The period of the 1950s to 1980s was the beginning of modernisation in community life and farming and the development of manufacturing industry. Much of this was due to the work of Father James McDyer who was appointed curate to Glencolmcille in 1952. He lived and worked in the parish until shortly before his death in 1987. His pioneering work in rural community development is legendary and is a clear example of the importance of local initiative in shaping the character of an area.
You can learn more about Father McDyer on the Glencolmcille website (Glencolmcille Community website, 2013).
The old family home, 2015
The realities of rural life can be seen in the experiences of a local family who were filmed in September 1983. Charles and Gladys Fuller were then living in the old family house which was built when Glencolmcille was still under ‘rundale’. Like Father McDyer, they had seen the devastating effects of the loss of especially the young people. They readily recalled the poverty and emigration of the 1940s, 1950s, and early 1960s.
There were considerable changes in Glencolmcille between the early 1970s and 1980s. These are expressed by Charles and Gladys Fuller, but were exemplified in their children at the time of filming in 1983. William, the elder son was farming, but his approach was commercial rather than farming for subsistence. His younger brother Norman worked in a local factory, thereby avoiding emigration, farming and the ‘dole’ (unemployment).
Charles Fuller retired from farming in the early 1980s and, in the programme, he and Gladys recalled the difficulties of making a living.
Now move on to read about Agriculture in Southwest Donegal, 1983.
This article is part of a collection on the 'Uniqueness, Interdependence, Uneven Development and Change in the West of Ireland'. To find out more about the collection, a good place to start is the introduction, Change in the West of Ireland.
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