Samhain Harvest and ‘Growing Within’ Event scheduled for Falcarragh

Afri
Choctaw heirloom squash grown at Glenveagh National Park this summer to be shared at the Samhain Harvest: Food, Famine and Growing Within Seminar in Falcarragh, Co. Donegal.
Choctaw heirloom squash grown at Glenveagh National Park this summer to be shared at the Samhain Harvest: Food, Famine and Growing Within Seminar in Falcarragh, Co. Donegal.

There is an emotional condition that most of Ireland doesn’t know it’s being affected by, experts are saying. Malignant shame, or post colonial stress disorder is ever present in Irish society today. “It’s important to keep in mind that we are only beginning to understand inter-generational trauma. This type of trauma is often unknown or unrecognised by those who endure it” says Maeve Peoples, a Dublin psychotherapist. Increasing evidence is showing that the untreated effects of holocaust are passed on to future generations.

“By looking at inter-generational trauma in societies as diverse as third generation Jewish holocaust survivors and aboriginal tribes people in Australia, we now know that recovery is possible. From these studies we learn to find the source of issues as diverse as food addiction, eating disorders, increased levels of suicide, alcoholism and drug addiction to name but a few. Identifying the source of the problem allows us to begin to address it” Peoples added.

“I first became familiar with the idea of inter-generational trauma when I was living in America” says Waylon White Deer, a seminar organiser. “There are many similarities between First Nations peoples in America and Irish society as a result of historic emotional damage. This Saturday, we will explore some of these issues”

Maeve Peoples will be leading a discussion about Famine trauma at “Samhain Harvest: Food, Famine and Growing Within” organised by the Afri Choctaw-Irish Famine Landscape Project. The seminar is sponsored by Action from Ireland (Afri) and Concern Worldwide and begins Saturday at 11:00 AM in The Yard, Falcarragh. The afternoon session will highlight food sovereignty, security and solidarity. Admission is free and the seminar will end with a Samhain celebration.

Spirit Felt During Famine Walk

Afri
Nóilín Ní Cholla sings sean nós song An Mhaighdean Mhara to walkers at Famine Graveyard in Dunfanaghy
Nóilín Ní Cholla sings sean nós song An Mhaighdean Mhara to walkers at Famine Graveyard in Dunfanaghy

“We were very pleased with this year’s Afri Famine Walk in Northwest Donegal” said Máire Nic Fhearraigh, a walk organiser. “Participants came from as far away as Dublin.”

Called “Seeds of Hope and Remembrance”, the nine-mile journey originated on Saturday 4th June in Dunfanaghy and ended in Falcarragh. Walkers stopped along the way to lay flowers at a Famine mass grave. “When Noleen Ní Cholla sang a beautiful sean nós song at graveside, it stirred something there. Everyone felt the spirit of what we were doing. We carried that spirit with us on our walk” Nic Fhearraigh added. Continue reading “Spirit Felt During Famine Walk” →

“Seeds of Hope and Remembrance” connects with Glenveagh National Park

Afri

Chocktaw squash

“Seeds of Hope and Remembrance” is the theme of this year’s Afri Famine walk in Northwest Donegal. “Choctaw heirloom squash seeds will be planted at the community garden in Falcarragh to honour the Choctaw, who helped to feed Famine Ireland” explains Maire Nic Fhearraigh, a walk organiser.  The squash is called issito in the Choctaw language and matures into a large, oblong shape that is bright orange, both inside and out. Sean O Gaoithin, head gardener at Glenveagh National Park recently reflected on the planting of Choctaw squash seeds at Glenveagh and on food security, community gardens and how planting seeds helps us to remember our heritages:

“Heirloom seeds connect us with our histories. In the past twenty years at Glenveagh we’ve collected many plant seeds unique to Donegal and the country, like the Gortahork Cabbage and Irish apples. By growing them we become the keepers of these plants and we connect to our heritage directly, to the biodiversity of this particular place and to our ancestors. By bringing these kinds of plants in and highlighting them in a high profile growing venue, Glenveagh in a sense has become the Botanic Gardens of Donegal.

Continue reading ““Seeds of Hope and Remembrance” connects with Glenveagh National Park” →

‘In the Footsteps of Our Ancestors’

Afri
Donegal1 WEB
Walkers at the Falcarragh to Dunfanaghy Famine Walk. Photo: Máire Nic Fhearraigh and Moses Alcorn

 

“They walked to carry the message of food sovereignty, a warning to not ever depend on a single crop, nor a crop seed that carries calculated impotency.”

 

Report by Gary White Deer

They began in late May of this year on a Saturday afternoon, 85 walkers starting from the old Famine storehouse in Falcarragh, the Afri banner carried by a South African and Ghanian living in Donegal, people all flowing together through the town and then surging on past the edge of things, out by Saint Finian’s. Minutes before, a flower basket had been lowered from the same storehouse window that grain had once been sold from during Famine times, grain sold to waiting families who were starving.

The flowers were meant for the mass Famine grave at Dunfanaghy, a small yellow bouquet passed from hand to hand. The air was cool and thick and the clouds brimmed with the smell of rain. The walkers proceeded in a long and winding line as they came onto the back roads and laneways, curving and twisting before Muckish Mountain, moving slowly out of the Gaeltacht toward a distant Famine workhouse.  They were from all over Ireland, but many were from Northwest Donegal and so Ulster Gaelic was spoken up and down the winding line. Continue reading “‘In the Footsteps of Our Ancestors’” →

Donegal Famine Walk: A Portal of Hope

Afri
Rosemary Grain
Rosemary Grain

Whenever Rosemary Grain looks out her office window, she steps through a time portal. Below her third storey office, hungry families once gathered holding half a crown. A bag was lowered from the window, and the coin was placed inside. Then food was lowered back down through the same window. Why the bag? So workers wouldn’t catch Famine fever.

Now called The Yard, previously Mc Carthy’s store, the building in Falcarragh where Rosemary works was once a Famine storehouse. “The starving waited anxiously at a spot near the front door for the food to be lowered in a bag from where my office is on the top floor. Those distributing the food were terrified of catching any diseases from the poor famine victims of the parish. I often look out the window and think of the desperation our ancestors must have gone through.and how fortunate we are to live here now,”  says Rosemary, administrator and Information worker at The Yard, which houses Pobail le Cheile Community Development (LCDP).

At the end of this month, the old Famine storehouse will host “In the Footsteps of our Ancestors” a Famine commemoration walk, which will leave from The Yard and head to the Workhouse Museum in Dunfanaghy. “It’s a great way to commemorate the famine. The involvement of Waylon Gary White Deer is very symbolic because Choctaw Indians, sent money to the Irish during the famine.  The Choctaws themselves had suffered great tragedy, having been displaced from their homelands and forced to move to Oklahoma in the 1830s – the infamous Trail of Tears. They sent $174 to Ireland.” Rosemary adds.  Continue reading “Donegal Famine Walk: A Portal of Hope” →

‘In The Footsteps of Our Ancestors’ Famine Walk

Afri
Choctaw Gary White Deer
Choctaw Gary White Deer

‘In the Footsteps of Our Ancestors’

Famine Walk, Saturday 30th May 2015, 1pm

Starting at The Yard, Falcarragh (The Old Famine Storehouse)

To the Dunfanaghy Workhouse Museum (approximately 9.5 miles)

 

The purpose of the walk is to honour the sacred memory of Ireland’s Famine dead; to heal the wounds of Ireland’s Famine through living remembrance; to raise food sovereignty awareness; and to place the Great Famine in solidarity with those who yet suffer from lack of food, water, shelter and other human rights.

With guest speakers, music, poetry.  Tea, coffee and refreshments on arrival (bring own water and snacks for the walk).  Shuttle bus available for the return journey.

Social afterwards in The Gweedore Bar, Falcarragh, Saturday 30th May from 9pm.

To see who’s going see facebook event page here

The Irish-Choctaw Famine Link

In the spring of 1847, ordinary Choctaw people donated $170 (€8,000) from ‘meagre resources’ to the victims of an Gorta Mór, the Great Irish Famine.  Described as an act of ‘one poor, dispossessed people reaching out to help another’ the money was used to buy wheat for Ireland.  This unique Famine link is an ongoing legacy of solidarity and remembrance between the Irish and Choctaw peoples.

Famine History Presentation Talk on Friday 29th May, 8pm in The Yard, Falcarragh (The Old Famine Storehouse)

Organised by Afri and supported by Concern

International Scientists Support Call For Island Of Ireland Fracking Ban

Afri

3769435_370Afri welcomes the decision by Northern Ireland Environment Minister Mark Durkan not to award a license to Australian mining company Tamboran Resources who sought to begin test drilling work on the Cavan-Fermanagh border as part of its ambitious fracking plans for the island of Ireland. The group say nothing short of an all-Ireland ban on fracking is needed and that leaders in Dublin and Belfast should follow the lead of the French and German governments in banning fracking while prioritising renewable energy sources. According to Afri Coordinator Joe Murray, fracking is a short-sighted solution to job creation and energy supply, which he says compromises water supplies, farming, wildlife and air quality.

Afri’s campaign is backed up by leading international scientists who are supporting Afri’s online campaign for an all-Ireland ban on fracking.

These include renowned scientist Dr. Ken Caldeira from the Carnegie Institution for Science at Stanford University who said:

“We know we need to be heading towards a near zero emission energy and transportation systems. Expansion of the dirtiest corners of the fossil fuel industry is a step in the wrong direction. We need to be developing and deploying the near zero emission clean energy technologies of the future, not expanding last century’s archaic energy system. We can no longer afford to be building energy and transportation systems that assume we can continue to use the sky as a waste dump.” Continue reading “International Scientists Support Call For Island Of Ireland Fracking Ban” →

Ban Fracking On The Island Of Ireland

Afri

3769435_370The island of Ireland is one of the greenest places on the planet but global energy corporations want to put an end to this. The fracking industry have big plans for both sides of the border and we need to act fast to stop them.

We can’t sit back and let our land and water be destroyed by those who promise us the earth while destroying it in the process.

Despite huge opposition, fracking work has commenced in scenic County Fermanagh and plans are in place for nearby Leitrim. Other areas under threat include the Antrim, Down, Derry, Donegal, Sligo, Roscommon, Cavan, Monaghan, Clare, Cork and Kerry.

Demand a fracking ban on the island of Ireland by signing and sharing our petition now. Each time someone signs it, key politicians will get an email urging them to act. Sign here or read on: https://www.change.org/petitions/ban-fracking-on-the-island-of-ireland Continue reading “Ban Fracking On The Island Of Ireland” →