Lughnasa Celtic festival Live RTE Lunasa Ireland.

Sceala Philosopher

Lughnasa Live RTE celebrating something Irish and ancient. Makes a change from the modern rubbish on TV.
Come and experience Ireland’s history and heriatge from Bronze Age to Medieval Times.
The Lughnasa event features a fantastic array of costumed re-enactors depicting life in Ireland from the Bronze Age to Medieval times.
To celebrate Lughnasa, RTE will be broadcasting live from Craggaunowen on Sunday July 31st. The show will be a combination of live chat, music and food where well known celebrities will celebrate the ancient festival of Lughnasa and reconnect the audience with one of the, until recently, most important dates in the Irish calendar. The live show will be informative and entertaining and broadcast from a very evocative location – the Iron age fort at Craggaunowen.

There will be lots to see and do including combat demonstrations, brehon law trials, ancient cooking demonstrations, artefacts and weapons display, ancient fun and games for the kids and much more!
Grainne Seoige presents a celebration of the ancient Celtic festival at the Craggaunowen heritage park in Co Clare, with music by Moya Brennan and Sharon Corr
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In Irish mythology, the Lughnasadh festival is said to have been begun by the god Lugh, as a funeral feast and games commemorating his foster-mother, Tailtiu, who died of exhaustion after clearing the plains of Ireland for agriculture. The first location of the Áenach Tailteann gathering was at Telltown, located between Navan and Kells. Historically, the Áenach Tailteann was a time for contests of strength and skill, and a favored time for contracting marriages and winter lodgings. A peace was declared at the festival, and religious celebrations were also held. The festival survived as the Taillten Fair, and was revived for a period in the twentieth century as the Telltown Games.
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A similar Lughnasadh festival was held at Carmun (whose exact location is under dispute). Carmun is also believed to have been a goddess of the Celts, perhaps one with a similar story as Tailtiu
RTE are doing this very well, are you all watching.
RTÉ invites you to celebrate the ancient festival of Lughnasa on Sunday July 31st with a live entertainment special broadcast for the from Craggaunowen in County Clare. The show will be a combination of live chat, music and food where well known celebrities will celebrate the ancient festival of Lughnasa and reconnect the audience with one of the, until recently, most important dates in the Irish calendar.
Irish Community Images

The live show will be informative and entertaining and broadcast from a very evocative location - an Iron Age fort - with an audience of 200. Craggaunowen is an award winning Pre-Historic Park owned and operated by Shannon Heritage, situated on 50 acres of wooded grounds.
Presented by Grainne Seioge the programme will see guests John Creedon, Mary McEvoy, Sinead Kennedy, Colm Hayes and Paul Flynn on a mission to find out more on a different aspect of Lughnas folklore. In addition there will be food from that period with Paul Flynn cooking for the audience of 200 and live music Moya Brennan and Sharon Corr.

Background Information on Lughnasa

Most people know the term Lughnasa from Brian Friel, playwright and short story writer, who used the name of the festival in the title of one of his most successful plays, Dancing At Lughnasa (1990). Lughnasa marks the beginning of Autumn. The Celtic feast days were Imbolc (1 February, Spring festival), Bealtaine (May Day, 1st May, marks start of summer), Lughnasa (August 1st, Harvest festival) and Samhain (November 1st, marks start of winter). These were the four major festivals or cardinal points of the Celtic year at times of seasonal transition. Each festival was to mark the beginning of the new season.

The name for the festival of Lughnasa comes from the name of the god Lugh and can be called "the feast of Lugh". The modern Irish name Lúnasa is used to refer to the month of August and had its origins in the Old Irish language for the festival name. A large amount of custom and lore is attached to this festival. The celebration marks the ripening of grain, specifically corn, and also the weaning of calves and lambs. Later in history, this harvest also includes the maturing of potatoes.

It is celebrated on August 1st or else the first Sunday of August or the last Sunday of July. We know from mythology and early Irish literature that Lughnasa was significant in pre-Christian times. It was a Celtic festival and several great fairs or aonach coincided with it. Part of the festivities included the lighting of fires and communal feasting. Many weddings resulted as a result of these mountain-top meetings and flirtations.

People would pick fruit, more specifically berries and most commonly bilberries (colloquially called "blaeberries"). Sometimes they would wear the fruit on their person (almost like people wear a bunch of shamrock nowadays in celebration of St. Patrick's Day).The most common feature of Lughnasa is that people would go on outdoor excursions and gather together at traditional sites. Most commonly they would visit high places, especially hills and mountains, travelling on foot or by horseback or carriage. There were many hill and mountain gatherings. Examples of mountain pilgrimages include Croagh Patrick, site of one of the biggest pilgrimages; people from all around Ireland would travel to this.

The celebration of Lughnasa was characterised by dancing, picnics, singing and playing music for the day and on into the evening. Bonfires were often lit in the evening. Another common feature was the feast - sometimes in harvest time the corn was reaped, the grain dried and ground into meal, and the bread kneaded, baked and eaten all on the same day. Bread and porridge (as it's made from oats) were popular dishes on this day. The newly gathered crop (at this time in history this would be new potatoes) provided the main dish at a festive meal in honour of the day. In many districts the first new potatoes were dug on the first Sunday in August. Everybody hoped to have the first crops ready for gathering at the traditional date, which began the harvest.

RTÉ will also broadcast the movie Dancing at Lunghasa following the live show.
Live RTE Lughnasa Ireland. Irish Community Images

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Lughnasa Celtic festival Live RTE Lunasa Ireland.