Three south Offaly villages offer weekend of welcomes
You’re guaranteed a weekend of welcomes in south Offaly this weekend, as part of the Gathering “Weekend of Welcomes” event in Barna, Dunkerrin and Moneygall.
It all kicked off yesterday (Thurday) in Barna, while today (Friday) it’s the turn of Moneygall. Tomorrow will see Dunkerrin put the welcome mat out, while Sunday is a team event to wrap the festival weekend up.
If you have some space in your diary today you might think of fitting in a heritage trail in Moneygall, meeting at the Obama Cafe at 3.30pm. If you’re stuck in work don’t worry though, there are lots of activities planned for this evening. At 7.30pm the bi-centenary of St Joseph’s Church will be celebrated, with tea and coffee at 8.45pm in the Legion Hall. The wee hours will be welcomed from 9.45pm, with traditional Irish music in Ollies Bar and conversation and chats in Julia’s Bar.
On Saturday Dunkerrin will be a hive of activity. Between noon and 3pm the village will have old time market stalls, horse and traps, food stalls, talks of times gone by, vintage motors, a picture display, high nellies, an art exhibition, street music, a harvest display and family history advice with genealogist Susan Chadwick. Period costumes from the 1800s are being encouraged for the day. A heritage trail will leave Byrne’s shop at 2.30pm, while later that evening there will be a “Gathering of the Faithful” at a youth/folk Mass in St Mary’s Church at 7.30pm. Tomorrow will finish with music, song, dance and story telling in Delaney’s Bar from 8.30pm.
At 1.30pm on Sunday Moneygall will take on the Templederry Kenyons, a replay of the first recorded game played by the clubs in 1885 in Dunkerrin. A pig and porter barbecue will take place at 3pm in St Flannan’s Park, while there will also be a Moneygall GAA display. A harvest service will take place at Templeharry church at 6.30pm, with those attending encouraged to bring food offerings that will be donated to worthy charities. Social dancing with Midnight Dynamo will wrap up the weekend at Dunkerrin Community Hall from 9.30pm, with tickets to that event available for €10.
More information on this weekend’s activities are available at www.moneygall.ie.