Letterfrack is vital to our examination of the rural condition, as it provides a successful example of self-sufficient rural regeneration. The efforts of Connemara West, a co-operative movement dating back a quarter of a century, to keep life and employment in a village suffering the disastrous
effects of Ireland’s under-performing economy and losing the majority of its youth to emigration provide an inspiring and thought-provoking background to the theme.

It is important for the success of the workshops for us - as organisers - to analyse and present how successfully Letterfrack has adapted to the economic, social and cultural changes that have swept from the Eastern urban centres to the Western edge over the last 25 years. The sense and pride of community and of place in rural societies is unachievable in urban centres, in part due to a strong sense of identity and its transfer through generations – be it in craft, language, even stories. What has Letterfrack lost? What has Letterfrack gained? Are local crafts dying or have they met the challenge of the modern world? How have the lives of the locals changed? Furthermore, how has the composition of the local population changed? Finally, what does the future hold for Letterfrack and similar rural communities?