 a literary festival so busy weekend ahead and every year over those seven years well the the festival has grown the official opening is on Friday night with the Michael Harding the author and mind you there's a precursor an event tomorrow night but why do I need to tell you about it when Don and Harvey who's the secretary of the Kenny Agathilo quarter joins us in the studio we're streaming live as well YouTube and Facebook if you want to look in Don and a busy weekend ahead I suppose in many ways it's or this is the highlight of the cathedral quarter calendar because this is even though we run a few other events this is the event that we we do solely by ourselves yeah and that no it's it's we're in now our seventh year and again we're just we're delighted that it's going ahead and even there the last two years during like COVID we did the 2021 online and then last year was kind of hybrid so it's great to that now people are out and about and it's back to normal as normal is proper in person and you've managed to get to Michael Harding for the the opening and would you have money as a new book out and would you to have him on I think next week but a great great man to get for the opening I'm delighted to get him delighted to get him and know just when we rang him on the day to look for him he was in letter Kenny that day so with just everything fell into place and we're really looking forward to to him doing the official opening and then he's also participating in a kind of masterclass the following day as well right on Saturday on the Saturday morning down in Dullins yeah that tells me a bit about that that's for for people may be interested in writing yeah so it's it's it's a different genres are writing so we've got well Michael Harding obviously and then we've also got Mary Turner McGraw who's a poet and then Karen Quinn who's a scriptwriter so it's not just the you know like an offer or novels or anything like that there's different styles right and delighted Jean Korn is going to be doing the MC and and it's very it's a very informal so it's inspirations and influence but it's also then we'll open it up to the floor and you know that questions from the crowd the audience to see from the for the different participants and it'll be an informal it's a very relaxed event okay that's on on the Saturday that's on the Saturday 11 11 all right and then on Saturday afternoon you have you've got Nev Brennan from Donegal County archives looking back at well some social history yeah in what way yeah so so Neves gonna be looking at the photographs linking the Ghidor hotel which was owned by Lord George Hill and then the photo album that the of the Jean Austin's Heraldis which the the archives think purchased earlier on in the year and just making the link between between the two of them is between the visitors book the visitor books hell and the and the actual photographs that that they have sent again when it was Karen Evers who opened a one-hour festivals beforehand when she she bought this book on eBay and discovered that she and Austin's relatives in Ireland were in the and it made headlines around the world and since that the the county archives have got them now in their possession so it's a great resource for the county and again as opposed the literary festival started out because of Donegal's unique links with Jane Austin and and and we'll always try we'll always be an Austin event in the in the literary festival and the main links are her nieces her two her three nieces are are buried one is buried in Conwell Paris Church and the two the other nieces are buried in in Tully graveyard outside of Remelton and the I think it was Cassandra G and she she died and given childbirth in Gorkley House which is again another historical fact that not too many people know about and then the name escapes me but the the other one the one of the other nieces came over to mind the children and then she subsequently married Lord George Hill so it's it's a fascinating history and again that we know that Austin Jane Austin's name resonates around the world so we're well if you're having a literary festival it's a great name to be have associated with it that's for sure yeah and then on Saturday evening there is some poetry in insomnia some poetry reading yeah and we're again we're delighted because as much as the names of Austin and then even brethren behind was all about promoting the local and the last couple of years that there are full diamond writers have been very generous for their time and participated in their festival and we're delighted to give them a platform and so we're delighted and again insomnia is a perfect location as a coffee house to hear some short stories and some poetry and so we're delighted that that's going to be back in person again and Saturday is a really busy day because it's not finished at that because Saturday evening then or Saturday night in the Dillins some writers that are based in letter Kenny are going to read from their work yeah so so we got James Finnegan who's it's good he's got a second book published there the weather beaten scarecrow second poetry collection and then we've got Teresa Ryder who's just recently moved to letter Kenny and we're delighted that Teresa is going to be contributed and then also Deirdre Hines as well that's it's going to be participating in the event that celebrated local writers and at night or sorry 8 p.m. in Dillins so no it's it's we're looking forward to that and on Sunday you mentioned a Brendan Beehan and there's going to be some of his work involved at lunchtime in Dillins yeah so again that it was as much there the Austin one was that last year's festival was dedicated to Brendan Beehan because we celebrated the 60th anniversary of Brendan Beehan's visit to letter Kenny and Brendan's daughter landed Beehan Walker officially opened the festival last year and we're delighted that Deirdre McMahan is coming now to give a talk about his life in Paris and there's also be poetry some of Beehans poetry and the Alyssa fader putting on a some scene some scenes from one of his radio plays as well moving out so it's it's you know again it's one of the things that they had last year that his daughter landed was she was really appreciative of the fact that we're bringing her father back into the public consciousness and no anything we can do to celebrate his works that we hope to do and then even Deirdre was informing me it's going to be the hundredth anniversary of his birth next year okay so I'm sure they'll be the highlight be brought back on to the writer himself and we'll definitely be looking to do more more Beehan stuff next year as well and there's music then on Sunday afternoon the Cornwall Paris Church with the Danygall Chamber Orchestra playing some pieces of the valet and Holston and by others and the cast in or a lot of us will be familiar with casting or from school yeah having to wade through it school yeah so so I don't think I did the for me leaving sir but again I haven't having memories of it that's all I know about it but anyhow maybe people looking at it through different yeah well again I suppose it kind of more enlightened and yeah and again that it goes back to last year one of the events that we had last year was the Gaelic writing of Brendan Beehan and we thought that no well we'll have an Irish event in the and like we're kind of linear of linear electrocanum be very kind of promoting the language here and promoting this event and to encourage you know that it's the literary can go span different languages just doesn't have to be English as well so and we're delighted that Father Sean O'Gallar is going to be giving a lecture on the themes of off-castle in the lower as well and we were just looking forward to that and the final event end of the festival on on Sunday is about Lewis J Walsh and he was an author and a politician and a judge but a born in Mahrofeld but tell what's his connection to Danygall well he was suppose he was a contemporary of James Joyce's and so his grandchildren would be very well known around the town here and the Walsh's so party and Brian and Louie and things like that there and I suppose even this event that I suppose again I should mention that the festival is dedicated in the memory of our friend and colleague Jim Lynch who's just recently passed and one of the event with Jim was always kind of strong and advocating that we should have local talent and the local the local heritage and and Brian is going to put on a lecture and performance about his grandfather and about some of the the material that his grandfather wrote so again it should be kind of for people from the town that should be should be an item of great interest and said him that Justice Walsh Rhodes named after yes exactly yeah yeah so that is on Sunday whereabouts on Sunday is that is Dylan's as well and suppose the other side of the one the festivals as well that we started or festivals initially going to clash with the Francis Brown festival so we moved us festival back a week but what we're looking to do we've been kinda in talks with the committee from the Francis Brown festival as well that the idea of the promoting the two festivals so that if you come to Donegal there's a chance that you'll get not one but two festivals at this time of the year every festival yeah I mentioned I mentioned start the precursor event that is tomorrow night with the West Ocean string quartet that's in the regional cultural center and you just touched on it there about how this year the festival is in the memory of Jim Lynch you passed away recently yeah and Jim was very instrumental in you know promoting the Cathedral quarter and everything you've done yeah so it's so again I was it was it was Jim's vision I suppose 30 years ago when he talked in the town council and you know it's great well it's sad in one way that what he envisaged all those years ago that now and it was great that in his lifetime that he started to see the seeds were really growing and now the local authority are on board and the government are backing what he envisaged and now it's starting to really come on board so I suppose a happy sweet or sad sweet memory at the same time okay well it's a lot of county literary festival and in a way it gets underway tomorrow night in the RCC and then the official opening is on Friday night with the Michael Harding Donna thank you very much thanks very much John go full Irish with all the makings of a great breakfast