Grandfather and granddaughter join forces for book on Irish traditions and superstitions

As well as being a permanent collection of tales from the past, the book, titled ‘12 Months of Irish Traditions & Superstitions’ by Amy Mc Gonigle, has also helped raise €500 so far for St.Columbcille Village/High Support Unit in Clonmany.

Amy, currently a 16 year old Transition Year student in Carndonagh Community School (CCS), developed and illustrated the book in conjunction with her grandfather Neilly Mc Gonigle (Neilly Beag).

She told the ‘Journal:’ “The idea for the book is something we’d talked about for a while. My grandad Neilly will turn 90 years old later this year and has a fabulous memory and great stories from his youth. We’d often talked about how best to record these wonderful stories, we’ve recorded a few on camera, but we thought it would be great to share them with others.

“We’ve had great feedback from people, some of whom have enjoyed a nostalgic trip down memory lane, others have enjoyed learning how life was for their ancestors.”

Amy said that when she decided to do the Transition Year (TY) programme at CCS, the perfect opportunity to create the book arose.

“One of the modules we’ve covered in TY is enterprise. There’s also an enterprise project you can undertake while in TY, so the book was born. It was a real family effort; my Grandad Neilly was a fountain of knowledge for the book.

“My granny has been telling me for years how important it is that these stories are recorded and appreciated. She contributed a poem to the book and held a ‘Step back in time’ afternoon where I could take photos of churning and simpler times for the book.

“My aunt Róisín drove me around to interview the other contributors to the book, who were also able to contribute their memories of times gone by.”

All proceeds of Amy’s book are going to charity, although sadly, given the current global pandemic, some of these sales are on hold.

“Quite a number of copies were due to go to St. Charles, USA with an American exchange trip but this is now on hold. We have sent quite a few copies overseas and some people have bought them to send on to family members who enjoyed a taste of home.

“We’ve also sold quite a few copies locally thanks to the help and support of some local businesses. Given the current situation I wanted to make a difference now, though ideally I’d have liked to have sold all copies, but for now I have €500 to donate to the St. Columbcille Village in Clonmany. She continued: “The idea of the book is to preserve our past, and with the inspiration for and main contributor for the book my Grandad Neilly currently cocooning with his wife Sarah, I wanted to help the most vulnerable in our community.

“I know my grandparents are finding isolation quite tough and lonely, it’s tough on us all as we all live closely by but can’t visit them. They loved their wee ‘ceili’ with their family, neighbours and friends.

“They still have phone calls, chats through the window and can even enjoy our Parish Priest Fr Brady streaming Mass. They know they are safe at home.”

Amy is delighted that her book will also help the unit in Clonmany, particularly in these difficult times.

“The residents of the High Support Unit sadly can’t have any visitors at the moment, and the staff are working hard to keep them both safe and entertained. While I’d have plenty free time now to work on the book with schools being closed I’m so glad it’s done and I can now donate to the residents’ comfort fund when they may need it most.”

Amy would really like to thank all those who contributed to the book in any way: John Collins; all those who’ve bought the book and especially to those who’ve stocked it for sale; Sinéad Marron of Sinéad’s Creations & Newsagents, Centra Clonmany, Clonmany Post Office and Mc Kenna’s Centra, Buncrana and of course St. Columbcille Village.

If you’d like to get your own memento of the past you can contact either ‘High Support Unit’ or ‘St Columbcille Village’ pages on Facebook and they can arrange payment and postage.