3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Wexford community celebrates Irish and Polish cultures as part of vibrant and fun festival
Polska Éire is a nationwide event which celebrates the cultural exchange and integration between the Irish and Polish communities in Ireland.
Polska Éire started in north Wexford 10 years ago, when Gorey library was contacted by the Polish Embassy to organise an event. After this first gathering, a group who were in attendance connected and decided to continue with the celebrations.
Speaking after the festival in Gorey, organiser Ola Riquet said, "What started as an afternoon in the library turned into this huge thing, which we are very proud of. It's something that was inspired by that afternoon but also by our children.
"Back then, our children were very small and some of us were only pregnant but we had a strong feeling that we have this amazing knowledge and heritage in us and we want to pass it on to our children. At the same time, we want our children to grow up as Irish citizens and be just a little bit richer because they have the knowledge from their parents'.
In the years since then, the group have held many more events, taking part in the Polska Éire festival and creating other events for Irish and Polish people to get involved with.
For the last two years, the group has gathered at Gorey Library every two weeks to introduce Polish legends to children. 'English speaking children are invited alongside Polish speaking children to listen to the legends of Poland. It's very interactive and we do arts and crafts to do with the legends. We dress up sometimes and make puppets. We have beautiful decorations that we painted,' said Ola. The group have also brought Polish music to Gorey, combining Polish music with traditional Irish music from the area. Among the events, are art exhibitions and screenings of Polish films at Gorey Cinema. On another special occasion, a delegation from Gorey travelled to Poland.
