Walkers leave the Sliabh Beagh Hotel in Knockatallon Co. Monaghan for the 10K walk, as part of the Cultural Diversity Celebrations.

Monaghan based Clogher Historical Society, in association with two other locally based organisations, namely the Cahans Project and Knockatallon Ramblers, a walking club in Knockatallon, have come together to deliver an exciting cross community and cross border project for its participants.  The official launch of the project, titled ‘Celebrating our Cultural Diversity’ took place on Saturday, 27 August at an event held in the Sliabh Beagh Hotel, Knockatallon.  

The project, which is being primarily funded by The International Fund for Ireland (IFI), under its Integrating Community Organisations Programme, will provide opportunities for contact and dialogue, not only between Nationalists and Unionists in Co. Monaghan but also in the neighbouring northern counties of Fermanagh, Tyrone and Armagh.  The project is designed as a celebration of the wonderfully diverse nature of cultural heritage in the borderlands and is based on the idea that through focusing on shared history, people of all ages from both unionist and nationalist backgrounds can come together to share learning and develop a sense of understanding of each other.

According to Grace Moloney, project co-ordinator and part-time administrator with Clogher Historical Society, the project has a number of very specific elements that will be rolled out in order to effectively meet its’ overall project aims.  Among the key elements of the project will be a schools initiative involving the re-creation and re-enactment of historic walks based on local events of the past.  On 9 September, a Famine Walk called ‘A Walk through Time’, will be re-enacted by students from seven local primary schools, to coincide with the State’s National Famine Commemoration 2011 programme taking place in Clones 29 August – 10 September.  ‘A Walk through Time’ has been scripted by seven local playwrights and will involve over 100 performing schoolchildren and an audience of 200-300 people.  Other walks to be re-enacted include the Cahans Exodus in 1764, in which around 300 people and their minister from the Presbyterian congregation of Cahans, made their way from Cahans to Narrow Water outside Newry, before departing for the US to establish settler communities in New York and South Carolina.  

Speaking at the project launch, Larry McDermott, Hon. Editor of the Clogher Record and member of the project steering group, said: “We are delighted to participate with the Cahans Project and the Knockatallon Ramblers in this innovative project.  It has long been a goal of the Clogher Historical Society to recognise and appreciate our cultural diversity.  The enthusiastic involvement of several primary schools from a range of local communities augurs well for the future.  We hope to continue to bring communities together through the understanding of history and we welcome others to join us in this effort.  On behalf of the Clogher Historical Society, The Cahans Project and Knockatallon Ramblers, may I acknowledge the tremendous support we have received from the International Fund for Ireland, the Rural Development Council and the Heritage Council of Ireland in making this project possible.”

In attendance at the launch, International Fund for Ireland Board member, Rose-Mary Farrell said: “Today we commend three groups who are really going far beyond their comfort zones.  The challenge of reconciliation demands that people go that extra mile.  We at the International Fund for Ireland are pleased to continue to support these three groups, and we wish them every success for this project.”

Ms Farrell also expressed a collective thanks to the international donors who have supported the work of the International Fund for Ireland for almost twenty-five years: namely, the United States of America, the European Union, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The IFI’s Integrating Community Organisations Programme is managed on behalf of the Fund by the Rural Development Council.

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