REV. JOHN J. SILKE, BORN 1926, LETTERKENNY

Rev. John Silke was recorded at the Archives Building at Bishop’s House, Letterkenny where he is Archivist. He begins by chronicling his father’s life and then his own young days, his vocation and his education at UCD, where he studied for an MA in History and also a PhD. Much of the Donegal historical material was housed at the Armagh Archives and he was instrumental in having the unopened boxes of material returned to Letterkenny. Rev. John Silke’s assistant, Máire Hughes has been involved over the years in archiving this material. Rev. Silke returns in memory to his childhood in Creeslough where he was reared with his three brothers and two sisters. He discusses the Congested Districts Board Act and its repercussions, the Leitrim landowners and their time and his own brief teaching career in the United States.