Cashel Arts Fest 2013

Thursday 14th November 2013 | Sunday 17th November 2013

Cashel Arts Festival is a multi-disciplinary arts festival which aims to provide people with an opportunity for fun and entertainment during the shorter days and longer nights of November. It includes music, song, dance, art, film, theatre and literature. The voluntary organising committee place a strong emphasis on participation in the arts when choosing the programme of events. A wide variety of workshops for both children and adults makes up about half of the festival programme. So whether you want to sit back and be entertained or get ‘stuck in’ and learn something new, this festival will have something for you. Many events are free and some have special offers or concessions. The festival has strong links to the community it serves and artists involved in the festival are usually based in Ireland.

Cashel Scriptorium

A hands on Living History Experience. From the 17th to the 20th of June, Mikey Ryan’s Walled Garden will be transformed
into a medieval monastic Scriptorium.

Before the I Phone, before the mobile texts, before printed books, if you wanted to spread your message you had to write it down, and to do that you had to make your pen, your ink and your vellum too. Come and join us for an hour’s fun workshop and maybe illuminate your own mini-manuscript?

Curated by the Cashel Heritage Forum for Cashel Walled Towns Committee

Sharon Shannon Trio in Cashel

Sharon Shannon  Trio sponsored by Boru Stoves, will play Cashel Plaza open air stage on Saturday 24th of August. This is a ticket event, and is restricted by insurance to the first 500 with a Cannonball Queen Ticket. All  part  of a charity festival the Cashel Cannonball Gathering of Wheels,  in Aid of LauraLynn Irelands’ only Children’s Hospice. The Cannonball Queen tickets cost €10 each and are available from the town Heritage Centre or Billy Foley’s Bar.  The first 500 people with tickets on the night will be allowed into the VIP Plaza area. You may  listen without a ticket outside the Plaza  but you should be warned the festival will not cover your insurance outside the designated area and the Garda and Fire service  may move you on if the  crowd constitutes a risk.

Canon Ball Run

On Sunday CANNONBALL in aid of Laura Lynn House, makes its final stop in Cashel in Co Tipperary at 1.30pm with the thunderous roar of 160 super cars. Thousands of Cannonball Fans are expected to flock to Cashel for a full weekend of activities including the Gathering of Wheels, the Queen of Cannonball and to get up close and personal with most of the world’s top mark cars such as McLaren, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Porsche, Masseratti, Rolls Royce and Bentley. Local Cannonball organiser John McHugh from Cashel expects over 5,000 people to descend on the town for this adrenalin fueled event with family activities, live music and spectacular car drifting. Enthusiastic fans can take photographs, meet the drivers and enjoy a great family day out as the cars rest for a few hours on the Main Street in Cashel which will be closed off for the event before the final journey to Tullamore.

This adrenalin fuelled event is the largest organised road trip in Europe and the most exciting motoring and social event of the year. Over 100,000 people will line the streets all over Ireland as Cannonball, sponsored by Manhattan Popcorn, blazes a trail through towns and counties to raise funds for Laura Lynn House which supports children with life limiting conditions and their families by providing high quality transitional care, home support, respite, crisis and end-of-life care. The Cashel Cannonball Festival is one of the most anticipated highlights of the event with a whole weekend of Activities planned. The Queen of Cannonball was launched at Foleys in Cashel on July 24th where 14 ‘Cannonbelles’ vied for the coveted title of Queen of Cannonball! The winner will be chosen on August 23rd at a Gala event in Halla na Feile and will be whisked off in one of the Supercars to do the final stage of the event in one of the 160 Super Cars. The Cashel Cannonball Queen will go through the finish line with 10,000 spectators in Tullamore, join a wild VIP after party with 380 Cannonballers and special celebrity guests. On Saturday August 24th The Gathering of the Wheels takes place with an eclectic mix of wheels from Vintage cars to High Performance mega machines. The highlight of the weekend will be on Sunday as the Cannonball Convoy rolls into town with a thunderous roar at 1.30pm for a lunch pitstop before leaving at approx 3.30pm for its final journey to Tullamore.

CANNONBALL is the brainchild of AB Signs proprietor, Alan Bannon and is now in its fifth year having already raised nearly a half a million euro for Children’s charities. The event and each stop is infused with an electric atmosphere featuring Brazilian dancers, snake charmers, fire eaters, music and this year some of the host towns have 2 day CANNONBALL festivals to welcome the event. Spectators and car enthusiasts along the route will hear the roar of the mighty convoy as they approach and all prestige cars are on view to the public as they cross the finish line at the end of each day. Cannonballers wear colourful costumes and fancy dress just like the original movie and this year are urging spectators and fans along the route to do the same! Cashel will be a sight to behold as sultry nurses, corrupt NYPD police officers, 70’ disco kings, mustachioed racing drivers, grid girls and many more get set for this mad cap adventure.

The star-studded convoy includes some of Irelands best loved celebrities. An Taoiseach Enda Kenny has even stepped up to drop the Cannonball Flag. World Famous chart topper BRUNO MARS has joined Boyzone’s Shane Lynch who is signed up for his fifth Cannonball along with former Miss World Rosanna Davison and boyfriend Wes Quirke whilst celebrity chef Rachel Allen, The Voice Presenter Kathryn Thomas, TV3’s Elaine Crowley and RTE’s Miriam O Callaghan have also had a Cannonball pit stop or two. Models Georgia Salpa, Aisling Quinn, Hazel O Sullivan, Emma Quinlan and Holly Carpenter have been keen Cannonballers over the years and this year Roz Purcell, Nadia Forde, Kerri Nicole Blanc and Rachel Wallace will set temperatures soaring in the Tan Organic Car. Gerald Keane, Lisa Murphy and Mick Galway are also gearing up for Cannonball 5 so 2013 will not disappoint in the celeb stakes.

CANNONBALL 2013 consists of 3 action packed days taking in some of Ireland’s most scenic routes. On day one, the cars will leave Mondello Race Track in Naas, Co Kildare at 12.30pm and arrive at the Manor House Hotel in Abbeyleix for a lunch stop at 1.30pm. The next CANNONBALL pit stop is Ballymaloe House in Middleton at 4.30pm before the gleaming convoy arrives in Cork at 6.30pm and makes its way throughPatrick St, which will be closed for the event, to the Port of Cork with a reception at Gatley’s Boardwalk Bar and Grill. On Saturday August 24th, CANNONBALL leavesCorkat 10am to take in a stunning drive through Glenboy and then on to Kenmare for lunch at the Sheen Falls Hotel at 1.30. At 3.30 the gleaming covoy will take in Molls Gap between Kenmare and Killarney before arriving toLimerickat 6pm. On Sunday morning Cannonballers will leaveLimerickat 10am and go to Killaloe for a very special Gathering of the ‘Men of the Water’ and the official start of Day 3 at 11am. From there the cars will move on to Cashel inTipperaryat 1.30pm where they will close a Cannonball Festival. Cannonball then arrives to Tullamore inCountyOffalyat 5pm for the finish line with the 2FM Roadcaster where the roars of the engines will compete with a cheering crowd of over 10,000 people and a 2 day music festival.

Queen Elizabeth’s Visit

Queen’s Visit

Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh arrived at the Rock of Cashel this morning by royal helicopter, hovering over the site which was the former ecclesiastical capital of Ireland.

Her visit to the Rock, the traditional seat of the kings of Munster for several hundred years prior to the Norman invasion in 1169, marked yet another milestone in the history of Irish /English relations. As Queen of England, she became the first reigning British monarch to visit this imposing site, since her forebear King Henry II visited in 1171,  although King George IV is believed to have visited the site, while a guest of the Mathew family in Thurles, while then Prince Regent, and prior to ascending the British Throne in 1820.

On landing she was driven from the helicopter by the state Bently to the summit of the rocks outcrop. To loud applause from a group of invited guests and local dignitaries, the Queen went on to visit the 15th century building known as the Hall of the Vicars Choral. She examined a 13th century bronze enamelled Crozier, said to have belonged to Bishop King, Cormac McCarthy, together with the ancient Cashel bell, dating from early 9th century.

Many residents in Cashel felt that security was too tight and regretted not getting a closer view and a chance to properly show their appreciation to the Queen, on her acceptance of their invitation to visit.

Air Race

Cashel hosts air race thousands

Cashel is undergoing a make-over as it prepares itself for the Red Bull Air Race which is being held in the town this Sunday. The most important changes being made are the construction of a 500m temporary runway complete with nine plane hangars and a five storey air traffic control tower.

Both the control tower and the runway are located near to the Rock of Cashel, which is set to act as a backdrop to the dramatic spectacle. The runway, which has been approved by the Irish Aviation Authority, is a 500m strip of grass that has been sheared and rolled, in order to create a safe surface for landing planes. The event is the fourth leg of the Red Bull Air Race World Series 2005 and crowds in excess of 60,000 are expected.

Already 45,000 tickets have been given away for the competition and a production team of 250 people are working in the area. As well as this a security crew of between 50-70 people have been installed to patrol the event and around 70 international journalists are in the town to cover it.

Inevitably, given the scale of the event, traffic restrictions have been put in place. Road closures will take place between Thursday and Sunday due to practice runs which are taking place in the lead up to the race. The roads closed will be the Boherlahan to Cashel Road, at the cross of the four roads, on the Dundrum to Cashel road, from Mac’s cross, the Ardmayle village road and the Junction at Camas Bridge. These closures will take place between 10 am-12.30 pm on Thursday 21st July, between 1.30 pm-5.30 pm on Friday 22nd of July, between 2 pm – 5 pm on Saturday 23rd July and between 11am and 5.30 pm on Sunday 24th of July.

Further to this no traffic will be allowed out of the Camas road and there will also be a barrier at the Friar Street/Main Street/Canopy Street junction as well as the Moor lane/Ladyswell Street Junction. Access by buses will be allowed for the purpose of entering the Rock car park. Ample car parks are to be provided and they will be properly sign-posted. There will also be diversions in place to ensure motorists can transgress the town with the minimum of delay. Patrons are advised to arrive early for the event and to utilise fully the parking facilities in place.

The Air Race is described as a “high performance motor sport” and comprises 9 pilots who are required to fly a slalom course and perform a number of aerobatic manoeuvres in the fastest time possible. This combination of speed and skill seems to appeal to the Irish public as 123,000 tickets have already been demanded. Unfortunately only 45,000 tickets are available so many have gone without. However they can still view the race on TV3.

The Rock of Cashel is the third location to be used in this world wide event and other venues include Abu Dhabi, Rotterdam, Zeltweg in Austria, Longleat in the UK, Budapest and San Francisco. The Air Race is a truly international event with pilots coming from America, the UK, France, Spain, Germany, Hungary and the Netherlands. It will be broadcast in 25 countries world-wide to over 20 million people.

The idea of the race was originally conceived by Red Bull and Hungarian pilot, Peter Besenyei, in 2001. Since then five races have been held over 2003 and 2004. Such was the success of these races that Red Bull decided to create a world series, which consists of seven events across the world.

The organisers say the sport has been a huge success and are delighted with the response from both pilots and spectators. World Aerobatic champion, Peter Besenyei (Hungary), describes it as the “ultimate aviation discipline. There is no other competition that places such high demands on pilots’ flying skills as this race in the sky.”

Story by Diarmuid Carter