Athenry Walled Towns Day 2022

Come and enjoy Athenry's Walled Towns Day on Sunday 14th August

from 1:00pm-5:00pm. The main festival will be held in Athenry Park 

with archery and free guided tours in the Athenry Heritage Centre.

This years event has lots of fun activities for all ages to enjoy.

There's medieval music, crafts, children's puppet shows, demonstrations of 

medieval weapons and battle reenactments. 

Take a walking tour of the Anglo-Norman town and discover the history

of the Dominican Priory with Dr. Jeff Dann.

Maddens Forge will hold blacksmithing demonstrations and become an 

archeologist for the day with Dr. Christy Cunniffe. 

 Athenry's Walled Towns Day 2022 Programme

All events for Athenry's Walled Towns Day are free and accessible to all.

Enjoy meeting the exhibitors which include medieval food displays, crafts,

battle reenactments with the 1316 Fight Club, birds of prey display, knight school, 

children's craft workshops, medieval music with the Galway Early Music and local 

harpist Una Ni Flannagain. 

Maddens Forge has balcksmithing demonstrations with Stephen Quinn and join 

Gerry Burke as he brings you on a tour of the town. This tour will also include visits

to all the capital works programme carried out by Galway County Council. 

Enjoy an evening of music and storytelling with Little John Nee on Thursday 16th September 2021. The event will be performed in the Athenry Handball Alley on Abbey Row and commences at 7:00pm. The Bouncing Off The Walls project is supported by Creative Ireland and Galway County Council. 

Little John Nee is a writer and performer based in Co. Galway. His style of storytelling theatre with music has won him international recognition. Throughout lockdown he has been prolific creating over 50 livestreams, a radio play “The Jumpin Inn”, outdoor theatre “Tilt of the Sky”, and film, including an award winning collaboration with Laura Sheeran “Drone Bone Jetty”. Currently an Arts Council artist in Residence, with Town Hall Theatre Galway and Galway County Council, he is working on a new post lockdown celebration “All the Small Ocean” to premiere in late October, and new musical collaboration “Salt of the Sea” which will premiere at Babaró. Little John Nee is an associate artist at Siamsa Tíre.

Tickets are available through the centre's Eventbrite page 

https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/bouncing-off-the-walls-with-little-john-nee-tickets-170284301931

Bouncing Off The Walls is a series of concerts to be held in the Athenry Handball Alley, Abbey Row, Athenry.

This Creative Ireland event includes the Athenry Youth Choir, guitarist Adam Cunningham and harpist Una Ni Fhlannagain. The programme is designed to showcase local musicians and artists in the unique setting of Athenry's handball alley, a place that use to be the centre of the community and a hub of sporting activity.

The project looks to engage the public with a new performance space and create a legacy for new generations to discover an architectural feature which has been in the town for nearly 100 years.

Tickets for this event are available through the centre's EVENTBRITE page or click on the link to book your tickets.

https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/bouncing-off-the-walls-tickets-164100734715

Spaces are strictly limited and children must be accompanied at all times.

We advise all patrons of the event to be aware of COVID19 protocols and we ask everyone to wear a mask during the performances

The Athenry Music School are proud to launch the Trees for Harmony campaign and urge you to pledge your time to help plant trees for the well-being of our children and their planet. 

On the morning of 29th February 2020, Athenry Music School, Esker Children's Music Group and Athenry Tidy Towns are joining the Children's Tree Campaign to invite the community to plant thousands of native trees in Athenry.

The project hopes to see the commitment of up to 300 people planting trees together in one day, with the aim of adding 10,000 new trees to the town's landscape. It involves only man/woman/child power, a spade and a few hours. 

The Children's Tree Campaign is a new campaign set up by Galway-based children in 2019. It aims to protect Ireland's native trees, and encourage the planting of many more, to help encourage wildlife and biodiversity and help tackle climate change.

In May 2019, the Daíl declared a climate and biodiversity emergency. Scientists have shown that planting trees is one of the most effective ways to tackle climate change. As the saplings grow into full trees, they absorb carbon dioxide - the main climate-changing gas - from the atmosphere. Native trees also support hundreds of species of animals that we need to save. Trees are beautiful, hold and make topsoil, reduce flooding and noise pollution around our homes, slow traffic around schools and help our physical and mental well-being.

All families, children and community groups are invited to pledge their support, bring their spades and their enthusiasm to plant a forest for our future.

The location is just off the Craughwell road (near the motorway bridge). The Gardai will be onsite during the day, with restricted road closures in place for everyone's safety. 

Farrells of Athenry has come on board and have pledged the donation of a shuttle bus from the Car Park beside Kenny Park to the planting site. This will avoid congestion around the planting areas and to coordinate with Tidy Towns, who will know which specific area planters are most needed. The bus will leave every 20mins from Kenny Park and shuttle you and your family back again to your car in Kenny Park after planting.