This article is from page 32 of the 2008-04-29 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 32 JPG
LOCAL legend, Tom McNamara, was the focus of the last Cuirt sa Cis- tin series of talks which took place in Crusheen last week. The talks, which are organised by the Heritage Inchi- cronan, invite interesting local peo- ple to come and tell their story in a relaxed and informal atmosphere. “Tom talked about the GAA and about the people who have come to the parish over the year like Father Minogue and Father Donoghue and people like that. They had a great interest in the GAA and helped it a lot,’ said Anne O’Doherty of Herit-
age Inchicronan
“He has his own inimitable way of telling a story and has a lovely turn of phrase. He told us about the early years and how things weren’t going so well at that time. About how peo- ple used to cycle to the matches, play the game and then cycle home again MAKIN EAU ROIS
“The also talked about his mother and the stories of the IRB. About helping different people on the run and escape routes and safe houses. There was a lot of spies in the area at that time to the locals had to work out some really good codes to get people into safe houses without be-
ing found.”
The Cuirt sa Cistin series has been ongoing since the Autumn of last year and in that time have welcomed a number of interesting local people for a cuirt into the Crusheen Com- munity Hall.
‘The whole point of the series was to get local people in who would give us their version of history. The ver- sion is not always the same as the official version but, of course, that is a Subjective version too,” contin- ued Anne. “In every parish their is a wealth of people who have different talents and knowledge. The point of this series is to get those people into
the kitchen, have a cup of tea, and get them say their piece about their own area of interest. The series was never meant to be academic, it was always a more personal look at history.
“We have recorded each of the evening on video we are not really sure what we will do with that. It would make a nice DVD for some- one. We will certainly run another Series in the Autumn, but wither it will be more in the Cuirt sa Cistin series or something else I’m not sure yet.”
For more information on the series check out www.aughty.org or e-mail heritageinchicronan@ gmail.com.