Here is the view of the back of the school while standing on the old fort. Ardara Town is in the background.

The town of Ardara is situated on the banks of the Owentocker river (Abhainn tSocair - the steady-flowing river ) as it enters the sea and between the Bluestack mountain range and the South-west Donegal mountains.

Ard an Ratha means "the height ot the fort" in the gaelic language and the ancient ruins are about 100 metres from the school.

Here are the ruins of the fort.

Ardara is an ancient town, so there's no doubt that music has been heard in the area for hundreds of years.

Like many old forts, there are many strange stories about events that have happened in the past, many of them concerning the faeries.

A famous Tyrone harper Arthur O'Neill (1734-1818) mentioned in his memoirs that in 1760 he was invited to a wedding in Ardara "without my harp, for there were plenty of pipers and fiddlers".

Ardara has many local tunes of its own and many famous musicians. These include Packie Manus Byrne ,Peter Oliver McNeilis, Paddy O'Rourke and John The Tae Gallagher.