The newly refurbished Athlone Castle will be officially opened on Tuesday February 26 by Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Michael Ring. The official opening will launch the castle ahead of the 2013 tourism season.
The 13th century castle re-opened its doors to the public on November 6 last year. A popular element of the newly designed exhibition experience is a display entitled ‘The People of the Siege’. Here, a set of much-admired sculptures representing the 17th century figures involved in the Siege of Athlone is proudly displayed. These impressive statues were created by Windsor Workshop, the company also responsible for developing props in some of the most beloved movies of recent years, including the Harry Potter films, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Star Wars Episode 1, Alexander, and The Da Vinci Code. Since the multi-sensory Athlone Castle Visitor Centre opened its doors last year, visitors have been very taken with the beauty, intricate detail, and scale of the six life-size figures.
Art and Heritage Guide at Athlone Castle, Catherine Yorke, said, “The sculptural figures are certainly proving to be one of the star attractions of the new Athlone Castle experience. The majority of visitors are very taken with them. It is exciting to think that the creative talent involved in global, block-buster films such as Harry Potter and Star Wars have had a hand in the making of our new Athlone Castle Visitor Centre. It also points to the calibre of expertise that was involved in creating the new visitor experience. We are looking forward to showing these, as well as all other aspects of the castle, to the Minister when he visits later this month.”
The state-of-the-art Athlone Castle experience was developed by Event Communications which also worked on the impressive Giant’s Causeway Visitor Centre as well as Belfast’s Titanic Museum.
For further information on the projects from the Windsor Workshop, see http://ww-ltd.org.
The launch event on February 26 will be attended by council officials, Fáilte Ireland representatives, and those involved in the tourism sector nationally, regionally, and locally.
Athlone Castle is open Tuesday to Saturday from 11am-5pm and Sundays 12-5pm. For further information see www.athloneartandheritage.ie/athlone-castle
