Music amongst the Mosaics in Timoleague

The programme for the annual music festival in Timoleague has been published and includes some very interesting concerts all taking place in the Church of the Ascension in Timoleague. These concerts are always popular and are great value at euro 15 per ticket. Also, remember that Timoleague Castle Gardens are open for ticket holders to picnic from 6pm on concert evenings.

Sunday, 29th June at 8pm Music for a Maharajah. Utsav Lal. Raga pianist with tabla percussion

Sunday, 6th July at 8pm Beyond the Pale. Music of the 17th century including Castello, Corelli, Purcell, Uccellini and others

Sunday, 20th July at 8pm Jenny Robinson ensemble. Programme includes Telemann, Banch and other renaissance composers.

Sunday, 27th July at 8pm Trioca. Programme includes Bax, Hamilton Harty, Telemann and Ravel.

Booking Number 023 46236 or 087 633 1483. www.timoleague.ie

Innishannon Flower Festival

The launch of the Innishannon Flower Festival is this evening at 7pm. This is a joint venture between St Marys Roman Catholic Church and Christ Church Innishannon Church of Ireland and the funds will be split between their respective restoration projects. The cause is a worthy one and the entrance fee is only euro 10 which includes the admission to the festival in both churches and tea in the national school opposite St Marys Church.

Many Flower Clubs are taking part in this festival and the churches look truly amazing inside. Take yourself down to Innishannon over the next few days. You can even buy some plants at the plant sale in the tent at the back of Christ Church.

Innishannon Flower Festival – 25th, 26th, 27th April, 2008

The parishioners of St Marys and Christ  Church Innishannon will stage a flower festival jointly on the weekend of 25th, 26th and 27th April, 2008 as a fund raiser for their respective churches.  The opening ceremony will take place on Friday, 25th April at 7pm.  Opening times for the festival are Saturday and Sunday   12pm – 6pm.  Tickets are euro 10 and will be available at the door.  The Theme is celebrating community

West Cork Calling Tourism Group launches blog and revamped website

Kilbrogan House is part of West Cork Calling, a co-operative network of businesses spread across West Cork that offers a wide range of courses, activities and accommodation.  The group has been set up by the members themselves who were part of a Mergo initiative put together by Failte Ireland, the Irish Tourist Board.  The West Cork Calling network should enable the participants to market their products directly to the customer without sizeable individual advertising costs and/or costs associated with marketing via a third party.

Many local networks exist within towns in the region.  This group felt that a diverse network spread throughout the region would complement the local networks.  The ultimate aim of the group is to get members to work together to offer packages.

The network allows small and large businesses to participate together as the barrier to entry in terms of financial outlay is low and there is no exit barrier.  All the participants strive to achieve a common goal of attracting tourist to the region and at the same time offering first class products.  It is anticipated that the network will double in size over the next 12 months giving the customer an even wider choice of products and services.

For anybody interested the contact details are as follows:

www.westcorkcalling.com  and email: westcorkcalling@gmail.com

Bandon’s St Patricks Day Parade

Full marks go to the organizers of the Bandon St Patricks Day parade as it gets better and better every year.  We did miss a pipe band and some Irish dancers so perhaps we could aim to include those next year.  All the groups and individuals that paraded from the scouts to the farmers on their classic tractors and the classic cars were great as was the performance by the Fanzini Brothers before and after the parade itself.

Our American guests from Chicago loved the old tractors.  They were expecting our river to be green like in Chicago but aside from that, they loved the small intimate feel of our parade compared with their massive parade.  They had a great lunch afterwards at The Poachers Inn

A visit to Lismore Castle and Gardens

Last weekend we had the good fortune to take part in a cream tea in Lismore Castle itself in aid of the Lismore Travel Writers Festival. It is a rare treat for the public to gain admission to the grand medieval style pugin banqueting hall. The original castle was built in 1185 so is steeped in history. It was acquired by the current owners, the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, in 1753 and was then remodelled in gothic style using cut stone shipped in from Derbyshire near their residence, Chatsworth House.

60 of us sat down to an old fashioned style cream tea and were warmly welcomed by Lord and Lady Burlington. Lord Burlington is the son of the present Duke of Devonshire. After tea, we were taken on a very informative tour of the garden by the head gardener. Dozens of camellias and all kinds of varieties of magnolias were in full bloom as were a sea of daffodils. The gardens and Lismore Art Gallery which is housed in a once derelict west wing of the castle are open to the public.

We would highly recommend a visit to Lismore Castle Gardens. The many herbaceous borders are a sight to behold in the summer months.

We wish the Lismore Travel Writers event every success and congratulate the Burlingtons for their kind sponsorship.

Incidentally Kilbrogan House was built by the Duke of Devonshire in 1818 but was sold off in the late 1800s.

The Fanzini Brothers visit Kilbrogan House

Yesterday  at Kilbrogan House we were fortunate to have a visit from the Fanzini Brothers who were performing at the Bandon St Patricks Day parade. I highly recommend their show to anybody who is looking for a couple of multi talented entertainers. They have been performing for years and easily adapt to all age groups. These two hail from the gaeltacht hence are multi lingual.