an~wcr is that the trnnrmunity Ef-msc of the Celtic Catholics was then ,~o deep routed that it kopt them on the land long after le~:) istable comm uni ties had yielded to the pressure of religious, politic al 'and economic laiws. Jt is our dut1y, therefor,e, to reihabilitate and .recultivate community sense and territorial loyalty in rural Ireland. We a.re fully aware Jof the many factors which weigh against it. \:Ve reali1se that the Cinema, the Radio and the Newspaper· have an ·unisteadying infliuence on our rural population t1hrough their glorification of material pleasure and e1conomic advancement. iNeither have we ignored the complex projected by f as;l:ionable Anglo Iri1sh novelists whose distorted and exaggerated concepts of va1rochialism and parir,h pump politics have destroyed many an embryo parish oouncil. On our side, however, we still have the strong spiritual armR· ment of a Christia,n Ireland (Catholic, Protestant, and Presbyterian). a3ut our ability to foster sentiments needful to the stability, nay, to the continued existen1ce, of rural Ireland, depends ·upon the· goodwill and the co-operation of our clergy, our public authorities, our teachers, and our :people. Syimpathy without eo-opera tion is nJJt enougih. One example of thi1s should be sufficient. The ptactical appliicaiti·on of the Acts for 11be P!rer•3rvation of Na:~ional ancl Local Monuments (1870-1931) shows that ultimately these laws. depend on 1their acceptance by the common 1man. Doe Castle, a national monument, was raped within living memory by .a countryside whi1ch 1had forgotten that its great keep was the froster home of ·Red Hugh O'Donnell and the landing pl!ace of the great Owen Roe O'Neill. This unnecessary act of vandalism would not have taken place if the cler1g1y, teacher.s .and people of that locality had retained or replanted their .voots in the historic .soil of Ireland. If we 1can offer some extenuating circumstances for the treiatment of our secular relics of the past we can find no explanation for the 1appalling neglect of ·our graveyards, and their attendant religious ruins. 'Their lichen covered tombstones of c1ostly marbles ;and polished granites, set in a breeding ground for noxious weeds and rank grasses, ha·ve given, one foreign tourist, at least, the impr.es1sion that we are la race of neo....Christianised barbarians. This pa.rtioular visitor, .an American, had to use jungle t1a:ctics when visiting Killodonnell Abbey, Templedouglas and Bally MacSweeney last summer ; and his trip to County Donegal was .the finale to an exthausUve tour of the European .homel!ands of his all!cestors ! Tlhese included .Belgium and Bavaria-countries , which pay an especial attention to familiy burial !Places on All Souls" Day. W·e were unable to enlighten this oandid gentleman as to where responsibility for this neglect lay; but ~we were able to tell hiim t1hat there was a Noxious Weeds' Act somewhere in our leg1al code and that there 1wiere salaried caretakers in charge of some Irish buri1al .grounds. It iiS very gratifying to place on record that· the Donegal County Council is fully aware of the part it can play in the 288
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