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Moville emigration spire to be
unveiled
24.08.09
MOVILLE gets a major
new visitor attraction next week when the
long-anticipated 'Fid' emigration spire is unveiled
at the town's old stone pier.
The Foyleside town will be the main host when a
Canadian delegation from New Brunswick arrives in
the North West on September 1 for a four-day visit
that will include the official launch of 'The Fid'
monument created by public artist Locky Morris; the
launch of a new book, 'Across the Atlantic:
Emigrating from Moville and Derry' by local
academics and historians and a guided tour of the
Inishowen peninsula including a visit to Greencastle
Maritime Museum. |
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Donegal Mayor Cllr
Brendan Byrne will launch 'The Fid' on Wednesday,
September 2, at 11am while an exhibition of images
called 'Per Cent for Art' by local Scoil Eoghain
pupils will be on display at the nearby Caiseal Mara
Hotel from 11.30am. Shortly afterwards, the Mayor
will launch 'Across the Atlantic: Emigrating from
Moville and Derry' in the Carrowmena Suite of the
same hotel.
The events are the culmination of two years' work
following a trip in 2007, when representatives from
Derry City Council, Inishowen Rural Development, the |
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University of Ulster,
the Ulster American Folk Park and local community
groups visited New Brunswick. The purpose of the
visit was to explore the cultural and historical
links between the North West of Ireland and Canada
generated by over 100 years of emigration from
Moville and Derry to the New Brunswick area and
beyond. |
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Meanwhile, arguably the
most anticipated element of next week's visit is the
unveiling of 'The Fid' monument. It came about after
the commissioned artist, Locky Morris, encountered
on display at Inishowen Maritime Museum, an example
of a fid. A fid is a small hand-held tool turned
from a piece of wood. It is used by fishermen for
splicing ropes and nets and by sailmakers for
opening holes in the sails without tearing the
material. Locky Morris’s striking new sculpture both
recollects that form of a ‘fid’ and the beacon
flames lit on the hills by Lough Foyle for
emigrants. |
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The monument aims to
represent Moville’s maritime history and the legacy
which emigration has left on this town and
community. |
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