Black is the Colour as Castleisland Prepares for the Biggest ever ‘Patrick’

Thirty Years ago: At the first official meeting of the Patrick O’Keeffe Traditional Music Festival Committee at The Shoemaker’s Inn were, front from left: Pats Broderick, John Reidy and Tom Hickey. Back: Mike Kenny, Mary Jones, Pat Mitchell and Tom Doody. Photograph: Paul Reece. 12-10-1993

I met a man on the street here during the week and he said ‘I suppose the town will be black with people and musicianers during the Patrick,’ ‘It will’ I said.

It dawned on me then that black was a colour we used a lot of in our descriptive language once upon a time.

I’ve heard of people who were black Fianna Fáilers or black Fine Gaelers and there was a time too when ‘the black of your nail’ was an acceptable and widely understood unit of measurement.

From Thursday to Tuesday

Castleisland will indeed be black with people over the coming weekend as ‘The Patrick’ takes hold.

Activities will get under way on the 30^th anniversary 31^st Patrick O’Keeffe Traditional Music Festival here tomorrow Thursday 26^th and it will run over the weekend to the early hours of Tuesday 31^st.

You’ll find all the information you need on the actual content of the festival on the advert on page three of this issue.

And you can log on to the festival site through the link below.

Chairman O’Mahony’s Address

In his chairman’s address for the festival brochure, Cormac O’Mahony said that this year’s local business subscriptions have been nothing short of heartwarming for the committee.

“Many business people told our collectors that they can see what the festival means to the town in terms of a financial injection at a time of year when it’s most needed,” he said.

Community Spirit Praised

Cormac also praised the community spirit which backbones the event since its foundation in 1993 and he singled out the people of the area who made beds available ahead of the event.

“This year we are particularly thankful to the many people in Castleisland and its environs who came up with over 250 extra beds in the area to accommodate the expected influx of visitors over the five days,” he said.

All the festival information you need is yours with a click on the link here: https://patrickokeeffefestival.com/

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