The recently formed Castle of the Island Society held a launch at the River Island Hotel in Castleisland on Friday, June 2nd.
This launch was held in order to promote the society which aspires to make a documentary about the history of Castleisland Castle this coming summer. A number of short videos outlining the contents of the documentary were shown.
The Castle of the Island
Castleisland Castle was known in medieval times as ‘the Castle of the Island and it was controlled by one of the most powerful families in medieval Ireland, the Fitzgeralds.
They were the earls of Desmond and were also known as the Geraldines.
“We are a voluntary and non-profitable society. The research and script is complete and a production team is ready to commence recording in August,” said society founder, Rob McGuire in explanation.
A Free Premiere
“Once post production is complete, a free premiere of the documentary will be held in Castleisland town. It will eventually be available to access on-line for free in 2018.
“In order to achieve this goal we need to reach our target cost of €30,000. To date, local and regional funding bodies have failed to support our society financially.
“However, this will not deter our society as we are determined to preserve and promote the history of our local castle after which the town of Castleisland was named.
“The castle is now in danger of being lost forever unless action is taken,” said Mr. McGuire.
Indifference of Funding Bodies
Taking the indifference of the so called ‘local and regional funding bodies’ into consideration, Mr. McGuire feels that shifting the power to the hands of the public and, therefore, taking a decisive stand is the best route forward for the project.
In this light he hopes to achieve the target cost through crowdfunding.
“Crowd-funding is a method by which individuals and businesses can donate money to our cause and we are appealing to Castleisland people all over the world to get involved in this definitive documentation of the history of their area.
Our Medieval Ancestors
“This castle belongs to everybody and I believe that we all have a duty to preserve and protect it in honour of our medieval ancestors as well as for future generations.
“But ultimately I believe that the current generation will benefit as they will acquire a greater knowledge and pride in their local history following the completion of the documentary.
The members of the society include Rob McGuire, founder, chairperson, producer and researcher; Tom McCarthy, secretary; Maggie Prendiville, treasurer; Denis Divane, Rita McCarthy, Charlie Daly, Eamonn Breen and Eamon Fleming.
Website and Film Links
The website address is: www.castleislandcastle.com includes further details about the society, the documentary, as well as information on how people can donate money to support making of the documentary.
The society can be contacted on the following email address: thecastleoftheisland@gmail.com. Two short videos are available to view the society website and they can be seen with a click on the links here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYFXv7CtQzY and here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOJOU2of5ys
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