Cathedral Quarter: A special night of unveiling in Letterkenny

The late Jim Lynch's grandchildren unveiling the Mural

placeholder image — The late Jim Lynch's grandchildren unveiling the Mural

Thursday evening was one that will live long in the memory of the Cathedral Quarter as they officially unveiled the Jim Lynch Mural and lit up the Lawrence Collection Mural

Thursday evening was one that will live long in the memory of the Cathedral Quarter in Letterkenny as we officially unveiled the Jim Lynch Mural and lit up the Lawrence Collection Mural.

The work was funded by the Donegal County Council Minor Tourism Enhancement Grant and is a culmination of two years’ work.

While it is great to receive funding, it is not quite so simple for smaller groups to draw it down.

Ciaran Dunlevy was the only person we could have selected to paint Jim’s mural, as they got to know each other so well while the Lawrence Collection Mural was being completed.

Ciaran captured the love that Jim had for our area, and it is fitting that it is of Jim watering the flowers, as it was his actions and words which helped the Cathedral Quarter to grow.

Jim’s daughter, Crona Kerr, said that when her children say “Hello Granddad,” while they are here. It was fitting that Jim’s grandchildren, Eve and Moya, performed the duties of unveiling the plaque.

As Jim knew, the project was not about the past; it was about the future but maintaining a sense of community that he truly cherished.

A tenet of our whole project is that we do not care about your place of origin, but if you live in around Letterkenny, you are more than welcome to play your role in our development. Nobody has epitomised this more than Oleh Prokopets, who has settled in Letterkenny along with his family, fleeing the war in his home country of Ukraine.

He has done amazing work in making the place look so well. It was fantastic that Oleh and our chairperson, Sean Purser, carried out the task of lighting up the Lawrence Collection Mural.

The night was perfectly summed up by Ciaran, quoting John Lennon: “A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.”

The Jane Austen Connection

It was a very busy week for our organisation as the weekend before we unveiled Jim’s mural and the lighting up of the Lawrence Collection mural, we paid host to a special visitor with a very keen interest in Donegal's connection to one of the world's most famous writers – Jane Austen.

Rebekah Ray, who is the Regional Co-ordinator for the Jane Austen Society of North America Greater Philadelphia Region, along with her husband Terry, was visiting the sites associated with Jane Austen.

Rebekah learned of the county's connections through our St Patrick's Day visit to Pennsylvania last year and we were absolutely thrilled that Rebekah wanted to discover more. We showed Rebekah and Terry those sites in Letterkenny, Derrybeg and Ramelton associated with Lord George Hill and Jane Austen's nieces, Cassandra, Louisa and Marianne Knight.

Rebekah was also interviewed by local journalist Paddy Walsh during her time in Donegal. She and Terry also met up with Claire McDonagh, co-owner of La Maison, who is a huge Jane Austen and has been a sponsor of the Austen event at our Literary Festival.

Our county's connection to Jane Austen will bring more Janeites to Go Visit Donegal. We have a very special event planned for our Literary Festival and we are delighted that Rebekah and our colleagues have been giving us support in the organisation of this event. Stay tuned for details!