Tag Archives: Craggaunowen

Craggaunowen will be transformed into a Viking village with medieval games, battle creations and a celebration of Norse arts, crafts and trades this August Bank Holiday Weekend. ‘The Viking Age at Craggaunowen’ will provide visitors with an insight into how the pagan warriors lived in Ireland during the 9th and 10th centuries. The highlight of the weekend will be the battle recreations on the Castle Green at 12noon, 2pm and 4pm daily when warring warriors demonstrate their fierce fighting and defensive skills. Visitors will be able to don the suits of chain-mail and hold a Viking Helmet, shield and other armoury once used for protection during the intense battles that raged across Ireland over 1,000 years ago. Visitors will have the opportunity to see and experience what life was like during the Viking Age at a recreated village where historically accurate workshop tents will host crafters demonstrating their trading, leather working, and wicket basket and jewellery making skills. Kids of …

The popular East Clare visitor attraction of Craggaunowen is set to undergo a significant upgrade during 2024. Clare County Council has announced a €1m investment in the popular East Clare visitor attraction, which reopens to the public for the 2024 season on St. Patrick’s Day. Centred around a 16th century castle, the 20-acre site recreates what life would have been like for the Bronze Age inhabitants of Ireland and features reconstructions of ancient Irish architecture, including a dolmen, crannógs and the original ‘Brendan Boat’ used by Tim Severin during his 1973 recreation of the transatlantic voyage of St. Brendan the Abbot. Amongst the works earmarked for completion during 2024 is the upgrade of Craggaunowen’s signature crannógs and woven hut lake dwellings, along with the bridge that connects them to the remainder of the site. A new playground themed on St. Brendan’s Voyage will be developed, while significant upgrades to the public carpark, public toilet facilities, fencing and pathways will be …

IT WAS a wonderful Easter weekend at two of Clare’s premier attractions – Bunratty Castle and Folk Park and Craggaunowen. The Clare Champion’s mascot Daisy certainly had a great time at both venues. We’re certainly blessed to have such great amenities on our doorstep in the Banner County.

AN attempt will be made in Clare this month to carve a replica of a recently discovered wooden pagan idol. The 2.5m oak carved idol, which is over 1,600 years old, was unearthed by archaeologists with Clare-based firm AMS (Archaeological Management Solutions). On Saturday, August 28, AMS staff, members UCD’s Centre for Experimental Archaeology and Material Culture and the Pallasboy Vessel Project (UCC) will endeavour to carve a replica of the Gortnacrannagh Idol at Craggaunowen’s Living Past Experience. Work on the replica will start at 10am and continue throughout the day with visitors to the site able to watch the progress. Dr Ros Ó Maoldúin of AMS explained, “Since the Gortnacrannagh Idol is such a unique and significant find, we are making a replica to help us understand the idol better and appreciate how it was made. “It will be possible for people to see this in action at the Craggaunowen Archaeology Park in County Clare during the last weekend …

CONCERN in the Quin area over the ongoing closure of two local Shannon Heritage sites has prompted a call for an action committee to ensure their future. With the advent of the pandemic last March, five sites in Clare and Limerick faced an uncertain future, due to the collapse in overseas visitor numbers. Only Bunratty Castle and Folk Park and King John’s Castle in Limerick have managed to stay open after intense campaigns involving staff, unions and politicians, and a promise of funding from government – the exact details of which are still being ironed out. Ger O’Halloran of Quin, a businessman and former local election candidate, has pleaded with those responsible not to abandon Knappogue Castle and Craggaunowen, and called for a local action committee to be established. “To look at Knappogue now, it is locked up and unkempt looking,” he remarked. “The longer it is closed, the more it will cost to get it open again. To maintain …

FUTURE development of tourism in East Clare will require new strategies to ensure that key historical sites are sustained as drivers of economic activity, according to a local TD. Scariff’s Deputy Michael McNamara has made the case, once again, for an alternative management structure for the Clare sites operated currently by Shannon Heritage. Since the advent of the pandemic, sites like Craggaunowen and Knappogue Castle outside the village of Quin have remained closed, amid a steep fall-off in international visitor numbers. Bunratty Castle and Folk Park, which had been set to close in the autumn, secured an eleventh hour reprieve after a government funding injection of €2.6m. The money will enable it and King John’s Castle to stay open until the end of this year. Speaking to Scariff Bay Community Radio, the Independent TD said he had raised the need to support the wider Shannon Group, with Micheál Martin, before and since his election as Taoiseach. Deputy McNamara added that …

ONE of the pioneers of tourism in Clare would be “turning in his grave” at the decision to curtail access to Shannon Heritage facilities, a local authority member has said. Councillor Pat Hayes has slammed the decision to keep Knappogue Castle and Craggaunowen closed until further notice, in response to the pandemic, and to limit the season for Bunratty Castle and Folk Park. He said the situation flew in the face of the legacy of Dr Brendan O’Regan, who was instrumental in developing the amenities. “Given how important domestic tourism will be this year, and the fact that people are looking for facilities close to home, the decision is very disappointing,” he said. “As well as their importance to tourism in the midwest, these are vital facilities in terms of Irish history and heritage. Dr Brendan O’Regan would be turning in his grave over this.” The Fianna Fáil member there is now a strong case for a local authority take-over …

Shannon Heritage has announced that an 11% increase in visitor numbers was recorded in 2014, offering further evidence of a resurgence in local tourism and indeed in the domestic economy. Shannon Heritage employs more than 300 people during peak season and it operates seven daytime visitor attractions, including Bunratty Castle and Folk Park, Craggaunowen, Knappogue Castle and Walled Garden, Dunguaire Castle, the Brian Boru Heritage and Malahide Castle and Gardens. It also has another four evening attractions, with medieval banquets at Bunratty, Knappogue and Dunguaire Castle, as well as a traditional Irish night at Bunratty Folk Park. Overall, they drew 637,000 visitors last year, with the day attractions up by more than 13%, while there are said to have been particular gains from Britain, America and Europe. Indeed, last year was the company’s most successful in terms of visitor numbers since 2007. The single biggest success among the Shannon Heritage operations last year was at King John’s Castle in Limerick, …