Day marks the start of tourist season

St Patrick’s Day is the day that the traditional Irish Tourism season begins and we certainly hope to see more tourists - from both domestic and overseas - in the Cathedral Quarter.

In preparation for the tourism season, I attended the second Donegal Tourism Connect event in Jackson’s Hotel, Ballybofey organised by the Council’s Tourism Unit and Fáilte Ireland as part of Local Enterprise Week.

The event was addressed by author and destination expert Doug Lansky, advising tourism vendors how to innovate, attract visitors and build sustainable success. During the event, I met with other providers to make them aware of our attraction and the Cathedral Quarter Jaunt – our short-guided tour of the area. In addition to the Donegal Tourism Connect event, I will be participating in an online Business To Customers Sales Programme run by Failte Ireland.

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We are grateful for this opportunity as we want to develop the Cathedral Quarter Jaunt, which will provide a revenue stream for our organisation. Both the B2C Sales Programme and the Donegal Tourism Connect will make the Cathedral Quarter as a destination that people will want to experience when they visit Donegal.

Spring Flowers
Locals and visitors to the area will have noticed spring flowers that were planted by the gardening section of Letterkenny Tidy Towns. The new flower boxes are a real collaborative effort. The planting was done by Charlie, Oleh and Eric from the Tidy Towns while the flowers were provided by the Town Gardener, David Donnelly. Timber for the flower boxes was provided by Kilmacrennan timber yard with Letterkenny’s Men Shed making the boxes and Errigal College students carrying out the artwork.

The spring flowers are a precursor to the Summer display. Last year, we upgraded our Water Harvesting system in a joint venture with the Tidy Towns through the Donegal County Council’s Climate Change Fund.
This enables watering the flowers during the summer months. In addition, there will be a special workshop about building your own water harvesting system this Saturday in the yard behind No. 3 Church Lane at 11am. This workshop is perfect for individuals or resident groups who want to be more environmentally friendly or want to improve the floral display in their own locality. A driving force in this initiative is Charlie Grant and Charlie will be receiving a very well deserved Mayors Reception from Letterkenny Milford Municipal District next month.

Pearse Brothers Mosaic
We are delighted to hear that Donegal County Council are going to explore the possibility of placing the Pearse Brothers Mosaic in the newly redeveloped Market Square. Our group commissioned local artist Macola Vonga to make the mosaic to celebrate St Eunan’s Cathedral's connections to the Pearse family.

The Pulpit of the Four Masters and the altar rails in the Cathedral are among the most important remaining works of the Dublin firm of James Pearse and Sons, founded by the father of rebel leader Pádraig Pearse. The sculptor Willie Pearse, with some help from his more famous older brother, spent time working in the Cathedral during its construction at the turn of the last century. Both Pádraig and Willie were executed for their part in the Easter Rising of 1916.

The unveiling of the mosaic happened in 2016 following a lecture from Brian Crowley, the curator of the Padraig Pearse Museum in Rathfarnham, who outlined this famous connection. In the intervening years, the mosaic was only on public display on a few occasions. Our biggest problem is that we don’t have a place of our own where we could have erected the mosaic. Now, following Cllr Gerry McMonagle’s motion, more people will learn about St Eunan’s Cathedral's connections to one of the most momentous moments in Irish History.