Name:Ian McCracken Address:St Johnston, Co Donegal Dwelling:Old schoolhouse Here since: Birth
I have, apart from being in college in Dublin, lived here all my life. We live about three miles outside St Johnston, nicely tucked up in the hills. I live just a field from where I was born. It's great to be able to find a niche for yourself in your own territory, and both our children have found niches for themselves not too far away.
The building in which I live with my wife Winnie is where I went to school, so I haven't got out of school yet. It was a school for all denominations until 1956, when it became solely Protestant. The records go back to 1836. My wife taught here from 1958 to 1970, when the school amalgamated, and we started to investigate buying the building. It was originally part of the Duke of Abercorn estate, and under an old test case from 1910, it turned out it was State property, administered by the Minister for Finance. So we had to convince him to sell it to us. We had the deal nearly completed when the Government lost a snap general election, and we had to start negotiations all over again with the next minister.
This is a very rural area. My brother and his son farm the family farm now. The numbers employed on farms have declined dramatically. In the 1950s, my father's farm would have supported his own family and employed three others full-time, and his flax mill would have provided employment for four or five others for three-quarters of the year. Now it's just my brother and his son.
In Donegal, the Protestant community is just over 10 per cent of the population, about 15,000 or so. In terms of the survival and sustainability of the Protestant community, what's needed is for people to come back from university, and bring their talent back to enrich the neighbourhood, community and church. I'm pleased to have done that, without even thinking too much about it.
St Johnston is less than three miles from the Border. It has been isolated, and has suffered from the conflict. I was a teacher for 38 years, and then retired in 1998, and immediately got involved with the Derry and Raphoe Action Group. The group was set up to encourage Protestant people to get involved in community development. There's a good community spirit here. The Catholic community come to our harvest thanksgiving and carol services, and our choir joins with the Catholic choir for the Christmas Eve mass. There are lots of little things like that happening that are all very important steps in peace building. It will only really happen in small steps.