World of Politics with Harry McGee

My first memory of Creeslough is either the co-op store or the co-op lorry – in either event, the cooperative. It was the politician Pat ‘The Cope’   Gallagher’s father who pioneered the cooperative movement in Donegal – hence the nickname. And in Creeslough, it had a large general provision shop that sold everything from groceries to hardware to farm supplies. It dominated the village along with Friel’s garage, which was the main Ford dealer for the whole of Donegal.

The store also had a lorry that delivered groceries to the outlying area around Creeslough. It used to trundle up the laneway once a week to the house in Knockduff. For us kids, what made it special was that it was also laden with sweets – mainly Oatfield Sweets like Orange Chocolate and Emerald Caramels made in Letterkenny.

Creeslough was a tiny place with about 400 residents but there was always a special quality about it. It is situated in hilly country, sitting on elevated ground overlooking Lough Moore and beyond that Sheephaven Bay.

The Donegal singer Bride Gallagher made it famous with her song: ‘They are Cutting the Corn down in Creeslough Today’. It was corn country. It was also corncrake country, one of the last outposts for this endangered species.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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