1964: Life in DONEGAL | Tonight | Voice of the People | BBC Archive
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ก.ย. 2024
- Trevor Philpott reports from Donegal, the Republic of Ireland's most northerly county.
With paid work in the county in short supply, the men of Donegal are forced to leave home for months of the year to earn a living, leaving the women to work the fields and raise the children alone. It's certainly tough going, but how do the women of Donegal feel about their lot in life?
This clip is from Tonight, originally broadcast 20 March, 1964
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Donegal is the most stunning part of the country .I worked in Donegal for two years and simlpy loved it. The people are hard working and very proud of where they come from. Kind and very much family focused . Love them all . 👍👍👍
All the houses are warm, tidy and well kept. Love those tough hardy ladies.
What's not shown is the fathers in the UK seeing signs in boarding houses and Pubs saying 'no Irish'.
Wow, that's sad, was not aware of that. Thanks Caroline x Melbourne Victoria Australia 🇦🇺 STRAYA
@@carolinegodden4364 It wasn't everywhere in the UK or common as so many people have Irish ancestry, like myself. But my Nan ran a guest house in the 60s/70s/80s and she said many B and Bs, wouldn't allow 'Black's or Irish'.. in the 60s. She did and so did her mates who also owned B and Bs, because they weren't a racist or anti Irish.
This is true, My father arrived in Birmingham in 1958 and most of the lodging houses/B&B had signs up 'No Irish, No Blacks , No Dogs allowed'
@@patrickbradley7360 My English Nan and my Polish Grandad ran a B&B in Hampshire, and they were one of the few that welcomed Irish, Black's.. but she drew the line at pets. She said they were some of the best customers.
Yes very true. No blacks or Irish need apply. Plenty of those signs up In the 1980s
Went to our family farm in mountcharles every year as a kid, I adored it. Went back recently and was pretty sad at the changes. No pubs on the main street when there used to be at least 10, and few people about. Very expensive villas dotted around. Our farm was demolished to make way for the New motorway between donegal and leterkenny, bitterly disappointing.
Yeah and the country is ruined with foreigners mostly from the 3rd World.
Sadly, that is the nature of life, everything changes and "moves on".
While the bypass is far from a motorway, it's still sad to see the old familiar sights being cleared for pavement
We don't live in a museum and it would be dreadfully unfair to expect us that live here to keep it in suspended animation in order to satiate your nostalgia. The roads to and from Donegal were dangerous and in bad weather sometimes impassable.
@@andrewgoodbody2121 why have a pop at me ? I was just expressing my feelings, I still love the people
It’s important to note that for all of the adults, particularly the older lady, English will be their second language. Arranmore (Árainn Mhór) is still an Irish (“Gaelic”) speaking area.
Beidh Éire Gaeltacht
🙏💪💚amen
Bless Ireland ❤️ any Quinn’s out there?
Things have changed so much since then not in Donegal, Donegal still looks like this, but the rest of the world has changed so much!
"still looks like this" - expect it should, no earthquakes, tsunamis...If you are referring to way of life - are you aware Arranmore is a 5G Digital Hub now? Featured in the NYT, Arranmore has had a large influx of Ukrainian refugees. National Parks now, an airport voted the most beautiful in the world, new Third-Level institutions...not to mention the Irish language beginning to thrive again...a tourist mecca for the well-healed, several high tech multinations, close to full employment. The usual stuff - atrocious public transport (Derry -Donegal railway shut down 1960s), hospital, GP wait times...
Nobody in Ireland has ever called it Eire (despite it being an official name). It’s the Republic of Ireland.
People I type to type back Éire. And a little Gaelic also
…. People who speak Irish do.
The people in the video most likely all spoke Irish as a first language. Arranmore (Árainn Mhór) is still an Irish (“Gaelic”) speaking area.
English government made it policy to never say Ireland when refering to the south. It changed policy at some point but can't remember when. Hence the guy using Eire as this was the BBC.
Of course barring Irish speakers but I meant when speaking English.
@@dextercool Actually the nominative Éire was replaced by the dative Éirinn in native speech. That's why you have "Erin go Bragh", and Ireland referred to as Erin in songs.
Fantastic
What’s fantastic about a patronising video by the BBC about rural Ireland?🤔
@@Greenwillow ...... I hate the bbc. It's fantastic because I loved looking at the land. The pretty school girls, all older than me now. And their women. The building skills of the lads. A friend of mine in BM in Connaught her mother came from Donegal. She loved her mum and did her accent which sounded funny to her. She did respectfully of course. So linguistically it was a treasure to hear. That's why I though it fantastic ....... go ráibh máith ágát ........ Modiģ .......
This video just goes to show how English centric media in the UK works. The twee music and some of the clueless questions. I'd love to say it's changed but I don't think it has.
Thanks to the Catholic Church, and consecutive government isolationist polices, Ireland was indeed a repressed and backward shithole for most of the 20th century.
it’s absolutely changed lol
@@ip5799id agree its changed in other ways but not in respect to its attitudes towards current and former parts of the U.K.
I think that was the style of the times, it's not just English-centric media that used twee music to depict the life of the times
he purposely went to most undeveloped part of donegal in 1960s an island off the coast of donegal that’s how ridiculous this is
He purposely did not want to show the developed parts what a disingenuous snob
Good fishing up that way.
Many,thanks,for,these,archives
But,please,don't,keep,them,buried
Get,them,out,for,all,,too,see
“To England” shows the forth bridges 😂
Lots of English do this they think U.K. is England 😂
They never mentioned the eviction of the people of Donegal by the English that scattered them across the globe.
But I thought they were genocided?
@@nige5902 they were. What's your point?
Simpler times.
"Air-eh"
My father left Donegal in 1958 to work in Birmingham, UK and returned to Donegal in 1969. I left Donegal in 1986 to work and live in Birmingham and have been here since. Donegal to this day still, the young people are emigrating all over the world. A beautiful place but sadly not much there for the youth.
"We come from county Donegal where we eat our potatoes skin and all." ... said by my great grandfather in America.
Do they not choke ye?
Na... Nat atall.
''Where do you come from?....Donegal''
''How's your potatoes?....Big and small''
''How do you eat them?''...Skins and all....Said my Granny every time we sat down to dinner.
These are fantastic historical windows into Ireland. I went to the village of Errigal in 1974 and lived with a young family in the Gaeltacht . It was the best time of my life !! I came from Andersonstown West Belfast. My people were from Donegal originally. The mountain in the background of the last scene is Mount Errigal. They are the salt of the Earth.
Where is that village? Never heard of it.
@@balor7 Dunlewey, probably.
Some of my cousins made the same move from Andersonstown (Glen Crescent) to Donegal in the 70's and stayed there.
Me too!
We went to Meenacladdy
My Grandad was from Donegal. William Byers 1926 - 1996
Did your Grandad have some old sepia pictures that were interesting or funny stories to tell?
Caroline x Melbourne Victoria Australia 🇦🇺 STRAYA SOUTHERN Cross ➕ Southern HEMISPHERE
Both my grandparents were from Donegal ,I know they are from Dungloe , they came to Edinburgh early 1920’s , then went to America early 1930’s searching for a better life , but ended up back in Edinburgh soon after . Edward Boyle ,MaryBoyle nee Sweeney.My Nan was a great story teller, unfortunately Grandad die when I was Six ,
He's bad at geography, Donegal is one of three Ulster counties in the Republic.
He also seems to be claiming that the Protestants have disappeared. Must not have seen East Donegal at all…
That is EXACTLY the spot where my DNA was traced to. Exactly. I did (2) DNA tests and they both said the same.
My family emigrated to the United States with the last name “Rathbone”, now “Rathbun”. Wow. Absolutely incredible to see this. Thank you!
Almost everyone is ultimately related in regions of Dinegal
That pretty n shy Mrs Gallagher looks like young Queen Elizabeth II
My Grandparents, Michael Doherty and Sabina O'Keefe were born there about 1890.. ish. It must be beautiful.
I have been to Ireland 🇮🇪 only the south, though. The people I meet here, in Australia 🇦🇺 from the north of Ireland are lovely people with great stories of their heritage. Caroline x Melbourne Victoria Australia 🇦🇺 STRAYA SOUTHERN Cross ➕ Southern HEMISPHERE
My grandfather was a Donegal man who moved to England after the war.
He was brought up working on a rain soaked wind swept small farm.
This was a fascinating insight into that world. Bravo.
I know a friend whose parents are from there
I remember O'Doherty family . I am so grateful to them for their hospitality in Donegal. The most picturesque place and the best moments of my life.
Through fear of missing out I feel I should moan like hell about this video like everyone else is but to be honest I just sat and enjoyed it for what it was.
This is brutish (british for those who cannot see) propaganda at its best - full of _____ (insert appropriate expletive to suit taste) . Trying to diminish the locals, who were hard working family people trying their best as a family to get ahead (and the numpty presenter is ignoring that Donegal was 1 of 3 counties that survived occupation in Ulster after the war of independence,, not the only one).
Great to see that the women interviewed and the Headmaster all gave a great account of their area and that they held their grace not to remind that xyz so and so (numpty presenter) that the plight of the people in Donegal at that time was solely due to the brutish occupation for generations that had ruined the economic prospects of the whole Island for their own gain.
The brutish government is now reaping their just deserts. And this numpty presenter would be long in his lead lined sarcophagus.
My Dad came from Killybegs in Donegal nearly the end of the Ww11 and worked on the land in east sussex where he Met my mum who was in the land army they got married and moved to Brighton East Sussex where they stayed till the both died.♥️ Our surname was Dowds.
My mum was from Donegal, loved every day I spent there, what a crowd of absolute grafters, great people.
There was a young man from Donegal, who went to a fancy dress ball, he thought he'd risk it and go as a biscuit, but a dog ate him up in the hall.
There was a man from Donegal, who only had one ball, he said it doesn’t matter, I’ve got strong batter and that’s why there’s 6 kids an all.
ive worked with many a man from there in central london digging small tunnels (headings) funny old bunch, hard workers and hard drinkers, quiet but with good wit, decent blokes
Now these men would be White Collar workers and it is east europeans doing the job. I suppose.
@@Greenwillow the younger guys are in management or easier jobs, the older fellas are still in the tunnels or retired now, i remember watching 60+ year old men struggling in the mud whilst us 30 year olds watched due to assigned duties, tough old blokes they were
2:19 She should have been Rocky's trainer in the first movie.
She had technically and yes, she could have taught Rocky, lol .....
To learn more of life was like in Donegal of old, read the works of early 20th century Donegal writer Patrick MacGill.
To get a heart-wrenching insight into what life was like at the very last days of Britain's rule over Ireland, pick up (free digital versions online if you search), his novels _Children of the Dead End_ and _The Rat Pit_
The two are companion works that detail, from different perspectives, the fates of a young Donegal man and a woman driven from their homes by murderous poverty.
You will come to understand why the Donegallers of that time were renowned for their roughness
Footprints through the Rosses is another good read if you can get hold of it. Unfortunately I lent mine and never got it back. It isn't a story, more a diary of life at the time.
The Rat Pit is a magnificent book.
Hard working , God fearing , beautiful people that made Ireland great
Donegal now imports men . . . and they ain't European.
Respect to those people ,living in hard conditions,never sworing ,only working👍🇱🇺
Makes me proud of my Irish heritage.
Sad to see the government turn on its own people..how times have changed.
he purposely went to most undeveloped part of donegal in 1960s an island off the coast of donegal that’s how ridiculous this is
He purposely did not want to show the developed parts what a disingenuous snob
Incredible how hard this presenter is trying to make it seem like a sad, upsetting uneducated life and every single person in this clip is just clashing with his bias entirely
@@Mickyway How is this 4:44 respectful🤔
@@Mickyway It defo is. This video has popped up on this channel a few times recently. Incredibly condescending
@@Greenwillow I’d make a complaint but time’s almost up for little England
@DnB and Psy Production Yes
he purposely went to most undeveloped part of donegal in 1960s an island off the coast of donegal that’s how ridiculous this is
He purposely did not want to show the developed parts what a disingenuous snob
Wonderful people 💖
It's interesting but I feel like the way the host talked about the was a bit derogatory, especially the whole ''down south where they beat their wives'' stuff
I love they focused on the women. "Don't complain much..." I feel so convicted.
iz it me or are all the children really, really pretty?
@Rose. I noticed that too ! ❤
One of those wee girls was.
Such a simple life but content I loved visiting my grandparents in Leitrim ❤
Some of these 'irish chaps' did well, longer term. The Irishman can be tamed. He has a rambunctious character and a love of family .
My great-grandmother’s last name was Crossin. Her great grandfather was John Crossin, born in Churchill in Donegal in 1802. That dna 🧬 apparently trickled down to me as 23andMe listed Donegal as a region of Ireland 🇮🇪 that I share a close association with. I’d like to visit the land my ancestors lived in one day. During my early life I had no idea I had any links to Ireland at all.
There are still Crossan's ( spelt with an a) in that general area. Most likely you are related. If you are interested try a free site called "Ireland Reaching Out" who could research your ancestors.
Very little has changed when it comes to its exports
At least they were spared becoming second class citizens in NI.
Thank you,
So interesting and so different to life today.
"The men of Donegal don't come home to drink mountain dew until they begin to roar and beat their wife"....WHAT?! Wild generation of people?! Holy ****
Donnygawl.
Dunnygaul
That's normal and the natural way of life between husbands and wives raising children.
Today it's 24/7 co dependency.
Settlement society.
The green is greener with intelligent Ireland ✔
The greatest women in the world
Such wonderful women and men lived all around the world, in rural areas.
The city has ruined our values.
A better life, quiet and healthy ... she's so right.
Tough life
It's not pronounced Donnygall Trevor, it's Dhún na nGall, with a "u" not an "o"
(9:15) "Going away has been a tradition here-for years, and years, and years.."
(Spoiler alert: Many people went away.)
"Outside the frontier"! 😅
Without the Irish Navvie there is no recovery from the war for england. Most of them worked on what was called a lump, no taxes no insurance no money off rain as the song says. A marvelous generation..👏👏👏👏
I googled County Donegal because my grandfather is from here (1902 - 1953). The women at 2:45 looks so much like my grandmother, but grandmother was from Tryone.
he butchered the pronouncing of donegal
My grandparents on my mother's side were similar to this up to the early 1970,s in Co. Longford. Have to admit my childhood days there fantastic, learned some necessary lifeskills that young people today sadly haven't got.
We survived 👊🏻
“Finally settled “ I love the stupidity of that remark 😅
Wish I lived were the grass was green year round.
In Donegal, the grass is often straw coloured or a russet brown for much of the year. Very beautiful, but most of the County is nothing like the stereotypical image of lush, rich, green pastureland that many have of the "Emerald" Isle.
also it’s not really grass,it’s a mix of bog cotton,heather and rushes
All my uncles did the same, over to Scotland .
4:52😮 wtf
I have long lost genealogy with Donnegal but in this video i recognise my own. God bless.
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE BBC Archive
interesting how peaceful and honourable these communities were without any diversity present. even with absent father's the sons don't start stabbing every innocent bystander they can get too.
'without any diversity' - plenty diversity now and very welcome. A small influx of Ukrainians, mainly women, children. Well heeled knackers from Dublin, others attracted now that Arranmore is a 5G Digital Hub. No stabbings - hoping the knackers don't bring their bad habits there.
Donkey could do with a hoof trim.
Wow, the English bias and racism is thick in this...
he purposely went to most undeveloped part of donegal in 1960s an island off the coast of donegal that’s how ridiculous this is
He purposely did not want to show the developed parts what a disingenuous snob
Great people Donegal
Great video.
begorrah begosh- English imperialism and bigotry to the fore.....
Ghastly forced "BBC" accent, and "Eire"....yeugh. Glad that's all gone.
Very conflicted with this one. Xenophobic... sure, Old school... sure. Happy... 50/50
It’s xenophobic not racist. They are the same race.
he purposely went to most undeveloped part of donegal in 1960s an island off the coast of donegal that’s how ridiculous this is
He purposely did not want to show the developed parts what a disingenuous snob
@@kileyfitzgerald6792 your right. It expressed what I wanted to say though.
@@kileyfitzgerald6792 I'll edit it.
A safer place in those days. Sad.
Women these day moaning that can’t work and raise their children 😂
I bet Joseph does neither.
Seems like just the women that know you…. Must be you that makes them so miserable.
Now there’s the fulltime job on top of taking care of the house.
Plus the helping family and community is missing.
@@RainbowSunshineRain yes women have been sold a lie when they are told that they have been liberated…straight in to the workplace.
Now wages have halved and both men and women have to work and subcontract child care.
Yay feminism!
His weird religious rant at the beginning is weird as
BBC anti-Catholic bias. He was clearly trying to paint a completely fake picture of Irish Catholics endlessly breeding and creating poverty.
In reality, Ireland's population is the same as it was 150 years ago while England's has grown 6 fold.
He's just repeating what the Catholic Church was telling us back then. Every child was a blessing to it's mother etc etc
he purposely went to most undeveloped part of donegal in 1960s an island off the coast of donegal that’s how ridiculous this is
He purposely did not want to show the developed parts what a disingenuous snob
Before this it's amazing that anyone had kids back then because life was so bad, why would you want to bring children into that suffering.
Well, for starters, there was no form of birth control allowed by the Catholic Church.
@DnB and Psy Production it's not a modern idea it's actually a very old idea but the common person never thought that way but many philosophers did, people had children back when life was so hard because the Bible told them to be fruitful and multiply, and they also thought heaven was real, so any suffering they have in life would be dwarfed compared to the infinite pleasure of a heavenly afterlife.
Most people back then where barely surviving, they didn't have time to sit around and consider abstract ideas.
Most people have children because they're selfish and just want a cute baby, but don't consider the suffering that will happen to the child in its life.
L O V E is why.
The ANCIENTS had babies/ children in some very harsh living conditions.
The Irish are ANCIENT GOD MEN & WOMEN and their music 🎶 SONGS TELL of their ORIGINS
You could look at the way the world seems to be going now, and ask much the same question.
They never had the pill , nor use contraceptives, they were Catholics , that’s the way life was .There’s people having children today and the world is a much more scary place , with the nutters out there
If Ireland hadn't been invaded by england (I've never proper-cased this word) it would been amazing to see what we could have done, maybe we are seeing this now.
Its too late all the kingly Irish left for America and the people who stayed are the peasants. it's why the modern Irish republic has no qualms being a servant to the worlds hyper wealthy. A discount switzerland if you will.
And if the Irish had been successful with their invasions of England in 937 & 1487 the Irish may have had an empire of their own but to the victor belong the spoils. In the 21st century Ireland is becoming a dumping ground for Africans & muslims like many European countries
And Scotland ;) James I was the King of Scotland too.
Best people you’ll meet on this planet. Relatives in Donegal (I’m born n bred UK) but would move in a heartbeat to Ireland…
A Donegal man once knocked at my door in Westmeath & said ah your not local judging by my Dublin accent I said no & ye don’t sound local yourself. ” No I’m from Donegal where the men are men & the sheep are afraid “ he said proudly 😂😂😂
Dubs are more like inbred dogs and
pale bootlickers pigeons and vermin are quite afraid they love having a go I heard the love pigs. The most tho since they can’t speak properly it’s a miracle they can string a word together 😂😂😂
it looks like a back end of the back end.... the Irish really must be happy their country changed so much, this looks so sad...
It’s nothing sad about their lives, only about the limited view of the city people.
@@RainbowSunshineRain limited view ? I was born in a village in Croatia, lived there for 6 years and the biggest struck of luck i had in my life was when my parents moved to a city . People in the village might be happy, but just because they dont know any better.
he purposely went to most undeveloped part of donegal in 1960s an island off the coast donegal that’s how ridiculous this is
Happiness index says otherwise. Life was more simple, safer and in many ways most people were content with their lot. Ireland 2023 is great for some, not so for many.
@@LudydobryDepends. My grandparents grew up in the Irish countryside, still grow their own food in their late 80s, are well integrated in their own community. Different strokes for different folks.