Aughty Gathering gaining momentum

The South Galway and North East Clare regions will come together again this May for the 2011 Aughty Gathering.
Caher House on the shores of Lough Graney, famed in Brian Merriman’s Midnight Court, will this year provide the backdrop for the sixth Annual Aughty Gathering, which takes place on Saturday, May 7. 
The event was previously held in Crusheen, Kilchreest /Castledaly, Woodford, Tuamgraney and last year in Gort. The gathering is informal and is dedicated to hospitality. Everyone is welcome to attend and to share their knowledge and interest in the heritage of the Sliabh Aughty region.
The Aughty Gathering itself has been gaining momentum over the past five years and each year in a different location aims to celebrate our wonderful heritage. Heritage takes many forms; ancient, built, cultural, artistic and literary and living heritage projects to include some hugely valuable initiatives, being undertaken at community level right across Sliabh Aughty Communities.
The Gathering will welcome world-renowned musician Martin Hayes to this year’s events and he will share his experience of growing up on Lough Graney’s shores and how this experience has shaped him as a person and an artist in an interview with local broadcaster, Paula Carroll. Among the other highlights will be a presentation on the East Galway Ireland Reaching Out Project and one on the the Aughty Public Art Projects, the community focused art project taking place across the Aughty region.
Caher House, the venue for this year’s gathering, was home to the O’Hara family and later the O’Dwyers but has been restored to its original magnificence and is set among one of the most breathtakingly beautifully estates in Ireland.
This year’s programme includes all aspects of local heritage and will begin with a welcome from local poet and historian, Joe Noonan.
This will be followed by the first presentation of the gathering by Mary Noonan on the East Clare Way that will cover its very early genesis at local level to what later blossomed into the National Walking Route/The East Clare Way.
Cyril Killeen, will consider the benefits of the newly proposed Aughty Walking Festival, which is proposed to be held annually in the region.
The Lough Graney Youth Group undertook a very rewarding local initiative by capturing a snapshot in time of this very rural community. This culminated in the production of the prize winning film, Inside Out and the gathering will be privy to a presentation by the Youth Group and their directors on their production.
Cuimneamh an Chlair, the Clare based oral folklore initiative, spearheaded by Tomás MacConmara, has succeeded in amassing an extremely valuable fount of vivid and colourful memories from the local elderly community. Tomás will speak to the gathering on the value of having such a record both locally and nationally.
After lunch, which invites those in attendance to enjoy a short walk on the grounds of the Caher House estate, the afternoon kicks off with a presentation on the Reaching Out project, being undertaken in East Galway.
Mike Feerick will share the experience of a community reaching out to the huge Irish-Diaspora who may never have had the chance to visit our shores.
Meanwhile, Dr Áine Phillips of the Aughty Art group will give a short presentation on their work.
Furthermore Helen Hayes will present East Clare Musical Heritage and will speak on the experience of hosting the hugely successful Feakle International Music Festival held annually in August. Helen, a long time member of the organising committee will share the group’s experience to date.
This will be followed by the interview with musician Martin Hayes.
Admission to the whole event is free to ensure the ongoing communications with community groups across the Aughty’s, from Crusheen to Kichreest and from Shanaglish to Whitegate. Numbers are limited due to space restrictions and so early booking is advised and lunch bookings also need to be made in advance. Such enquiries can be made by calling Mary Noonan on 086 1078699, while details on the day’s timetable are available on www.aughty.org and volumes of publications by local authors will be available on the day.