The Dolmens Climate Action Network Lúnasa Festival was a fabulous success—full of fun and a wonderful sense of community.
The festivities began on Friday, the 1st of August, with a thoughtful shared reading event in Castlewellan Library. “We explored selected passages from Brian Friel’s Dancing at Lughnasa and reflected on why our ancestors celebrated the start of the harvest with the festival of Lughnasa (or Lúnasa), which marked the end of the ‘hungry gap’ between the old harvest and the new, and brought the community together in shared gratitude,” the festival organisers explained.
“I remember as a child going to pick blaeberries, and that in the olden days they were shipped to England,” one participant recalled. Many traditions had practical origins too. “Jumping the cattle through the fire, to remove the lice,” explained another. “We agreed that these customs are worth remembering, especially today, when society consumes food out of season—often transported thousands of miles—leading to significant environmental consequences.”
Sean O’Baoill joined the group to introduce the ancient Celtic strategy game Fidchell (pronounced Fee-hall), which means ‘wood-wisdom’. Sean had spent two weeks carving the board from wood donated by Conor Gribben, and had even drawn out a giant version of the board in the upper square. “The game looked simple, more like draughts than chess—but I soon found it was a true mind-bender,” said Sally Montgomery.
Heats for the inaugural Castlewellan/Down/Northern Ireland Fidchell Championship began in earnest, with deep concentration among players. Eventually, Sean announced the two finalists: Mary McAnulty and Nigel McKinney. Their final match was set for Saturday—but first, it was time to let loose with One Big Beautiful Ceili! Some 65 people danced the night away, with one dancer laughingly saying, “I’m not sure my knees will ever recover!”
Huge thanks went to Nicholas McCrickard and Michael Donnely on sound, Tom McGonigle and Peter McKee for organising the music for the night and Saturday, the talented young musicians of the Lúnasa Quartet, and the brilliant ceili caller Mary McGuigan, a traditional Irish step dancer from Bellaghy.
Mary also joined the community on a sunny Saturday morning at Castlewellan’s community allotment, where the music and dancing continued, together with games and crafts. As she called the ‘Waves of Tory’, people of all ages wove under and over, laughing all the way. “I loved the craft events that Cathy Cunningham led and I learnt to plait corn,” said one participant. Some younger folk raved that “the tug of war was class!”
All eyes then turned to the Fidchell final, where the atmosphere was tense and focused. At last, Nicholas McCrickard announced the winner: “Mary McAnulty is our first Fidchell champion!” Nigel McKinney graciously responded: “Mary was a worthy winner, but we must all thank Sean O’Baoill for introducing us to this wonderful game.”
The weekend closed on Sunday with an evening of storytelling led by Sinead McAleavey around the fire pit. Mary McAnulty said: “We should acknowledge the many people from Dolmens who helped make this a fantastic year of festivals. A huge thank you to the Community Foundation for supporting us in creating opportunities to combat rural isolation—enabling people to get out and enjoy literature, music, song, dance and storytelling in so many different ways.”
