RTÉ documentary features Donegal trio
Liam McDermott, Dee Harkin, and Rev. Canon Doris Clements are included in the hour-long documentary
There is significant Donegal interest on an RTÉ documentary called Tumtha, which airs tonight.
The documentary features Liam McDermott from Glenties, Dee Harkin of Downings, and Rev Canon Doris Clements, a native of Malin.
The documentary airs on RTÉ One and on the RTÉ Player tonight at 10:25 pm and tells the story of seven all-Irish second-level boarding schools established in 1926 to support the revival of the Irish language, known as the Coláistí Ullmhúcháin, or preparatory colleges.
These schools aimed to educate future primary school teachers and promote the Irish language, and were discontinued in the 1960s, when the authorities considered the colleges to have fulfilled their purpose.
More than a historical account, the documentary explores how language shapes identity, memory, and collective experience through detailed stories and memories from former pupils of the schools.
Liam McDermott, originally from Edeninfagh, Glenties, now living in Rathcool, Co Dublin, shares his experience attending Coláiste Éinde in Co Galway, training to be a teacher.
Now a member of the Donegal Association in Dublin committee, Liam appears in the hour-long documentary alongside another past pupil of Coláiste Éinde, Leo Finnegan from Williamstown, Co Galway.
“I really liked my time here”, Liam says in the documentary, “I was thirteen years old when I arrived here.”
Dee Harkin, raised in Downings by her grandmother, grandfather, and uncle following her father's passing, also appears in the documentary, sharing her experience attending Coláiste Bhríde in Ranafast as a pupil.
“The area was poor, but it has its own richness,” she says, “because of the community that was there, it was wonderful, and everyone helped each other."
Malin native Rev. Canon Doris Clements, who became the final principal of St. George’s National School in Sligo for the duration of 25 years, reflects on her time studying as a student in Coláiste Moibhí, Co Dublin.
“I had three sisters who came here to Coláiste Moibhí… that was good because I wasn't alone, and I travelled a long way to get here,” she says “I remember being excited because I hadn't been so far from home before.”
The documentary offers a rare glimpse into the experiences of past pupils of preparatory colleges while reflecting on the enduring relationship with the Irish language.