Argyllshire Gathering Halls
http://www.argyllshiregathering.com/
Located in the centre of Oban, the Gathering Halls will be the beating heart of our MacIntyre Gathering, and I have booked them for the entire week! The Halls will serve as a central meeting point/mustering point, a reception and registration desk, and a loading zone out the front for coaches and shuttle buses. The Gathering Halls have capacity for 100 people seated theatre-style in the centre room and 280 seated in the ballroom.
The Halls also have a small reception/foyer area, where we will showcase MacIntyre history, artifacts, and Clan genealogy, and where we will welcome day visitors from members of the public, Argyll residents, and tourists to Oban to learn about our Clan and the Gathering. We anticipate offering stall space to local artisans, to showcase what is available locally.
We will also showcase what the Clan MacIntyre Trust does to conserve and mark historical sites and artifacts of interest and importance to the Clan.
The Gathering Halls will be the venue for our welcome reception and banquet and will host the events on the cultural program. We will have various talks and demonstrations in addition to some Gaelic lessons.
Due to unpredictable weather, it can be difficult to plan outdoor activities in Scotland, particularly in the West Highlands. There is no guarantee that events can go ahead as planned, that boats can sail, that buses can tour, or that BBQs can be lit. At the 2008 Gathering, a marquee was erected on the Taynuilt Sportsground for the duration of the Gathering, and this place served as a central mustering point for MacIntyres. However, this was not a wet-weather proof option, as evidenced when high winds blew the marquee onto a kinsman’s car.
The Halls will serve as our “Plan B” contingency backup in case extreme wet weather rains out any event, activity, or tour; in a worst case scenario, we can redirect everyone to the Gathering Halls, order pizzas, and open the bar. That sounds pretty lovely.
Glenoe
On the shores of Loch Etive, we find Glenoe, the lands on which generations of MacIntyres lived and died and loved and fought and farmed. If you don’t know the story yet, you can read this account of why MacIntyres no longer live there: http://raingod.com/angus/Misc/Personal/ClanMacintyre.html
Glenoe is the place Clan MacIntyre and their chiefs called home for centuries. According to all accounts, MacIntyres arrived at Glen Noe before recorded history. This place is coded in our biological, historical, and social DNA. Glenoe is often spoken about as if it is on some kind of heavenly plane that’s out of reach.
It is somehow a place of abiding mystery and longing, a mythical landscape for the diaspora, that also seems to be part of the collective subconscious of us all. We cannot always exactly say why, but this somewhat mysterious homeland continues to survive within us no matter where we are. Indeed, it has always been part of our sense of involvement with the Clan MacIntyre Trust and is unsurprisingly listed in the Memorandum of Association as a key element in our formation, our reason to be, and our longing for some sort of happily resolved future. Obviously, Glenoe continues to be a major part of the familial fabric that is common to us all.
Our best known poet, Duncan Ban, proclaimed the beauty and majesty of Glenoe and Cruachan. Can we still “sing” the same song as he did? Did he not put into verse the very same landscape that we seek to inhabit?
Glenoe is crucial to our identity as a Clan. It is the only known piece of land that ancestors inhabited; we don’t know exactly where they were on Skye. Glenoe the only physical place on which we can put our finger or our feet.
During the Gathering, Ian MacIntyre, Camus na h-Erie will lease the current homestead on Glenoe. This location will host the finale event of the Gathering on Sunday, 22 July, “MacIntyres at Glenoe” https://register.macintyregathering.com/events/macintires-at-glenoe/
Perle Hotel
A luxury hotel with a marvelous restaurant. Alison road tested the restaurant in October and reports that the food is quite good.
Accomodations at the Perle
Everyone is of course welcome to find accomodations on their own. However, we have reserved a block of rooms at the Perle Hotel, a luxury hotel in downtown Oban:
- The Perle is offering us a 15% discount on our bookings. Room prices (all prices in GBP) are differentiated by room type; i.e., there will not be a “lottery” for the rooms as previously announced. Instead, you can book whatever room type suits your needs. Room prices after the 15% discount:
- Standard Double Room, no view: £177.65
- Double Room with view: £194.65
- Superior Room: £203.15
- Superior Room with view: £220.15
- Junior Suite: £237.15
- Suites: £254.15
- You can book directly with the hotel. Rooms are now available in their system, but this means that the general public will also be able to book them. Thus, you should jump on reserving a room as soon as possible. You can book by going to https://app.thebookingbutton.com/properties/PerleObandirect and using the discount code “Macintyre”.
Taynuilt Sports Ground
The sports ground is the location of the Taynuilt Highland Games, in the village of Taynuilt. You can read about the Games here https://register.macintyregathering.com/events/taynuilt-highland-games/ and http://www.taynuilthighlandgames.com/
Taynuilt Village Hall
This quaint hall in the village of Taynuilt will be the venue for the MacIntyre Ceilidh on Wednesday night and the Taynuilt Ceilidh on Thursday night.
It will also be the location of our Taynuilt Highland Games After Party. It is walking distance from the Highland Games, so we can move directly from the sports ground to the hall.
As it is a small venue, tickets for each of these events will be very limited.