Sir, - Every summer for the cast five years, someone has emerged from the dusty wood work to deliver a five minute theory about what should or should not have happened to Cill Rialaig - the ruins of the abandoned "pre Famine" village on Bolus Head, Co Kerry.
Mr Barry O'Reilly (Irish Times, September 9th) is yet another erstwhile academic visitor to our part of the country whose profundity is based on misinformation and a basic lack of compassion for the people of this area. These have joined the undersigned in helping to rejuvenate a community by saving some of what remains of our vernacular heritage, and rethinking it into a vision for the future.
Firstly, he is wrong in that he infers the foundations of buildings were removed in order to reconstruct the studio cottages ("cabins" is the correct, vernacular term used in these parts). The five stone (albeit damp proofed and lined) buildings already erected are on sites of original cabins where every stone, including foundations, had long since disappeared.
Not a stone has been touched of what existed of the extant ruins five years ago. Indeed, the entire village remains, such as they were after years of neglect and storms, were due for private demolition before the Cill Rialaig Project came into being and rescued what was left as an inspiration for an artists and writers retreat for modern times. This is being done whilst paying tribute to our past which will, and has, rebounded in ricochet job making projects in the surrounding area.
In an ideal world, the whole village should have been saved sixty years ago, when it was still barely inhabited. Your letter writer is also ignorant of the fact that the chief building (that of Pats O'Connaill, referred to in Bealoideas 1935 - Ake Campbell Fields and Houses) was built circa - 1790 and, like other homes in the village, was definitely pre Famine but managed, through a self sufficient eco system of cattle farming and fishing combined, to escape the worst ravages of the Famine.
Anyone with any sensitivity to the needs of the area, its local history and heritage would think twice before making pronouncements as a visitor. He would also ensure that his conjecture was based on a full understanding of the project and its aims. Meanwhile, my fellow workers and I are available to this expert anytime he wishes to return. Maybe he can help us in his free time to do the job right. Yours, etc.,
Managing director (hon.), The Cill Rialaig Project,
Ballinskelligs,
Co Kerry.