29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Rich history of Wicklow's ‘Granite Village' celebrated during heritage and music festival
The village has a rich history based on the granite quarried for almost two centuries, and the tradition of stone-cutting still plays an important role.
The festival featured everything from a choir performance in Valleymount Church and a stone-cutting museum in McEvoy's Quarry, to guided hikes, a family fun day and live music each night in Cullen's Lakeview Lounge.
Before the festival began, volunteers clear the old stone walls in preparation for Féile an Chnocáin.
One of the festival organisers, Pauline Foster said: 'Volunteers got out and cleaned the old stone walls and removed all the weeds and growth from the walls to reveal the lovey granite wall. It's something we are going to continue over the year.'
The festival got under way with a concert by Ballymore Connect Choir in St Joseph's Church, Valleymount.
Things kicked off again the following day, with a talk and sideshow on the flooding of Blessington Lake proving a major attraction.
'Seamus Cullen delivered the talk and we had enough seating for 40 people at St. Joseph's Community Hall, only for 143 people to show up, so we had to go around and get some extra seating, but it was great to see such a large attendance,' added Pauline.
On the Sunday, Patrick Ward led a guided walk up Silséan, with everyone meeting in Cullen's car park for 10.45am.
Pauline added: 'Patrick is a local man who takes part in adventure races, so he knows the hills like the back of his hand. Around 35 people attended the walk.'
McEvoy's Quarry held a stonecutting and heritage museum on the Saturday, which drew large crowds throughout the day, featuring stone splitting, poetry reading, stone lifting and live music.
Pauline added: 'The museum featured an old crane which had been reassembled and was used around 70 to 80 years ago, maybe even longer, which picked up and lifted large granite rocks. Indiana Stones also held a demonstration on the ancient art of stone lifting.'
One of the highlights of the festival was the action-packed family fun day held in the picnic area on the Sunday.
Pauline said: 'All the village seemed to get out for the family fun day, as well as plenty of visitors from Blessington and surrounding areas. We were also blessed with the weather. It was a bit breezy but bone dry. Overall we were delighted with how well attended all the evets were, and the festival ended on te Monday with a great open trad session and live music in Cullen's Lakeview Lounge.'
