Shantalla relives the visit of the Great Liberator to Sliding Rock

There can have been few more incongruous sights over the weekend than that of the President of Ireland Michael D Higgins sipping afternoon tea with Daniel O’Connell himself in the shadow of Shantalla’s famous Sliding Rock.

Just what the two great orators – separated by a century and a half in reality – might have discussed is anyone’s guess, but chances are that the community spirit of Galway’s oldest housing estate might be well up the list.

They had the benefit of a marquee for their tea and cupcakes in case the weather turned inclement, but they needn’t have worried –just a few drops fell on the large crowd gathered to hear this re-enactment of the Great Liberator’s famous address from the same spot in 1843.

Back then they didn’t have the luxury of a specially erected canopy, but the atmosphere was evocative and electric as actor Séamus Ó hAodha – veteran of Ros na Rún and Rásaí na Gaillimhe – delivered the great man’s rabble-rousing words with an authority that the legendary man of Cahirciveen would have been proud of.

Without reference to as much as a single note, Séamus/Daniel stirred the masses with his demand for a Repeal of the Union and rights for women – which seemed largely to centre around their rights to smoke a pipe – as well as his war cry that Ireland belongs to the Irish.

President Higgins hung on his every word, and in case the rest of the rabble were tempted to sneak off for some of the sausages on sale on the other side of the green, there were strategically positioned supporters – in full 19th century garb – to ensure the Great Emancipator got the attention a man of his standing deserved.

The Sliding Rock oration – organised by Peter Connolly, Ann Butler and Alico O’Sullivan – was the highlight of the first weekend of Seachtain an tSeanthalamh, a seven-day celebration of the Shantalla community that has something for everyone – sports, arts, music, history, parades and a banquet.

The five-a-side soccer blitz on Saturday had its share of nostalgia as well, with for example a team of relative veterans from the defunct, but temporarily reforming, Corrib Shamrocks club – a team that grew under the guidance of Brother Justin to sweep all before them back in the 1970s – got into the spirit of things by donning long wigs in memory of an era when they all had hair.

For more, read this week's Connacht Sentinel.