The majority of the conservation works at The Laurels, playwright Brian Friel’s mother’s home in Glenties, is expected to be substantially completed by October.
The project falls under the auspices of the Heritage Council’s Historic Towns Initiative, following a successful €300,000 funding application by Donegal County Council. The award was made following an application by the council’s Conservation Office and Heritage Office in partnership with the Brian Friel Trust and Dedalus Architecture. The award will be augmented with €75,000 from Donegal County Council as well as funding from the Brian Friel Trust.
The aim is to have most of the work at The Laurels site complete by early October this year, in time for the commemoration of the tenth anniversary of Friel’s death.
Glenties is the location of Friel’s fictional ‘Ballybeg’ and ‘The Laurels’ was the cottage that inspired ‘Dancing at Lughnasa’.
“Brian Friel was the best-known Irish playwright of his generation and an accomplished short-story writer who had a strong affection for County Donegal” explained Joseph Gallagher, County Donegal Heritage Officer.
“The Historic Towns Initiative will result in conservation works to the interior of the late-nineteenth century The Laurels, service provision at the site and the implementation of the landscape management plan”.
Friel spent time during the summer holidays at The Laurels when he was young and his grandfather was the stationmaster in Glenties. His play Dancing at Lughnasa (1990) is dedicated to his mother, Christina McLoone, and his aunts who grew up in The Laurels and they have been immortalised as the Mundy sisters in the play. His uncle Barney McLoone served as the inspiration for the missionary priest who returned home in the play. The last McLoone sister, Maggie, lived in The Laurels until her death in the late 1950s when the house was bought by a local family.
When the 1998 film version of the play was released, Brian Friel along with actresses Meryl Streep and Sophie Thompson, unveiled a plaque at the house.
Brian Friel passed away on October 2, 2015 and is buried in his beloved Glenties.
“The Brian Friel Trust purchased property in January 2016 and we have been taking a phased approach to its conservation and to the establishment of the Brian Friel Centre in Glenties Courthouse” said Seamus Neely, Chairperson of The Brian Friel Trust.
“The conservation and re-use of The Laurels is central to our plans for the establishment of a Brian Friel Centre in Glenties. We’re delighted to be working with Grade 1 conservation architect Duncan McLaren, garden designer Diarmuid Gavin and building contractor Micheál Gallagher. The long-term ambition of the Brian Friel Trust is to celebrate Brian Friel’s rich cultural legacy and his affinity with Glenties. The conservation works envisaged under this year’s Historic Towns Initiative will bring The Laurels back into use as an artist’s/caretaker’s residence and will provide a small outdoor performance area for Brian Friel’s works. We hope to have most of the work at The Laurels site complete by early October this year in time for the commemoration of Brian’s tenth anniversary.”
The Historic Towns Initiative will see a total investment of over €460,000 at The Laurels site this year, said Collette Beattie, Architectural Conservation Officer with Donegal County Council.
“This year’s work will build upon the conservation works undertaken last year to secure and improve the external building fabric of The Laurels and of Glenties Courthouse that will house the proposed Brian Friel Centre,” she added.
Every local authority can submit one application for conservation works and one application for a conservation management plan to the Historic Towns Initiative each year. The proposed works must be based on a conservation plan-led approach and demonstrate strong community engagement. If you think that your town meets or is working towards meeting the criteria for the Historic Towns Initiative, please contact the County Donegal Heritage Office on (074) 917 2576 or by e-mail at heritage@donegalcoco.ie
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