An appeal has been made by Donegal County Council in search of memories and photographs of people from the Irish county who moved to Scotland during the 20th century.
Staff from Donegal County Council will host two drop in events in Glasgow and a further one in Edinburgh next week and are encouraging the Donegal diaspora to attend and give their experiences.
The project is a major exhibition to document the working experiences of Donegal people who moved to Scotland between 1940 and 1990.
They’re encouraging family members of people who made the journey across from the county on the north west coast of Ireland.
Donegal has long had major links with Scotland with widespread emigration from the area to cities such as Glasgow and Edinburgh as well as other areas of the country.
The events in Glasgow - at the Scottish Football Museum at Hampden Park between 10am and 2pm and the library of Glasgow City Chambers between 4pm and 8pm on Thursday, October 3 - and at the Irish consulate in Edinburgh between 12.30pm and 4.30pm on Friday, October 4, will provide more information on the exhibition, to scan photographs of Donegal people at work in Scotland to record their memories of working lives in the country.
Former Celtic goalkeeper Packie Bonner, who is from Donegal and is an ambassador for the county’s diaspora, will also be in attendance at the Glasgow events.
Joseph Gallagher is the heritage officer at Donegal County Council and is encouraging people go along to the event, with so many families in the county affected by emigration over the year.
He said: “There are few families in County Donegal that have not been affected by emigration or participated in seasonal migration.
“In the twentieth century, Scotland was a familiar destination for people leaving County Donegal in search of work. In recent years, the stories of some of their experiences and successes have been documented but, for a long time, they have been overlooked or considered too ordinary to be recorded.
“Emigration from Donegal to Scotland was particularly high during the 1950s and 1960s. With the passage of time, the opportunities to record first-hand accounts of the experiences of Donegal people working in Scotland are disappearing.
“We’re keen to capture stories and images while we can and to celebrate the working lives of Donegal people in Scotland”.
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The exhibition will focus on historical context, working conditions and types of employment that men and women from Donegal found in the county. It includes seasonal work and those who settled in Scotland or returned to Donegal in later years.
Workplaces such as farms, buses, railways, building sites, engineering projects, shipbuilding, domestic service, religious life and teaching will also be looked at for the exhibition which will be launched in the Donegal County Museum in Letterkenny in Spring 2025.
“We want to hear from Donegal people who worked in Scotland especially those who have a story to tell, photographs to share or documents and small objects to lend that could form part of this exhibition” added Dr Gallagher. “We would like to thank the Irish Consulate and the Donegal Scottish Diaspora Group for their support.”
Anyone who can’t attend the events in Glasgow and Edinburgh but still want to contribute are encouraged to contact the Donegal Heritage Office by phone 00353 74 916 3824 or by e-mail at donegalscotland@donegalcoco.ie.
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