Feile Roise Rua

Last weekend, May 17th-19th, Arranmore Island played host to the Feile Róise Rua!

The festival was a triumph, by all accounts, every single person travelling from Arranmore Island after the weekend had something wonderful to say about the people, music and the island itself. Congratulations to all involved!

This is the first year of the festival and our team look forward to it returning. If you're unaware of the festival, in the teams own words, from their website:

This inaugural festival is the culmination of many hours, weeks and months of discussion and organization by the Féile committee, a newly formed voluntary group interested in perpetuating the memory of Róise na nAmhrán and in sharing the wealth of song and story associated with Róise Rua and Arranmore Island.

The central part of the festival’s ethos is to celebrate and nurture unaccompanied song, the essence of Róise’s legacy. The festival is not so much based on performance as on the sharing of songs, tunes and stories that might otherwise be lost. Hence the essential activity will be of unaccompanied singing sessions at various locations on the island.

Our team were very busy ferrying people back and forth to the island all weekend, some managed to keep the fun going, even when they were leaving!

Paddle Boarding

In addition to all the music, arts and crafts over the weekend there was also the opportunity to try out Paddle Boarding from our friends over at Maghery Coastal Adventures. We're glad the sun stayed out for everyone who braved the Atlantic water.