Join us on the Slí Cholmcille Camino - English below
Tá sé deacair creidbheáil a soineanta agus a bhí muid nuair a smaoinigh muid, “Ah thiocfadh linn físeán beag faoi Cholmcille a chur le chéile don chomóradh 1500 bliain!” Anois, trí mhí ónar thosaigh muid ar an togra seo tá clár uair a’ chloig foilsithe againn agus ceoltóirí, scéalaithe agus saineolaithe den scoth rannpháirteach ann - clár ata ar fáil thíos.
Ba chomhfhiontar é seo idir Líonra Leitir Ceanainn agus an t-Ionad Cultúrtha Réigiúnach anseo i Leitir Ceanainn. Bhí Jeremy Fitz Howard, bainisteoir an RCC ina chuidiú ollmhór dúinn. Fuair muid maoiniú ó Fhoras na Gaeilge agus Bórd na Gaidhlig faoi Scéim Deontas Cholmcille chun an togra a fhorbairt agus a chur chun cinn agus tá muid an-bhuíoch dóibh ar fad.
Bhí sé mar sprioc ag Foras na Gaeilge go mbeadh an caidreamh idir an Ghaeilge agus an Ghaidhlig léirithe sna tionscadail a fuair maoiniú uathu agus is é sin rud a rinne muidne agus muid ag obair as lámh a chéile le Joy Dunlop as Earra-Ghaidheal a d’fheidhmigh mar chomhordaitheoir ar an togra in Albain dúinn.
Tugann muid cuireadh daoibhse teacht ar aistear linn anois ar Shlí Cholmcille. Beidh Caoimhe Ní Chathail linn chun muid a thionlacadh ar an aistear agus ceol nuachumtha ag an phíobaire uilleann Paul Harrigan – “Eithne”, “Saol an Mhanaigh” agus “Leac an Cumha” – fite fuaite fríd an chláir iomláin. Tosóidh muid i nGartán an áit ar rugadh agus ar tógadh Colmcille. Cloisfidh muid ó Proinsias Mac a’ Bhaird faoi óige Cholmcille agus ón Easpag Alan Mac Eochagáin faoi cad é atá i gceist le hoilithreacht. Rachaidh muid ansin go Gleann Cholm Cille go gcloisfidh muid an scéal ó Eoghan Ó Curraighín faoi conas a chuir Cholm Cille an ruaig ar na deamhain amach as an seanghleann. Beidh Feardorcha Ua hÁrdaigh linn le hinsint dúinn faoi Thuras Cholm Cille, conair oilithreachta meánaoiseach. Beidh ceol againn ó Ellie Nic Fhionnghaile agus Aisling Ní Churraighín agus blaiseadh den bhéaloideas faoi Cholm Cille ó Eithne Ní Ghallchobhair.
Is áit thábhachtach ar Shlí Cholmcille é Droim Thuama agus cloisfidh muid ó Pierce Ferriter faoin mhainistir a bhunaigh manaigh Cholmcille ansin agus faoin leabhar “An Cathach” agus Cath Cúl Droimne. Is saineolaí é Brian Lacey agus beidh sé ag insint dúinn faoin tionchar a bhí ag Colmcille agus a chuid manach ar an saol Críostaí agus ar fhorbairt na lámhscríbhinní ach go háirithe.
Rachaidh muid anonn go Cnoc na Naomh go gcloisfidh muid scéal ón Ath. Brian Ó Fearraigh agus an t-amhrán galánta Cnoc na Naomh ó Diane Ní Chanainn. I nDoire beidh an tOllamh Malachy Ó Neill ag tabhairt míniú ar an nasc ar leith atá ag an chathair le Colmcille. Cloisfidh muid an t-iomann álainn Laoidh Chaluim Chille i nGaidhlig na hAlban ó Joy agus Andrew Dunlop. Díreach cosúil le Colmcille déanfaidh muidne cuairt ar an tSrúibh in Inis Eoghain, an áit dheireanach in Éirinn ar stop Colmcille ar a bhealach go hAlbain. Cloisfidh muid ceol iontach ó Róisín Nic Ruairí ansin agus fiosróidh Caoimhe Ní Chathail an caidreamh idir mhuintir agus teangacha iarthar na hAlban agus iarthuaisceart na hÉireann.
Agus muidne in Earra-Ghaidheal beidh deis againn cuairt a thabhairt ar Oileán Í in éineacht le Sorren Maclean agus Hannah Fisher, beirt cheoltóir den scoth. Is saineolaí é John McFarlane agus tá sé de phribhléid againn an deis a thapú éisteacht leis agus é ag cur síos ar Cholmcille agus a chuid manach agus an saol a bhí acu ar Oileán Í.
Tiocfaidh muid ar ais faoi dheireadh go dtí cros Cholmcille i nGartán, le ceol nuachumtha Paul Harrigan darbh ainm Leach an Cumha mar thionlacan don dán Súil Ghlás a scríobh Proinsias Mac a’Bhaird dúinn agus deis againn ár machnamh a dhéanamh ar an cheist ábhartha sin, cérbh é Cholmcille? I ndiaidh bheith ar an aistear seo ar Shlí Cholmcille tá súil againn go mbeidh léirthuiscint níos doimhne againn uilig gur seo Conallach eisceachtúil, a d’imir tionchar ar chreideamh, stair, litríocht agus féiniúlacht na n-oileán seo agus a imríonn tionchar orainn go fóill.
Ba í Bairbre Uí Chathail léiritheoir an chláir, Marty Curran a bhí mar eagarthóir agus Caoimhe Ní Chathail mar eagarthóir fotheidil. Ba iad na ceamaradóirí ná Declan Gallagher i nGleann Cholm Cille, Liam Hirrell agus Neil McGrory i nGartán, Cnoc na Naomh, An tSrúibh agus Doire, Enda Ferriter i nDroim Thuama, Rory O Donnell ar Oileán Thoraigh agus Teampall Ráithe agus Andreas Wolffe in Earra-Ghaidheal. Gabhann muid buíochas le Gareth Wray, Fiachra Mangan, The Churches Trust, The Iona Community, Chris Fitzsimons agus Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann as ábhar breise a sholáthar dúinn. Gabhann muid buíochas leis na rannpháirtithe uilig - ceoltóirí, scéalaithe agus saineolaithe agus tá súil againn go mbainfidh sibh sult agus tairbhe as saothar s'againne.
We invite you to join us on a virtual journey on the Slí Cholmcille which is, in effect, a camino through Donegal and the West of Scotland in the footsteps of Colmcille. Caoimhe Ní Chathail is our guide throughout our journey which begins in Gartan where Colmcille - or Criomthann Mac Fhedhlimidh as he was originally called - was born, brought up and received his early schooling. Proinsias Mac a'Bhaird talks about the early years of Colmcille and how he came to be given the name Colm meaning dove. Colm Cille literally means dove of the church. Bishop Alan McGuckian explores the idea of pilgrimage. Paul Harrigan of Ceol na Coille wrote three pieces of music specifically for this project and these are performed by Paul, Úna Ní Bhriain and Aobha Ní hAragáin at a number of points on our journey.
We move then to Glencolmcille where Ellie Nic Fhionnghaile and Aisling Ní Churraighín play two two tunes from the area Highland Mhín na Croise and Cáilíní Deasa an Ghleanna. Eoghan Ó Curraighín tells us the story of how Colmcille came to the old Glen to chase out the demons and Feardorcha Ua hÁrdaigh tells us about the pilgrim trail or Turas which has been done in Glencolmcille since the middle ages. Ellie sings a song from the area Eoghainín Ó Ragadáin and Eithne Ní Ghallchobhair gives us a flavour of some of the folklore or béaloideas about the saint with the story of Colmcille and the salmon.
In Drumhome Pierce Ferriter delves into the history of the foundation of the monastery there by Colmcille's monks and the important role played by a book of the psalms referred to as 'the battler' in a dispute about copyright. Dr Brian Lacey explores the role of Colmcille and his monks in the development of the illustrated manuscripts such as the Book of Durrow, the Lindisfarne Gospels and even the Book of Kells.
We travel then to Cnoc na Naomh above Machaire Rabhartaigh where Fr Brian Ó Fearraigh tells us the story about how the hill got its name and how Christianity was brought to Tory Island. Diane Cannon sings the beautiful song Cnoc na Naomh. We travel from here to Derry via An Grianán and the Emery Celtic Cross. Derry - Doire Cholmcille - has deep connections with Colmcille and Prof Malachy Ó Néill explores these and the reasons why Colmcille left Ireland for Scotland. Like Colmcille we too stop off en route at Shroove where Roisin McGrory plays two wonderful pieces of music The Bray Road and Where Aileach Guards .
Caoimhe explores the linguistic connections between the north of Ireland and the west of Scotland - connections that exist to this day. Sorren Maclean and Hannah Fisher play the fabulous Jasper's Reel from a boat in front of the Abbey at Iona and we can hear so many of those shared connections coming through the music just as they do in the language. John McFarlane speaks about the life of Colmcille and his monks on Iona and the legacy that remains. It is notable that John speaks with a familiarity and fondness about Colmcille as if he was a neighbour he grew up next door to.
Our Slí or Camino draws us back finally to the cross at Gartan and the beautiful piece Leac an Cumha from Paul Harrigan which accompanies a poem Súil Ghlas written and spoken by Proinsias Mac a'Bhaird. As Caoimhe Ní Chathail notes, Colmcille is a challenging, creative, powerful man of faith whose influence extends even into our present day.
This project has been a collaboration between Líonra Leitir Ceanainn and the Regional Cultural Centre and has been funded by Foras na Gaeilge and Bord na Gaidhlig's Scéim Deontas Cholmcille 1500 to celebrate the anniversary of Colmcille and to highlight the links between speakers of Irish and Scots Gaelic. The programme is in Irish and Gaidhlig with English subtitles. The producer for the programme was Bairbre Uí Chathail the Comhordaitheoir Pleanál Teanga / Irish Language Development Officer for Letterkenny and Editor was Marty Curran with subtitles by Caoimhe Ní Chathail. Filming has been by Declan Gallagher, Liam Hirrell, Neil McGrory, Andreas Wolffe, Enda Ferriter and Ruaidhrí Ó Domhnall with additional content provided by The Churches' Trust, Gareth Wray, Fiachra Mangan, Chris Fitzsimons and The Royal Irish Academy. In particular we want to thank all those who participated, musicians, storytellers and guest speakers and we hope that you will enjoy the fruits of our labour.
Colmcille Mosaic déanta ag Mosaic Marble Beirut, faoi choimisiún ó Chris & Juliet Fitzsimons
