Date: 22 Jul 2025
Conservation Works Continue to The Laurels, Na Gleannta
Conservation works to The Laurels, playwright Brian Friel’s mother’s home in Na Gleannta, will continue over the coming weeks under the auspices of the Heritage Council’s Historic Towns Initiative following a successful application by Donegal County Council to the scheme. The Conservation Office and Heritage Office of Donegal County Council in partnership with the Brian Friel Trust and Dedalus Architecture were awarded €300,000 under The Heritage Council’s Historic Towns Initiative. The award will be augmented with €75,000 in funding from Donegal County Council as well as funding from the Brian Friel Trust.
“Brian Friel was the best-known Irish playwright of his generation and an accomplished short-story writer who had a strong affection for County Donegal” explained Joseph Gallagher, County Donegal Heritage Officer. “The Historic Towns Initiative will result in conservation works to the interior of the late-nineteenth century The Laurels, service provision at the site and the implementation of the landscape management plan. The Laurels is Brian Friel’s mother’s home in Na Gleannta in which he spent time during the summer holidays when he was young. The narrow-gauge railway provided the means of transport that brought him to The Laurels during his summer holidays. Friel’s grandfather was the stationmaster in Na Gleannta. When Brian got off the train at the rail terminus in Na Gleannta, he just walked across the road to The Laurels. His play Dancing at Lughnasa (1990) is dedicated to his mother Christina McLoone and his aunts who grew up in The Laurels and they have been immortalised as the Mundy sisters in the play. His uncle Barney McLoone served as the inspiration for the missionary priest who returned home in the play. The last McLoone sister, Maggie, lived in The Laurels until her death in the late 1950s when the house was bought by a local family.” The Laurels and its inhabitants provided the inspiration for Dancing at Lughnasa and when the 1998 film version of the play was released, Brian Friel along with actresses Meryl Streep and Sophie Thompson unveiled a plaque on The Laurels on September 24, 1998.
Brian Friel passed away on October 2, 2015 and is buried in his beloved Na Gleannta. “The Brian Friel Trust purchased The Laurels in January 2016 and we have been taking a phased approach to its conservation and to the establishment of the Brian Friel Centre in Glenties Courthouse” said Seamus Neely, Chairperson of The Brian Friel Trust. “The conservation and re-use of The Laurels is central to our plans for the establishment of a Brian Friel Centre in Na Gleannta. We’re delighted to be working with Grade 1 conservation architect Duncan McLaren, garden designer Diarmuid Gavin and building contractor Micheál Gallagher. The long-term ambition of the Brian Friel Trust is to celebrate Brian Friel’s rich cultural legacy and his affinity with Na Gleannta. The conservation works envisaged under this year’s Historic Towns Initiative will bring The Laurels back into use as an artist’s/caretaker’s residence and will provide a small outdoor performance area for Brian Friel’s works. Thirteen of Brian Friel’s plays are set in the fictional town of Ballybeg, widely regarded to be based on Na Gleannta. We hope to have most of the work at The Laurels site complete by early October this year in time for the commemoration of Brian’s tenth anniversary.”
The Laurels is a Protected Structure (#40907430) of national significance and of special architectural, scientific and cultural interest. “The Historic Towns Initiative will see a total investment of over €460,000 at The Laurels site this year” said Collette Beattie, Architectural Conservation Officer with Donegal County Council. This year’s work will build upon the conservation works undertaken last year to secure and improve the external building fabric of The Laurels and of Glenties Courthouse that will house the proposed Brian Friel Centre. This year’s works are based on the prioritised schedule of works in the conservation management plan and the landscape management plan for the site. The restoration and refurbishment of The Laurels, the implementation of the first phase of the landscape management plan, the creation of a small outdoor performance area and the provision of services to the site will help to secure the future of this nationally-important structure for the town of Na Gleannta and will ensure that the momentum to create an attraction such as the Brian Friel Centre is maintained and strengthened. We will work closely with the Brian Friel Trust and the conservation works will be carried out using best conservation practice and traditional materials under conservation supervision. The Laurels Historic Towns Initiative has strong support from the local community too as evidenced by the many letters provided in support of our application to The Heritage Council.”
Every local authority can submit one application for conservation works and one application for a conservation management plan to the Historic Towns Initiative each year. The proposed works must be based on a conservation plan-led approach and demonstrate strong community engagement. If you think that your town meets or is working towards meeting the criteria for the Historic Towns Initiative, please contact the County Donegal Heritage Office on (074) 917 2576 or by e-mail at heritage@donegalcoco.ie
