Community spirit
Once you take the left turn, you're home and dry with the good news being that the remaining terrain winds gently with none of the earlier pain in the forest. You'll be walking against the traffic of course and ensure you pull well in for oncoming traffic. As you make your way back to the Community Hall, you'll be walking past the homes of the community. Leghowney is a close knit community with everyone knowing everyone else. Get chatting to them if you can - they're a wealth of information.
The Community Hall has a reputation far and wide for excellent rural comedy shows performed every year around St. Patrick's Day time. Local writer Joe McGarrigle, himself a famous performer in his day, had these words to write about it: -
"The club's annual stage production has always been an eagerly awaited event. Initially it was a "one night stand" and with the limited accommodation available many patrons failed to gain admission and were disappointed. Consequently the club had no choice but to extend its run to two and even three nights. Rehearsals were a leisured affair and were only part of a night's social get-together. The rest of the time was taken up with ceilidhe dancing, card playing, or perhaps learning the Irish Language... as one member put it, "some of us had to cycle miles to attend so we always made a night of it". On the night of the show itself the patrons certainly got value for their money. The programme consisted of a fairly lengthy concert, followed by the play itself, with a one-act comedy, described as a "farce", thrown in at the end. In recent years both the concert and farce have been dispensed with. The Leghowney Drama Club never lost sight of its primary aim...to entertain. This is probably why they never troubled to take part in drama festivals. The club members have invariably presented good healthy rural comedy like that to be found in George Sheil's plays, most of which have been produced by the club...'
We hope you've enjoyed this trail. James McCrudden ensures us that more local waymarked trails are to follow so watch this space in 2014.