Cáit Ní Bhuachalla (b. 1923) and Donal McSweeney (b. 1931), (part 1)

Donal McSweeney’s home at Gurtnafunshion is the venue for this extraordinarily humourous and entertaining recording. The descriptive narrative is almost without equal, as Cáit Ní Bhuachalla recounts the names of forty-one displaced people who travelled the roads offering basic services and requesting food and shelter. She recalls their personalities, their origins, their nicknames and the circumstances of their displacement. Cáit recalls her very early years, and her immersion in the local customs and beliefs of her native area. Donal McSweeney farms the land at Gurtnafunshion, and is a mine of information on his native place. He discusses matchmaking, local cures, beliefs and superstitions. His grand-uncle Gerry McSweeney was a gifted writer of lyrics, and Cáit Ní Bhuachalla, having sweetly sung ‘An Riocht Naofa’ was amazed to learn that the song lyrics had been written by the grand-uncle of her neighbour Donal McSweeney.