Gill Dewdney

A lovely ride through the countryside and along a bay to Doagh Famine Village. The 12 euro per person entry fee included a cup of coffee and scone. The cafe overlooked a large sandy bay and was a great way to start our visit.

Our tour guide, who was in his mid fifties, had lived with his parents and 4 siblings in one of the little 2 roomed cottages up until 1984. The house had no electricity or running water and they lived a very simple life which revolved around providing themselves with food either from the seashore or fields. The Inishowen peninsular was very remote, people didn’t have TVs or cars so they knew very little about the outside world. Water and wells were very important and the guide’s dad had the power of a water diviner so was in demand. When Ireland joined the EU there was a great boom in their economy as many new business came to Ireland because they could trade with Europe and around the world tariff free. Many of the derelict little old cottages can still be seen but alongside large houses with very neat gardens.

Back to the old days, even though it was illegal, a good way to make money was to distil whiskey from potatoes and this was called poitin. Apart from the risk to the maker of being imprisoned, the drinker was at risk too, if it wasn’t distilled properly and they drunk the first batch it could make them blind. If it was made in lead pipes the drinker could be unconscious for up to 3 days. These two outcomes gave rise to the following expressions:-

BLIND DRUNK
AWAY WITH THE FAIRIES

We then went into the chapel to find out about wakes, another few interesting customs, putting a box of snuff on the dead persons chest so you could see if they were really dead or just unconscious from the drink. Paying someone to wail at the wake to “wake the dead”. Once someone was buried attaching a string to their finger and to a bell above the burial place just incase they had been buried alive.

Expressions:-
SNUFFED IT
if you make too much noise you are WAKING THE DEAD
DEAD RINGER if you look like somebody who had been buried and could be them

Next part of the tour was about the history of the potato famine, the plight of the evicted tenants, emigration, travelling folk and a set of rooms with hidden doors telling the story of the road to peace and independence in Southern Ireland. A very interesting and informative attraction.

After a picnic lunch we cycled onto Glenevin waterfall which we accessed via a 1 km walking trail. The weather was getting warmer so we treated ourselves to an ice cream before pedalling on to look at Binion Bay, near our campsite.Read more