Féile na Tuaithe returns to Turlough Park

The National Museum of Ireland, in partnership with Mayo Co Council, has announced the return of the hugely popular Féile na Tuaithe – Turlough Park. This renowned free family festival returns to the grounds of the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life, Turlough Park, Castlebar on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 May 2014. 

There was great disappointment when Féile na Tuaithe was cancelled in 2011 due to lack of budgets. However, funding is now in place to re-launch this exciting festival onto the events calendar this summer. The refreshed and updated programme of events will include a variety of craft demonstrations and workshops, children’s activities, musical entertainment as well as a tented food market (with many changes to this part of the programme since the last event in 2011). 

Féile na Tuaithe - Turlough Park is a natural extension of the Museum’s purpose of bringing families together to enjoy quality time and learn about the traditions of bygone days.

Tony Candon, manager keeper of the Museum of Country Life, said: 'It is a great pleasure for me and for the Museum staff to have Féile na Tuaithe back in Turlough Park in 2014.  I am particularly pleased that we are doing this in collaboration with Mayo County Council, and I’m very grateful for their support.  If the Museum of Country Life is very much about the lives of ordinary people in rural Ireland in the relatively recent past, Féile na Tuaithe is an extension of the Museum’s remit to bring the craft dimension of the lives of our recent ancestors to public attention in an enjoyable and family-friendly way.  The wonderful atmosphere, and the tens of thousands of people who came in the past, are testament of the Museum’s success in creating an enjoyable celebration of all that is best in Irish craftsmanship.  I look forward to the same again this coming May.'

Mayo County Manager, Peter Hynes stated: 'Mayo County Council welcomes the re-establishment of a major national event which celebrates rural life. We look forward to working with the National Museum of Ireland and all of the other stakeholders to make this a significant success which will become an annual feature in the national calendar'.

About the Museum

The award-winning National Museum of Ireland, Country Life at Turlough Park near Castlebar, Co. Mayo is the only branch of the National Museum outside Dublin. It opened in September 2001 and is home to the National Folklife collection which represents traditional life in Ireland throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Fascinating artefacts deal with domestic life, agriculture, fishing and hunting, clothing and textiles, furniture and fittings, trades and crafts, transport, sports and leisure and religion. The Museum exhibitions will be open during Féile na Tuaithe and admission to Féile and to the Museum is free.

The museum runs programmes for adults, families and schools to raise awareness of the Museum collection and the associated traditional crafts, customs and traditions. The programmes consist of talks, demonstrations and performances as well as hands-on art and craft workshops.

Located eight km east of Castlebar (on the N5), the Museum’s facilities include free parking, shop and café, audio-visual room and activity and resource rooms. All Museum buildings are wheelchair accessible.