Thanks, Jimmy C. I should have posted more of John's email that I got as a follow up today.

quote: "You're welcome to use any info from me, it's all in the public domain anyway.

Did you know that Gartan means "little garden", Tearmann (Termon in English), a village a few miles north of Lough Gartan, means "sanctuary" (or church) land. (I'm not an Irish speaker, this info is from ref books). Can you get the 1:50,000 Irish Ordnance Survey maps over there? If so the relevant area is covered by Sheet 6 (Letterkenny). I'm not sure if the Starry Boig is an actual or imaginary place name. Funny thing is that Campbell never visted Donegal until years after he wrote Gartan. Did you know that he lectured at Fordham Uni (NY) for ten years in the 20s and 30s? Gartan was the birthplace of St Columba and was the scene of a terrible eviction in 1861 when hundreds were thrown off the Derryveagh Estate and emigrated to Australia with money raised from a public appeal as a result of the outcry. I retired from my job as a librarian a few years ago and spend a lot of my time researching this sort of stuff. I've loved Irish music since the day I was born, it's in my blood......I've got the Mary O'Hara album with Gartan. Have you heard Barbara Mullen's version? Not in the same technical class as Mary but quite spellbinding in it's own way. It's on a double CD- "Irish Cream, the Great Singers & Songs of Ireland, 1913-1955". EMI number 7243 8 32657 2 5. Issued in 1995. A wonderful collection......"

Still waiting to see if John joins us.
Alice