6silver surfers

Slide2: 

Our equipment: Digital camera, MP3 voice recorder, mobile phone with camera

St. Colman‘s: 

St. Colman‘s St. Colman‘s Nursing Unit & Day Care Center

St. Colman‘s: 

St. Colman‘s

St. Colman‘s: 

St. Colman‘s Sister Mary

St. Colman‘s: 

St. Colman‘s

St. Colman‘s: 

Sister Mary Hassett before she came to Achill she lived in Dublin and Limerick and did some training in Scotland she is a religious nurse and came to Achill Island in the year 2000 to work at St. Colman’s Day Care Centre she lives there with two other sisters to care about the people and the centre the Day Care Center offers elderly people several activities during the week, e.g. meals-on-wheels, but also lunch in the Day Care Centre, Bowling, several trips to other towns, workshops about art, painting and computers as well, they also organize several events for the people during the year for the whole organization of so many different activities, she mostly uses the computer she writes announcements, programmes for events, etc. but is was not natural for her to use the computer, when she came to St. Colman’s. So she first took a computer course in the IT-Centre on Achill. Now she also uses the computer for writing emails to her nephew in New York. Sometime he sends some pictures to her via email. St. Colman‘s

St. Colman‘s: 

St. Colman‘s

St. Colman‘s: 

St. Colman‘s Pat

St. Colman‘s: 

St. Colman‘s Pat he is an Achill Islander (year 1920) he went to school and secondary school on Achill from 1940 until he retired (1984) he worked in the prison service in Dublin he has got two brothers and two sisters he is married and has got two boys and three girls and 14 grandchildren after he retired he came back to Achill and since his wife died he has lived with his son and visits the day care centre twice a week he enjoys the activities at the Day Care Centre very much, especially painting, but is not that interested in computers. He stays in contact with his family via telephone and letters.

St. Colman‘s: 

St. Colman‘s Brian

St. Colman‘s: 

St. Colman‘s Brian was born 1926 in Shanghai / China only short visit on Achill when he was 1 year old, because when his father went back to China he had to go with him he came back to Ireland for education and stayed when he retired, he often spent his free time and holidays on Achill until he decided to stay on Achill for the rest of his life he visits the Day Care Centre regularly when he can spare some time, because he is still a busy man he enjoys the computer courses at the Day Care Centre a lot and is a real silver surfer he uses the computer mostly for keeping in touch with his friends in New Zealand, England and Germany he prefers writing emails, because “its cheaper and faster” but he also uses his computer for writing letters and poem he is still learning a lot about handling pictures, DVD’s, MP3-Files and other things on the computer

St. Colman‘s: 

St. Colman‘s Brian‘s e-mail address: sheridanb1@eircom.net

St. Colman‘s: 

St. Colman‘s Computer course in St. Colman‘s

Clare Island: 

Clare Island Excursion to Clare Island

Clare Island: 

Clare Island

Clare Island: 

Clare Island Scaaaary…

Clare Island: 

Clare Island …isn‘t it?

Clare Island: 

Clare Island Donal O‘Shea & Cathy Clare Island Community Co-op Ltd.

Clare Island: 

Trip to Clare Island On Wednesday we went to Achill Sound to meet Dr. Lineen. He works there in the healthcare centre. We were lucky to have him with us and not only because he took us with him to Clare Island, where he cares for people’s health. He also introduced us to the ferry captain, Brian, and to Donal O’Shea, who is the island community officer and chairman of the Clare Island Tourism Committee. So not only a safe journey was guaranteed. After arriving on the island Donal invited us to a cup of coffee in his office and we had a very interesting talk with him. His assistant, Cathy, and he are involved in a number of development projects and provide a number of important services to the community. Clare Island Website: http://www.anu.ie/clareisland/ The Island is about 5 miles long and 3 miles wide. About 185 people live there and the population is increasing. Some earn their living on the island, working on the fish-farm, or sheep-farming and others provide tourists with bed and breakfast. He told us about the singles party they organise in summer time. People above thirty are invited for three days. They arrange interesting programs such as walking and fishing and other outdoor activities. In the evening there is a huge party. During our stay we were delighted to introduce Donal’Shea and Cathy to the “Achill-Community” platform on the internet and they were very interested in the possibilities of interactive communication. Cathy was particularly attracted by the usefulness of the page and how easy it is to upload pictures and links. Before leaving the island we went to Dr. Lineen’s clinic and we met Margaret, the nurse who is working with him. She is living on the island and she told us about her work. She is one of the two women who will give birth very soon. Afterwards we had the chance to walk a little bit around, had a glance at the small shop, which provides the islanders with food and we also had a visited the old church. We made our way back to the boat and we had to wait until the tide came so that we could leave the little harbour. Out on the Atlantic again it was really stormy and the waves were high so that some of us got a little seasick. Happy to be back on land we climbed up the steps and were up on the pier. Some of us were invited to the doctor’s house and enjoyed hot tea homemade cake, homemade bread and the interesting talks before they went back to Keel. The three others of our group made their way to Castlebar to see the museum of country life http://www.museum.ie to get more information about the lives of the people and about bygone days. Clare Island

Achill Sheltered Housing: 

Achill Sheltered Housing Sheltered housing A programme for the Repatriation of Irish Emigrants. Offering a housing option to all Irish Emigrants who wish to return home to Ireland again, but who may lack the resources or 'know-how' to see it through. The dwellings are usually of a self-contained type. They are generally one or, sometimes, two bedroom units. Most projects have some communal facilities on site or are built near existing day centres where additional support services can be accessed. In major cities accommodation is almost always one bedroom and is small. Some projects provide a high degree of support with on site warden, linked alarm systems, laundry services and facilities for group meals and activities. The Safe-Home Programme Ireland Saint Brendan's Village Mulranny County Mayo Ireland CHY 14782 (Charity Number) Chairman Dr Jerry Cowley Tel: + 353 (0) 98 36036 Fax: + 353 (0) 98 36037 Web: http://www.safehomeireland.com/ Email: safehomeireland@eircom.net

Sheltered House: 

Sheltered House Annie Gallagher

Sheltered House: 

Sheltered House Annie Gallagher Three of us left St Colman’s and called in on the friendly laundry lady at the sheltered houses. As we were telling her about our project and our interest in meeting the residents in walked Annie, an 84 year old resident. She was carrying a plate of pancakes she had prepared for the ladies in the laundry as it as after all Shrove Tuesday (and throughout Ireland mothers everywhere were preparing stacks of pancakes for tea). We were in the right place at the right time. For Annie the happiest days of her life were her carefree childhood days on Achill. Her grandmother had a farm on Slievemore with cows, chickens, and sheep, of course. They were self sufficient. School, the nuns, they were hard, but that is how it was in those days. She left Achill at the tender age of 14 with her 16 year old sister. They went to Scotland to look for work like many at that time had done and were doing. They left the island, their parents, family and friends, their home. That was the end of her carefree days, after that is was all hard work. She met her husband, a Mayo man, in Scotland. Scotland was not bad, more like home than England was. They moved to Blackpool where she lived until five years ago. There she had her family, she had students as lodgers, she got divorced, had her grandchildren, buried her parents and has looked after her brother Paddy, now 77 years old, ever since her mother died. On a visit to her cousin on Achill 7 years ago, he suggested she fill in an application for one of the flats in the barracks, which she did. Then she received a letter from the priest in charge inviting her to view a flat. “ Why did I fill in that form” asked Annie. “I don’t want to go back to Achill” However, her other daughter in England encouraged her to at least view the flat. When Annie saw it, the wooden floors, the light, the space, all brand new, the comfort….it was ideal, too good to be true and she hasn’t looked back. So, she moved back having been away for 70 years with her brother Paddy and they are as happy as Larry there. Life on Achill has changed, a lot. In the old days there was great community spirit, people shared and looked after one another, unlike today where they are just in competition with one another and each one is out to get what he can for himself. But Annie and Paddy are very well cared for, by the doctors, the convent, the community in the Barracks, the laundry ladies, and they are at home. Annie has travelled. She has visited her brother in the USA, seen the Rockies and the Niagara Falls, she has been on numerous visits to Spain and to other places. Today the idea of travelling holds no appeal whatsoever, not even to her daughter in Brittany, France, who has a farm with cows and hens and a guest house. She takes after her mother and great grandmother and she too would like to live on Achill.

Achill people: 

Achill people Annie McNamara Born in 1920 on Achill Island She has been living here since then except when she worked in Scotland and England. She grew up on a farm in Dooagh. There were not that many sheep then. Cows instead. There were much more people living here then but many emigrated because of the lack of work. Nobody that she knew who went to USA came back. When she was fourteen she started going to Scotland during seasons to pick potatoes. The picture is of some of her family in Scotland in 1929 or 1930. They got up at three o’clock in the morning to go to work. After this, like many other Irish women, she started working as a nurse in England where she met her husband who also was from Achill. All of her siblings live in England so she is the only one who has settled on Achill. She has four children and three of them live on Achill. She has a son living in Australia. She visited him for four months in the late eighties. She has never tried using e-mail in order to contact her son or her siblings. That is not for her, she said.

Míle Buíochas! : 

Thank you, Achill! Míle Buíochas!