To coincide with the celebration of the ancient festival of Lughnasadh, The Mogh Roith Historical Re-enactment Society will stage an event at Craggaunowen on the 3rd & 4th of August 2008 from 11am - 5pm each day.
The ancient Festival of Lughnasadh honoured the Celtic God Lugh and celebrates the arrival of the harvest season. Each day of the festival there will be several displays demonstrating various apsects of Ireland's history and heritage from different time periods, with showcase events such as a Brehon Law Trial and a hand-to-hand combat demonstration.
This display will take place at the fulacht fiadh, and will feature re-enactors in Bronze Age costume, demonstrating and discussing aspects of Bronze Age technology and lifestyle. The fulacht fiadh was an ancient cooking site, and may also have been used for processing of wool. A range of replica bronze age clothing, artefacts, weapons and jewellery will also be on display and visitors will have the opportunity to touch, inspect, and even try on for photo opportunities!
The Iron Age display will be at the Crannóg, and will cover the La Tene period of Irish Archaeology, when Celtic art, religion and language first entered the country. As well as a range of weapons and tools, there will be costumed re-enactors demonstrating period musical instruments, stone-carving, cooking, weaving and dyeing.
Described as Ireland's Golden Age, the Early Christian period display will demonstrate a range of aspects of life from 8th Century Ireland, including ancient hurling and board-games, textile production, bread making, weapons and manuscript illustration
The medieval display at the castle will showcase Ireland's medieval period, and feature demonstrations of tapestry, spinning and embroidery, and will offer the braver visitors a chance to explore the weapons and armour of the Anglo-Norman and native Gaelic warriors and soldiers who once inhabited Craggaunowen castle.
There will be 18 costumed re-enactors and several children in period clothing, all of whom have many years of experience as historical interpreters and living historians.
Named after the infamous druid of the same name, Mogh Roith is a group dedicated to re-enacting the history of the island of Ireland from Neolithis times to the 17th Century.
