The weather in October was quite nice on the whole. We continued our habit of lunching at the Cois Ionad in Dunlewey, in order to avail of their excellent turkey and ham dinner (BYOCS)* while being entertained by random local musicians. We began bringing our instruments with us, following that famous piece of advice: Be Prepared. On several occasions we have been invited to play a few tunes with the performing musicians, and this past Sunday we filled in for two musicians who had changed their plans but had forgotten to inform the staff. They phoned another musician, Ian Smith, and while waiting for his arrival, we filled in with a selection of tunes. Ian is a very talented singer-songwriter whose music we have enjoyed many times at Hudi Beag's, and when he arrived we continued to play while he backed us on guitar. In addition, a loyal habitue of the venue who is a member of the Letterkenny antique car club (see below) had brought along his mandolin, and the crack was 90 (meaning, we had a very good time). Ian threw in a few of his songs to spice it up, and what could have been a disappointing day turned into a very pleasant session.
1937 Morris
My next adventure involved presenting a trunk show to the ICA in Dungloe. We arrived in Dungloe early, so decided to check out the local library, which is housed in an old church, along with tourist information and other public services. It is an excellent facility, and I was thrilled to find a collection of Eamon Kelly's stories. He is definitely my all-time favorite storyteller, ever since I saw him perform in Dublin at the Abbey Theatre. So check it out, and read these stories with a thick Kerry accent!
But back to the ICA. They have about 25 members and meet every week. They had never had a trunk show before, so to introduce them to this concept I brought along 45 quilts and 20 unquilted tops, some of my own and some that I had purchased at quilt shows from antique dealers. I passed around all of the smaller quilts so that the ladies could see them and handle them, and suddenly the room was buzzing with comments and questions. As for the larger quilts, my husband and one of the taller members of the group, Stephanie, held them up and walked around the half circle so that these could be seen close-up, too. This super-friendly group showed a lot of interest in the quilts, and we had a nice chat over refreshments after the meeting. My thanks to Tessa D., who made the arrangements for the trunk show, and to Ann H., the president of that chapter of the ICA, and to Stephanie for helping to hold the quilts up for closer inspection.
Dungloe ICA Trunk Show
A week later we went to a concert honoring the late, great Francie Mooney, whose life is profiled on Wikipedia (to which we have just added some of the following material.) It was also the opening of the new theater in Dunlewey (an extension of the Ionad Chois Locha). Francie was a local musician who taught many people to play the fiddle including his daughter, Mairead, co-founder of the Irish group Altan, and grandson, Ciaran, who has also toured and recorded on several CDs.
Ciaran Mooney
Francie also wrote pantomimes for the stage (very popular in Ireland), and translated many songs that we know in English into the Irish language. He was a man of many talents, and much loved by the whole community. The tribute was conducted entirely in Irish, and included a number of the songs he had translated, several instrumental sets, a performance by a well-known Irish comedian, and a little dancing. With a chorus of over 20 members (many of them family members) and almost a dozen musicians, it was quite an evening. Our neighbor, Anne, came with us and enjoyed the music and connecting with her old school chums.
The following Monday, on our way to the machine quilting class, we gave a lift to an Englishman, Richie R., who has lived here for more than 20 years. After an interesting conversation that was much too short, we stopped near his house and I gave him my card. When he looked at it, he said that he, too, makes quilts. We were very happy to hear from him a week later when he invited us to tea and biscuits. I brought along a selection of small quilts to show him, and after some tasty treats and tea (he had made some lovely biscuits with raisins, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger) we continued our talk on many wide-ranging subjects (from Jesse James to sailing ships), and he showed me a couple of his quilts.
Richie's Hexagon Star Quilt
Richie is renovating a typical old Irish dwelling, turning it into a cosy and charming home. He is talented in woodworking and building with stone, and he makes his quilts by hand without using a pattern and without benefit of a rotary cutter. His mother was Scottish, and while making many Log Cabin quilts, showed Richie how it was done. He is also a very good gardener, and he generously gave us some leeks, carrots and beets that were fresh from the garden. In addition, he makes an excellent aubergine chutney, which he gave us a sample of.
- Bring Your Own Cranberry Sauce
