Letterkenny Cathedral Quarter would like to invite interested individuals or groups to a meeting to discuss our seventh Annual Literary festival, which will be held on the weekend of Friday, 14th October.
The meeting will take place in the Kitchen room in Blake’s Bar on Monday, 9 May at 8pm.
A spokesperson for the Cathedral Quarter said: “We are delighted to be planning for our flagship event. This will be first festival in three years where restrictions will be at a minimum. There was difficultly organising the past two festivals due to restrictions in place during the Covid-19 crisis. However, we recognised the importance of keeping momentum going and managed to run two festivals successfully through a mixture of live and online events.
“Last year, we were thrilled to persuade Blanaid Behan Walker, daughter of legendary Irish writer Brendan Behan to officially open our festival which commemorated the 60th anniversary of her father’s visit to Letterkenny. As part of this year’s festival, we intend to continue to explore the work of one of the country’s best known literary figures.”
The spokesperson added: “Our Literary festival origins came from the area’s unique links with Jane Austen. This famous connection made headlines in the national media earlier this year. Donegal County Archives purchased the Lever’s Photo Collection that contained photographs of Jane Austen’s nieces and Lord George Hill. We once again will be promoting the Cathedral Quarter’s link to one of the giants of English Literature.”
“Besides Austen and Behan, the festival is all about celebrating local talent. Groups like the Elusive Theatre, Donegal Chamber Orchestra and Raphoe Diamond Writers have been regular contributors to the festival. Last Year, we were delighted that award winning writer Mary Turley McGrath, along with singer Jean Curran had a special Poetry and Songs inspired by the Donegal Landscape.”
As the Cathedral Quarter is run on a voluntary basis, the spokesperson has appealed to anyone out there who would like to offer sponsorship to please come forward.
He explained: “We are a community-based organisation. Funding is always an issue. Finding accommodation for participants and paying their expenses – hotels, meals etc – all cost money. In addition, paying for venues, transport and all sorts of other sundry expenses can be a massive drain on our limited resources. Any financial help would be gratefully appreciated. Very gratefully appreciated!”
Letterkenny Cathedral Quarter hope that the meeting in Blakes Bar will produce a strong sub-committee that will help to bring the Cathedral Quarter Literary Festival to the next level.
If any group or individual would like to participate in the meeting, please contact the Festival Creative Director Sean Purser on (086) 377 7042 or Secretary Donnan Harvey on (086) 345 2457. Alternatively, contact can be made through the Cathedral Quarter social media pages. All are welcome to the meeting on Monday, 9th May at 8pm in Blakes.
