November kick-off for Maghera’s ‘Communiversity’ aimed at bringing people back into education

The volunteer educators in the Communiversity aim to bring educational courses to all in the community at minimal costs to attendees.

A number of local, highly respected teachers and lecturers will volunteer their time at the Communiversity in a bid to bring people of all ages back into education.

The first course will be an ‘Introduction to the Irish Language’, by one of the group’s founding members Dr Séamas Ó Donnghaile. Séamas is a school principal in Belfast, as well as an associate Master’s level lecturer in St. Mary’s University College, Belfast.

This inaugural course will start on Tuesday November 12, 10-11am at The Lurach Centre, Maghera and run for six consecutive weeks.

The maximum charge is £20 for the course. To book your place, text ‘CLASS’ and your name to 07803546835 or call for more information.

Also this month, the group are continuing with their regular talks, the first being a talk on ‘When they started jazzing there’ – Irish music and the jazz area.

At this talk you’ll learn about the impact on jazz on Irish music in the years after the First World War, when an unprecedented wave of cultural change occurred in Ireland.

Dr Conor Caldwell from Belfast will present the talk. He is a fiddle player and Associate Professor in Irish Traditional Music at the University of Limerick – Thursday November 7, 7pm at The Lurach Centre. It is hoped traditional musicians will join Conor for a session after the talk.

The group will also welcome another guest speaker, Gary Mc Erlean, to talk about Lough Neagh and its natural habitat on Thursday December 5, 7pm, The Lurach Centre.

Many more talks are planned including - The History of Maghera’s Embroidery Factory (December 12) and ‘From Lavey to Glassnevin’ – The story of Sir James Murray (and his family), inventor of Milk of Magnesia and artificial fertilizer.

The MHETT’s success so far has been in no short measure a direct result of the community focused commitment of the committee in the St Lurach’s Parish Centre. Their support for the MHETT is unparalleled locally.

MHETT are pleased to offer these individual talks on a ‘Pay What You Can Afford’ voluntary donation basis. It’s objectives include preserving knowledge of local history and heritage, encouraging education within the community, promoting local tourism and most importantly to empower local people.

Everyone in Maghera and surrounding areas are most welcome to be part of MHETT and the Communiversity and all are welcome to attend events.

If you’re a teacher and can spare a few hours to run a short course, then please get in touch with MHETT. If you’d like more information on the group or its future plans, then please contact Joseph McCoy on 07912640858 (MHETT Chairman), Séamas Ó Donnghaile (Education) on 07803546835 at any time, or get in touch with any of our committee members.

MHETT’s founding committee of volunteers come from a range of backgrounds and are Joseph McCoy, Mary Magill, Denver Boyd, Dr Séamas Ó Donnghaile, Áine McGuckin, Lynette Arbuthnot, Máirín Nic Enrí, Raymond McNamee, Cathy O’Neill, Samantha Stewart, Claire Margey and Jarlath O’Kane.

It will be organising more talks and classes soon – follow Maghera History, Education & Tourism Trust on Facebook for updates.