Weather smiles on bustling Brian Ború festival

TEMPERATURES soared to 28 degrees Celsius on Sunday as hundreds of local and visiting revellers enjoyed a wide variety of family fun during the concluding day of the annual Féile Brian Ború.

Organisers were blessed with some of the hottest days along the banks of Lough Derg compared to the corresponding days in recent years.

This ensured there was a huge influx of day trippers to Killaloe and Ballina last weekend for various water and land based activities for all the family.

One of the highlights of the festival was the Féile Fireworks display over the lake on Saturday night.

There wasn’t a cloud in the sky as the fireworks exploded spectacularly in red, orange, green and blue fireballs, bringing gasps from the crowd who lined up along Killaloe Bridge and at various vantage points in the two twin communities.

It costs in the region of €12,000 to run the festival every year and Arlene White said the organising committee were delighted with the weather and the feedback from festival goers.

“I think the weather was one of the highlights. I don’t think we ever got four such good days before. A lot of people are talking about the fireworks because we didn’t have a display since 2019.

“It was great to see so many people out and about attending and enjoying events, which brought a lot of trade to businesses.

“Workshops on Saturday for making battle flags and fairies sold out in a matter of days. Twelve families were involved in the build your own fort at Brian Ború’s Fort. People were very happy with the variety of events on offer. We are getting nothing but positive feedback.

“The film-making workshops were also very popular. Emmet Kelly, an award-winning actor, and writer, who provided these workshops was very impressed by the participants and said Killaloe teenagers were so much nicer than any other place he had been,” she said.

Ms White said the committee, which has just four people including Ms White, Paddy Collins and Cillian O’Meara and Eugene McDonagh, a son-in-law of former chairman, the late John Grimes, were happy but tired.

She recalled people were very willing to volunteer their time and equipment when needed and have pledged to help out next year with organising events.

Unfortunately, the planned LED fly-boarding didn’t take place due to a late technical issue with equipment, which couldn’t be resolved, but it was a rare hiccup for the successful festival.

More than 50 dogs were entered in this year’s Strut your Mutt Dog Show with 10 categories, including Handsomest Dog, Prettiest Bitch, Golden Oldie, Sweetest Puppy, Most Appealing Eyes, Waggiest Tail, Best Rescue Dog, Child’s Best Friend, Best Groomed and Scruffiest Dog.

Reilly, a Red Setter owned by Eleanor and Bob Bradwell, who won the Waggiest Tail category, also won Best Dog in Show.

In total, €323 was raised for Limerick Animal Welfare. The organisers thanked everyone who took part, donated prizes and contributed to this worthy cause.

Forty-seven swimmers took part in this year’s Shannon Swim, the largest number of entries in recent years.

The swim from Pier Head to Killaloe Bridge was led by Finn McGeever, who represented Team Ireland at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Prizes were presented in four categories: Eimear Doyle won the Ladies Open category and the overall title. Sinead Reidy was second and Wendy Szaranek was third.

In the Men’s Open, Johnny O’Loughlin was first, Morgan O’Reilly was second and Donagh O’Sullivan was third.

Nathan Thinners was first in the U-16 category and Sine Conroy was second.

Because the festival organisers had so many entries on the day, they added a special category.

The winners were first, Louise Tottenham, second, Garry Madden and third, Jane Keating.

The kayaking taster sessions on Saturday, which were provided as part of Féile Brian Ború made a big splash on the lake as more than 200 participants including adults and children tried out this water sport.

A spokesman for My Next Adventure described the interest as “insane” and thanked everyone who tried out kayaking and their “phenomenal and talented guides”, who played a vital role in an amazing day.

Their kayaking trips continue every day throughout the summer.

Killaloe Sailing Club had to put on extra sailings for their 30 minute sailing near Killaloe Bridge on Saturday.