PRESS RELEASE: Place-Names of Inishowen (5^th and final Edition) – Seoirse Ó Dochartaigh (March 2022)

For this final 5^th Edition, Seoirse discovered some fascinating Mariner’s Maps that date from 1776 and has reproduced extracts in the book. They are the equivalent of Google Satellite images showing, for one, what the Buncrana district looked like then: surprising, lots of tree-lined avenues. The houses depicted look quite substantial too – not a hint of Mica!

 

Many people already have previous editions of the place-names book so he doesn’t expect people to rush out and purchase this one but many who don’t have been asking for copies and he had run out of supply. This time Seoirse used a local printer, Foyle Press of Carndonagh, and they have done an excellent job with full-colour maps and photos. The format is the same but there was a good deal of fine-tuning involved plus an additional batch of previously unknown place-names.

Seoirse is offering a free book for anyone who can guess where Ballinadremo is in Inishowen. In Irish it’s Bealach na dTrí mBó – The Roadway of the Three Cows. Contact him at odochartaighs@gmail.com or text him to 087 2475371 and he will gladly post a free copy out to the winner.

The book will be available soon at Mac’s Books, Buncrana; Supervalu, Carndonagh; Gillen’s, Moville; Centra, Muff; Callaghan’s Gala , Burt. You can also purchase it at www.seoirse.com

NOW AVAILABLE!

The Great Marriage Book of Inishowen, Vol. 2

Now Available at: Mac’s Books, Buncrana ; Supervalu, Carndonagh; Gillen’s, Moville ; Centra, Muff ; Callaghan’s Gala , Burt.

This is the 2nd volume of  marriages, covering the period 1871-1901… and it’s a bumper issue!

• almost inch and a half thick, packed with family information.

If you already have Vol. 1, and intend to get this one, you will have the complete civil marriages for the entire peninsula of Inishowen during the 19^th century. In addition, the appendices are full of useful guides how to navigate the Census of 1901 and find out more about your ancestors…plus where and how to obtain free birth, death and marriage details on line. At the back of the book is a catalogue of beautiful colour photos of the all the churches of Inishowen.

THIS IS A LIMITED EDITION. BUY IT BEFORE THEY SELL OUT!!!

 

 

 

BOOKS IN GENERAL

The books I have written so far celebrate the place where I live – the home of my ancestors: Inishowen.

I have researched its castles, its place-names, its surnames and personal names; I have crafted a portrait of an Inishowen town – Buncrana – from the time of the famine to the 1960s. It’s a piece of social archaeology.

Lately, I have created a work that isn’t specifically about Inishowen but nevertheless may be of interest to the music-lovers of the peninsula, certainly to the rest of the nation – a book called “Sunlight & Shadow” about our forgotten composers.

STORY-TELLING : THE ORAL TRADITION…LONG BEFORE BOOKS… 

The above clip is taken from a documentary called “Roots of a Man” (2005) made by  young Toronto film-makers Matthew & Jeffery Campagna whose Inishowen ancestry (Ó Dochartaigh) led them to the peninsula in search of the their roots. Seoirse accompanied them during the making of it. He is sitting here in the dungeon of Castle Ross on Inch, one of the remaining Ó Dochartaigh strongholds, perched dramatically on a cliff on the southern shores of the island.  The full story of their journey is available at www.rootsof a man.com

 

A recent publication (2021)

The book is now in all good bookshops all over Ireland, including Mac’s in Buncrana and Supervalu in Carndonagh. It can also be purchased on-line through the Red Stripe Press web-site.

 

 

 

 

This clip was filmed in the Gaeltacht of Teileann  in south Donegal  as part of a special feature on “Ardán” on TG4 in 1998.