St. Andrew’s Day notes
St. Andrew’s Day is approaching (Nov. 30) and we recently noted a couple of tributes worth passing along.
The Antigonish Highland Society will hold a gala evening at St. Ninian Place (6 p.m. if you can get tickets), including lots of entertainment and an address to the haggis. Part of the evening will include recognition of Antigonish historian and author Theresa MacIsaac, who will be inducted as an honorary member of the society (The Casket, Nov. 23, 2016, p. 13).
Theresa is the author of A Better Life: A Portrait of Highland Women in Nova Scotia (CBU Press 2006) and Highland Storytellers (self-published).
Congratulations Theresa.
St. Andrew’s Day provides a good opportunity to extend early birthday wishes to another Nova Scotia Highland woman and author, even though she was not published by CBU Press. We recently learned that Sr. Margaret MacDonnell will be celebrating her 96th birthday on December 13, 2016. A recent column (The Casket, Nov. 23, 2016, p. 13) by our colleague Catriona Parsons (an advisor, translator and proof reader on several CBU Press Gaelic/Celtic books) calls Sr. Margaret a “Gaelic cultural hero.”
A native Gaelic speaker born in Inverness County, Cape Breton, Sr. Margaret was long-time Chair of the Celtic Studies Dept. at St. FX and the author of two seminal books on the Gaelic experience in Nova Scotia: Luirgean Eachainn Nill and The Emigrant Experience. These books have long been a “must” for students of Gaelic culture in Nova Scotia.
Co-là breith sona dhut – happy 96th birthday to Sr. Margaret.