Thank you, dear reader, for journeying with me to Ballymann. Though a fictional place, it was deeply inspired and influenced by the tiny seaside village my family and I lived in for two years: Derrybeg, County Donegal. I hope this incredible land and her people have found their way into your heart as they have mine. I had the honor and blessing of living in Ireland for a total of almost six years, and I always say my heart was born there and I never truly found it until we moved to Ireland.
A few of the places in this book are real. The Poisoned Glen with the roofless church was a favorite exploring spot for us. The Central Bar in Letterkenny is real and is still there. In fact, that is where I, much like Moira, ate my first real Irish meal—except for Bríd’s cooking, of course! O’Toole’s is also a real store located on the high street of Letterkenny. Glenveagh Castle is real, as is the Adair family. However, to my knowledge, John Adair was never promised in marriage to anyone in Donegal. And while British landlords ruled Donegal for ages, to my knowledge there was never a Lady Williams.
Bríd Martin is loosely based on a delightful woman named Maire who runs Teac Campbell Guesthouse in Bunbeg, County Donegal. She is an amazing cook and an incredibly kind, welcoming woman who never stops running.
Irish Gaelic is the first and daily language of the thousands of people who live along the west coast of Ireland in pockets called Gaeltachts, where the language is protected. We became comfortably conversational in this beautiful ancient language. If you’d like to hear me speaking the beautiful language, as well as hear the two songs referenced in the story—“An Bheán Dubh na Ghleanna” and the Ballyeamon Cradle Song—you can find videos on the A Dance in Donegal board on my Pinterest page (https://pin.it/ytzhv2tfzuilyk).