Loughrea medieval festival 2022 takes place in the medieval town of Loughrea from tomorrow Friday August 26 to Sunday August 28.
The festival will include free events on offer over the weekend ranging from video shorts which give insights into the rich medieval heritage which will be screened in Loughrea Library on Friday 26th August at 2pm to a family fun filled day of arts, crafts, food and music in the Temperance Hall on Saturday August 27 from 1pm to 8pm.
Crafts will including basket making, spinning, strawcraft and beadmaking, while Custard Pie (Lambert Puppets ) will have two puppet shows one at 2pm and another at 4pm. Returning to Loughrea Medieval Festival this year will be Loughrea Craft Club, the Flea Circus, cookery demonstration with Noel Loughnane and guests, Tralee Medieval Society.
There will be an official launch of the ’Loughrea Heritage Trail Brochure and Loughrea Childrens’ Medieval Activity book at 2pm by Cllr Michael ‘Moegie’ Maher, Cathaoirleach of the County of Galway. From 6pm to 8pm what not come along to ‘Eat, drink and be merry’ where you can try Irish and Hungarian foods and be entertained by Carmel Dempsey and guest.
Clonfert Diocesan Museum will be open to the public, free of charge from 2pm to 4pm on Saturday 27th August.
Music Generation have free childrens’ workshops – Music in Nature from 9.30am to 10.30am; a songwriting workshop from 10.30am to 11.30am; 10.30am to 12.30pm SENergy – a fun, engaging and varied musical session, tailored to the needs and interests of young people with special educational.
All of these events will take place in the Temperance Hall, Loughrea. Music Generation will also have an ‘Introduction to Junk Percussion’ from 1.00pm to 2.30pm in the Fairgreen, Loughrea where kids will make instruments from a number of household items.
Animated short films “Three Tales of Irish Walled Towns” will take place in Loughrea Library on Saturday 27th August from 2.00pm to 3.00pm, with free admission. These animations were a final year project for the BA Design Game and Animation students at the Centre for Creative Arts and Media, Atlantic Technological University (Galway City ). They tell the story of life in a fictional town of Ballynamauilinn through the eyes of the children who lived there.
On Sunday, activities will move to the Loughrea Hotel and Spa, where there will be a free conference entitled ‘Discovering our Medieval Past’ which will begin at 9.30am. Dr Kieran O’Conor will speak about “Moated Sites in Medieval Ireland” ; Dr Yvonne McDermott will speak about “The Franciscans and Dominicans in the west of Ireland in the late medieval period.” “Loughrea and Its Vicinity in Medieval Times” will be discussed by Dr Nollaig Ó Muraíle and Monsignor Cathal Geraghty “The Irish Madoona - Our Lady of Gyor. The link between Clonfert and Gyor”
Also speaking at the conference will be Dr Ann Buckley on the “Recovering the Sacred Music of Medieval Ireland” and local man Comdt (Retd ) Kevin Mc Donald will speak about “Living with the Lake, The Archaeology of Lake Settlement in Loughrea and the Surrounding Landscape” Booking for this free conference can be made at https://loughreamedievalfestival.clr.events/event/132681:discovering-our-medieval-past
Finally, sit back and enjoy Turoe & Guests who wwill take you on a musical journey of discovery with a lively mix of music and song through the ages in the East Galway Tradition. Turoe is composed of Ciarán Cannon, TD; Harry Monson and Val Broderick. This free music event will take place in the Loughrea Hotel and Spa from 6pm to 8pm on Sunday August 28 and will be followed by finger food and light refreshments.
Loughrea Medieval Festival has been organised by Loughrea Medieval Festival Committee in partnership with Galway County Council, GRETB, the Hungarian Embassy, the Centre for Creative Arts and Media, Atlantic Technological University (Galway City ) and the local community.
It has been funded by The Heritage Council, The Irish Walled Town Network and Galway County Council. It is an action of Galway County Heritage and Biodiversity Plan 2017-2022
For more information please see https://heritage.galwaycommunityheritage.org/content/category/topics/loughrea-virtual-medieval-festival and social media channels.
