Lawrencetown May Success 2002

It was sun, fun and “mun” all the way during the record breaking May Weekend Festival in Lawrencetown. “The best village in Ireland” is how Mick McGivern described it after he had won the “Who wants to be a millionaire” competition and a lovely prize of €500. Every event from Friday evening to Monday night was hugely successful and of course the continuous sunshine made it wonderfully enjoyable for people of all ages.

The cemetery Mass on the Friday evening in the ancient Lisheen graveyard brought the congregation back to their Celtic roots where the natural beauty of the setting was enhanced by the singing of the birds while the cattle and sheep kept a respectable distance. The Arts and Crafts exhibition was once again a great success demonstrating the great talent that is to be found in the locality. The Saturday open air market made a very promising debut and the barbecued pig was a real hit. The Gig Race through the village and the Tug-O-War competition were very exciting and keenly contested.

Sunday morning’s Clay Pigeon Shoot was a huge event and it went on for 4 hours. This was followed by the East Galway Point-to-Point where the number of horses running and the attendance were both records. The eight races were ran in brilliant sunshine and the day was a complete success.

Monday’s schools hurling tournament had entries from all the schools in the area with Clonfert beating Creagh in a well contested final. Novelty events such as the Bouncing Castle, the Balloon Race, Pony Rides, the Dog races and the Donkey Derby all provided great entertainment for the huge crowds. A fascinating event was the launch of a Hot Air Balloon from the village and there were gasps of wonder as it rose majestically into the air and sailed away into the western sky.

Competition Results:
Set Dancing, Nancy Shiels and Kathleen Campbell, Mary Treacy and Moira Kelly,
Old Time Waltzing, Judy and Brendan Kelly,
Quick Step, Christy Higgins and Phyllis Colohan.

Tug-o-War, Pardy’s Pub Team,
Donkey Derby, Michael Callanan on “Lucky”,
Small Dog Race, Elaine Tully’s “Freda”,
Big Dog Race, Michelle Hopkins’ “Rocky”,
Best Turned Out Dog, Damien Dolan’s “Rover”,
Clay Pigeon Shoot, Brendan Dervan and Seán Colohan.
Who wants to be a Millionaire, Mick McGivern.

James Joyce
PRO Lawrencetown Festival

May 2000

Large crowds attended

This was the third year of the Lawrencetown May Festival and it was probably the best so far. Every event ran smoothly and the beautiful sunny weather made it most enjoyable for the huge crowds who attended.

On Friday evening Mass was celebrated in Calvery Cemetery in memory of all the deceased members of the community.

Later in the local hall, the Festival was opened by Mr. Conor Morris CEO, Co. Galway VEC who was loud in his praise of the dedicated work being performed in the Lawrencetown area by the Lawrencetown Community Enterprise Company. The Arts and Crafts Exhibition featured works from a wide range of very talented people including well-known locals artists Paddy Walsh, Gertie Kenny, Bill Pardy, William Egan and Diane Murray.

A special feature of this year’s festival was the first time visit of a youth group from Lawrencetown in Co. Down who teamed up with the local youth group and had a ball for the whole weekend. The youth group entertained everybody on Friday evening with some sketches from their history, singing, dancing, poetry recitation, and much more. The two Lawrencetown groups enjoyed such activities as indoor soccer in the Complex in Kiltormer, swimming in The Shannon Oaks, Karting in Pallas Tynagh, discos, youth club events, and a trip to Petersburg outdoor activity centre in Clonbur. A return visit to Co. Down is already being planned for next year although some that received a slight tap of Cupid’s arrow may not be able to wait that long.

Donal and Niamh pardy won Saturday’s Treasure Hunt and the runners-up were Patty Cullinane, Aileen Pardy and Liam Pardy. The Tug-o-War on Saturday night was a bruising affair and after some mighty pulls the winners were Pakie Dervan’s Team in the mens’ section and Carmel Mannion’s team in the ladies section.

On Sunday the Clay Pigeon Shoot, sponsored by Brendan Lynch, proved to be very popular and after a great battle the winners were Michael Nee, Niall Cox and Vincent McEvoy. It was a great disappointment to many that because of heavy overnight rain it was decided to postpone the Community Sports to a later date.

Monday was all sports featuring Hurling, Camógie and Gaelic Football. The Hurling tournament, sponsored by Donal Pardy, was played between 8 local National Schools and for the third year in a row the final was between the two parish schools, Kiltormer and Lawrencetown. It was a very close final right through but despite the Trojan efforts of Brendan Kenny, Shane Staunton, William Dervan, and the rest of the Lawrencetown team, the more balanced Kiltormer team edged ahead in the second half to win by a single goal. Starring for Kiltormer were Tommy Kilkenny and their Captain, Gerard Glynn who accepted the Cup for the third time in a row for Kiltormer.

The merry-making went on long into the nights with plenty of music to suit most tastes. The Karaoke competition was a smashing success and the winners were Robert Howard, Stephenie O’Shea and Teresa Seale. Lawrencetown’s version of ‘Blind Date’ was most enjoyable with the contestants' witty questions only being surpassed by the answers. The Dog racing resulted in wins for ‘Nell’ owned by Caithiona O’Shea, ‘Rocky’ owned by Michelle Hopkins and the best turned out went to ‘Brandy’ owned by Ann Lynch.

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