Tuatha Dé Danann

The 2nd Tuatha Dé Danann festival will be taking place on Saturday, September 28th at a location near the Laois/Kildare border. Exact Eircode location issued to Ticket holders on purchase of tickets.

The rationale for this year’s event centres around re-seeding important aspects of “ Irishness” outside of the mainstream and into our communities. The primary focus this year will be on Irish music, the Irish language, Irish myth and legend and examinations of Irish spiritual traditions - with a few surprises thrown in for good measure. Guest speakers and performers lined up so far are as follows:

Thomas Sheridan and Gerry O'Neill will kick off proceedings with a conversation about Irish mythology and the Tuatha Dé Danann.

Máire Nic Oireachtaigh - Talks about how we can expand our use of the Irish language in easy and fun ways and flavor it into our everyday conversation.

John Waters, journalist & author , Dr. Anne McCloskey, and barrister Una McGurk engage in a wide-ranging discussion on important features of Irish culture, spirituality and soul.

Jeananne Crowley, actress and writer - in conversation with Gerry O'Neill. A chat focused on the historical and contemporary importance of Irish drama and the arts.

Louise Roseingrave, Journalist - exploring faith in the modern church with a special guest.

Caoimhe Hogarty - is a renowned Irish traditional & folk musician and singer. She is the Irish musical director for this year's Tuatha Dé Danann. A full line up of musicians playing through out the day and evening will be updated here soon.

Open Mic: During the evening session of craic agus ceoil any attendees who wish to speak, sing, recite a poem, read a passage, or contribute to the festivities will be afforded the opportunity to do so.

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Overview by Gerry O'Neill of The West's Awake:

The Irish language is a nettle we must grasp and make a commitment to start speaking again, even in a small way, I feel. Even a simple “ Dia Dhuit “ vibrates much higher than a “Hey” or “Hello” I would argue. Now, I say this as someone who is in no way fluent in the language’s use. But, to entertain notions of success we must make it a fun experience and an oral based tradition. So, perhaps, we start with a few words and phrases as Gaeilge flecked into our everyday conversation and move from there. So, if you have a current vocabulary of five words and at the end of your life that vocabulary is thirty words then that is progress in my book. I feel the revitalisation of the Irish language must happen outside of government and state control and should be a people centred enterprise.

On the day, I would be hoping to encourage people along with the guest speakers and performers, to set up their own localised, decentralised versions of Tuatha Dé Danann and we hope to have plenty of conversation with those in attendence on how this might be done. But, basically a Tuatha Dé Danann can take place in a kitchen, garden shed, under a tree, in a field, or with a few neighbours in the bog.

The day itself will be focused on relaxation, networking and a little learning with plenty of music and craic go leor to complement the speakers. This year will also involve a group walk to a second location (country pub) where one of the talks will take place along with more Irish music.

The Tuatha Dé Danann will be a full one day and evening event with kick off at approximately 10:30 am and probably running until the neighbouring cows come home. There will be camping and camper-van facilities on-site for the Saturday night for those interested. Similar to last year a full late afternoon/evening meal will be included in the price.

Event Tickets will be 75 euros per person.

Event Tickets with overnight camping will be 90 euros per person.

So, if you’d like register your interest please email me on lynbrook1973@gmail.com or text me on Whatsapp 085 1214347.