Fáilte! Bienvenu! Wilkommen!
Welcome to the website of the Living Communities Movement. On this page, I provide a brief explanation of our ideas and aims, for the English-speaker.
As set down elsewhere on this website a group of four people founded the Movement in 1999. We are mostly based in Ceathrú Thaidhg, Co Mayo, a remote area in the northwest of Ireland. The community here is about 400 strong and our principal language and culture are Gaelic. We decided to promote, as a core idea, the prime importance of community to society.
Within the new social order of the EU, we wish to reconnect the broken links between Irish-, French- and German-speaking peoples - so the texts here are mostly in these languages.
Towards this purpose and on behalf of several host families in Ceathrú Thaidhg (and, indeed, in An Fód Dubh), we are advertising truly fabled (and well-priced) holiday opportunities, of flexible duration. Guests will have an enjoyable and meaningful stay in our homes, experiencing our rich heritage - in the beautiful setting of an historically endowed landscape. In turn, our people intend to visit places in Central Europe, with which we have ancient links.
Cultural tourism is a growing activity. We aim to attain our own sustainability as a living community through the interactions envisaged.
On this website, one can find details of wondrous sights to see and of many recreational activites. And for those who are interested, there is cultural information, including an examination of Gaelic connections with Central Europe: the early tribes, the period of 'Saints and Scholars' after the Dark Ages and the time of the 'Wild Geese' (as we called our nobility), when they went to soldier on the Continent, with much honour and distinction, after the Treaty of Limerick in 1691.
Now it's up to you, the reader. Do please write to us on this website. We shall be glad to recieve your comments and suggestions.
Liam Réamonn
amdg - 15/8/2004
Associated Community Development Efforts
1] Muintir na Tíre (People of the Land) is the national organisation which promotes community development in both Ireland and Europe. Founded in 1937, by John M.Canon Hayes, it is based on the enduring Irish social principles of neighbourliness (Cabhair na gComharsan), self-help and self-reliance. The organisation uses the UN definition of the Community Development process – “a process designed to create conditions of economic and social progress for the whole community, with the fullest possible reliance upon the communities’ own intitiative”. There are 1,300 groups affiliated to Muintir na Tíre in Ireland.
2] The Enlightenment Village Project is based in Monivea, Co Galway, one of the smallest and most historic villages in the country. In the 18th century Robert ffrench, a local landlord of Norman stock, espoused the principles of the then popular Enlightenment Movement. It was showing people that new horizons could be attained through ingenuity and scientific method. He built the village on a piece of bog and its survival over 250 years, in line with his ideas, has been ensured by vision and innovation. The current inhabitants of the village, through their Co-operative, plan to build a retirement village, hotel and leisure centre in this most picturesque area. The business thus engendered will ensure that the atmosphere and community spirit, which has evolved over the centuries, will live on.
