Lúghnasa celebrations at Craggaunowen

RTÉ will broadcast live from Quin’s Craggaunowen this Sunday in celebration of the ancient festival of Lúghnasa.
The live broadcast kicks off at 9.30pm on RTÉ One and will be followed by a screening of Brian Friel’s Dancing at Lughnasa.
The show will be a combination of chat, music and food where well-known celebrities will celebrate the ancient festival of Lúghnasa and reconnect the audience with what was traditionally one of the most important dates in the Irish calendar.
The live show will be broadcast from a very evocative location, Craggaunowen, an Iron Age fort, in front of an audience of 200. The award-winning pre-historic park is owned and operated by Shannon Heritage and is situated on 50 acres of wooded grounds in Quin.
Gráinne Seioge will be speaking with guests John Creedon, Mary McEvoy, Sinéad Kennedy, Colm Hayes and Paul Flynn and will explore different aspects of Lúghnasa folklore. Chef Paul Flynn will give a cooking demonstration of food from that period, while Moya Brennan and Sharon Corr will perform live music.
“RTÉ is excited to be bringing our audience this lively show full of chat and fun in celebration of Lúghnasa, which marks an important new chapter in the recognition of our magnificent heritage. The location of Craggaunowen has huge historical significance and RTÉ are looking forward to bringing its viewers a night to remember,” Colm Crowley, head of production for RTÉ Cork said.
Meanwhile, John Ruddle CEO of Shannon Heritage, the Shannon Development subsidiary said, “We are delighted that RTÉ has chosen to make Craggaunowen the focus of their Lúghnasa celebrations. The Lúghnasa theme is a perfect fit with our visitor attraction, which gives viewers a unique glimpse into living conditions in Ireland during the pre-historic and early Christian eras, showing them the type of farmsteads, hunting sites and other features of everyday life. One of the major features of a visit to Craggaunowen is the crannóg, a reconstructed lake-dwelling, on which people built houses, kept animals and lived in relative security. Craggaunowen also features a ring fort, part of an Iron Age road or Togher, which was originally laid in 148AD and the Brendan Boat used by Tim Severin to re-enact the voyage of St Brendan the Navigator, reputed to have discovered America centuries before Columbus.”
Lúghnasa marks the beginning of autumn and is among the four major Celtic feast days, the others being Imbolc on February 1, which marks spring; Bealtaine on May 1 marking the start of summer and Samhain on November 1 marking winter.
The name for the festival of Lúghnasa comes from the name of the god Lúgh and is also sometimes referred to as the feast of Lúgh.
The celebration marks the ripening of grain, specifically corn and also the weaning of calves and lambs and later in history, the festival included the maturing of potatoes.
It is celebrated on August 1 or else the first Sunday of August or the last Sunday of July. Lúghnasa was significant in pre-Christian times as it was a Celtic festival and part of the festivities included the lighting of fires and communal feasting.