Cannon James McDyer

Fr. James McDyer (1910-1987) came to Gleann Cholm Cille in 1951. He saw that the community was dying. Years of official disinterest and an almost complete absence of paid employment had taken their toll. There was no industry, no electricity, no public water supply and few tarred roads. Young people were emigrating when they left school. A practical socialist, over the next thirty years Fr. McDyer campaigned tirelessly against official neglect of Gleann Cholm CIlle and similar communities throughout the west. At a time when central government saw multinational corporations as the solution to spiraling unemployment and emigration, he championed the right of rural people to forge their own destinies and emphasized the importance of small community-based industries which developed local resources and skills. He helped establish weaving, knitting and vegetable-processing factories and campaigned successfully for electricity and piped water schemes. The fish-processing factory in Min an Aoire which provides seasonal employment to 200 people is a direct result of Fr. McDyer's work.

Folk Museum & Holiday Village

Fr. McDyer recognized that tourism could play a key role in revitalizing rural Ireland but stressed that it must be both environmentally and culturally sensitive. In 1967 he was the driving force behind An Clachan, a museum representing three hundred years of domestic life in southwest Donegal. A bete noire of Dublin bureaucrats, he received formal planning permission the day after the museum opened. The museum has proved to be highly successful: over 30,000 people visit it each year. In 1968 Fr. McDyer inspired a local co-operative to build a 'village' of traditional-style houses for visitors to rent during the summer.

Sample Ireland's history with your own eyes!

  • Relive 18th, 19th and 20th centry Ireland.
  • The most accurate and detailed portrayal of old Ireland.
  • Take a leisurely stroll through the changing lifestyles of this untouched community.
  • Guided tours available daily.
  • We cater for Schools, Bus Tours, Families and Individuals.

Visit our Teahouse, School House, Craft Shop, Shebeen and Thatched Cottages

Open Easter - End September every day.
10am - 6pm Sunday 12 - 6pm

For further information contact:
Folk Village Museum
Gleann Cholm Cille
Co. Donegal, Ireland

Tel: 073-30017
Fax: 073-30017

Parish Hall

Halla Mhuire, a large community centre, was Fr. McDyer's first major project in Gleann Cholm Cille. The priest worked along side local volunteers and completed the building in twelve weeks in the winter of 1953.

Before the advent of television in the 1970's, Halla Mhuire was the centre of social life in Gleann Cholm Cille and it remains a regular venue for plays, ceilithe, and bingo games. When the community hosted An tOireachtas, the national festival of Irish Culture, in 1989, several competitions were held there.

To commemorate the area's musical heritage, the community chose a stone from Mosai Mac Fhionnlaoich't forge at Loch Inse as the foundation stone of Halla Mhuire. Born in the early 1800's, Mosai had ten children, many of whom became accomplished musicians; three of his sons, Muiris, Padai and John, were exceptionally find fiddlers. His contemporaries considered John Mhosai to be the best fiddler of his generation. The composer of such as The Glen Road to Carric, Tobaca Daor, and The Rambling Pony. He spent many years travelling throughout the northern half of Ireland selling clothes and, towards the end of his life, he travelled around County Donegal selling fish and playing his fiddle. He died about 1920, and is buried in Gleann Cholm Cille.