A Heart That Serves

Three of his four grandparents were born there, and the fourth was born four hours away in County Cork.

 

When Ferry was eight, he first visited his ancestral home and was immediately taken by its breathtaking scenery, rustic beauty, and spiritual ambiance. Over the years, he’s returned several times, including in 2001 on his honeymoon after his marriage to Jenny Nuckols, a 1996 Collegiate graduate whom he met when both attended the University of North Carolina.

 

“Donegal is gorgeous,” said Ferry, a Middle School history teacher and coach at Collegiate. “It’s meant a lot to me for as long as I can remember. The house in which my mom’s mom grew up is still in the family. If you ask people in Ireland the top five places in the country to visit, most would say Donegal. Outside of Ireland, it’s not very well known.”

 

From his travels, Ferry has accumulated a host of memories, but the most startling occurred when he and Jenny returned in 2016 to celebrate their 15^th anniversary.

 

“I was absolutely shocked by what I saw,” Ferry said. “The local economy was in ruins. Since 2008, I’d heard about the impact of the Great Recession on Ireland. The country has a long history of emigration because of famine and a whole host of problems. From the mid-‘90’s through the early 2000’s, its economy was the envy of Europe and other countries around the world. Its nickname was the Celtic Tiger because it was booming. That came to a screeching halt in 2008.

 

“I didn’t really know how bad it was until we got back there. Restaurants, hotels, and other businesses that were thriving back in 2001 were boarded up and in ruins. Donegal was economically depressed and emotionally depressed.”

 

How can I help? he asked himself. How can I take my training, skills, and interests and aid those in need?

 

“I’m a teacher and speaker,” Ferry continued. “I’ve built up a bit of knowledge in the areas of creativity, the science of happiness, and mindfulness. I got the idea – which I’ll admit is a kind of crazy, leftfield idea – to create a mindfulness retreat in County Donegal that would draw tourists from the United States and elsewhere every summer to try to have an economic impact on the area.

 

“It connects well with Collegiate’s mission: Minds that seek. Hearts that serve. The retreat would start small. Gradually, year after year, maybe several dozen or even 100 or more people would make this journey to Donegal and populate the hotels, pubs, and restaurants.

 

“Donegal is on the coast. It’s surrounded by mountains: the Highlands of Ireland. So many people go to Ireland, especially from the United States, but most don't make it up to Donegal because it’s off the beaten path even though National Geographic recently (in 2017) named it the coolest place on earth.

 

“Through this retreat and my efforts to promote Donegal, it will get a buzz going. It won’t happen overnight. My hope is that several years into this, I can make a difference in this beautiful part of the country that my grandparents left (for New York City in the ‘20’s and ‘30’s) because there were no jobs.”

 

Ferry has planned a three-day event: Tuesday through Thursday, July 23-25. It will be held at a hotel called Teac Jack (pronounced Chuck Jack). Ferry is the lone presenter.

 

“It’ll be a time of prayer, reflection, and meditation,” he said. “I’ll talk about secular mindfulness but also how to connect it in a way that helps you grow in your faith. I’ll also be incorporating ideas from my research about happiness and creativity.

 

“It’s sort of a mental makeover that so many of us need to get away from the hustle and bustle of the crazy pace of life, just to be calm and reflect and learn some tools of meditation that can help in real life.”

 

There’ll be lighter moments as well: Irish dancing the first night, a guided hike down to cliffs overlooking the Atlantic Ocean the second, and traditional Irish music the third.

 

This past summer, Ferry actually did a test run of his project. He was heartened that local participants received it well.

 

“I’ve had a lot of interest,” he said of his attempts to broaden the scope of the clientele by making the retreat part of a two-week tour of Ireland. “People are excited about it, but international travel takes a lot of planning, thinking ahead, budgeting. I realize that. This whole endeavor is a long shot.

 

“If people hear about it but can’t make it work now, maybe 2020 or 2021. I want to commit to giving it a shot for several years. If it doesn’t work, at the very least I’ve spread the word, turned on the faucet, so to speak. I really see myself as a cheerleader for Donegal.”

  -- Weldon Bradshaw