THE second phase in the redevelopment of Cill Rialaig, a deserted pre-Famine village on Bolus Head, Co Kerry, was inaugurated at the weekend by The Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Mr Spring opened a new shop and gallery for the Cill Rialaig project in Ballinskelligs, Co Kerry, on Saturday evening. The project aims to rebuild Cill Rialaig as a retreat for artists and writers. So far four houses there have been rebuilt and are in use by visiting artists.
Referring to the scheme, Mr Spring said it was "wilder than dreams and it took a lot of courage, among other things". The Tanaiste told a large gathering, which included the Kerry County Manager, Mr Paddy Darcy, the county council vice chairman, Mr Breandan MacGearailt, and Mr Justice Hugh O'Flaherty, that he had associations with Ballinskelligs since 1961, when he first came there to learn Irish on a GAA scholarship.
Udaras Na Gaeltachta developed this shop and gallery which cost £500,000. They are in the village of bun Gegan over a mile from the cliff top hamlet of Cill Rialaig. Four of the pre-Famine houses have been rebuilt with. The aid of 30 artists and crafts people, who took part in a master craftsmanship education programme. The former, magazine publisher, Ms Noelle Campbell Sharpe, has been involved in the scheme since its inception.
To date about loo artists have been welcomed, in Cill Rialaig, and there is a waiting list of about 200 international artists who want to spend time at Bolus Head.
Cill Rialaig was known to Gaelic scholars as the home of the famous storyteller Sean O Conaill. He was the subject of Leabhar Sheain Chonaill edited by the late Prof James Delargy. O Conaill died in the mid 1940s and the village was subsequently deserted.
An international art gallery is to be built in nearby Waterville in the next phase of the development. Similar to the St Ives Tate Gallery in Cornwall, it is expected to cost £2.2 million.