Burrishoole Walking Festival 2009
The annual Burrishoole Walking Festival, takes place over the June bank Holiday weekend (May 30th-June 1st). There will be a variety of walks designed to suit all comers. Burrishoole spans the area between the villages of Mulranney and Newport in West Mayo, it is enclosed by the Nephin beg mountain range to the north, and by the Clew bay to the south.
There will be a choice of Medium grade and Challenging walks on Saturday and Sunday with the walks commencing at 11am from Derradda community centre. All the walks are guided and the emphasis is on enjoyment and relaxation. A Barbeque will take place at the Community Centre on the Saturday evening featuring local food producers, including the two award winning butchers from Newport. Each evening there is a social in the centre.
How to get there: Starting from the town of Newport. Follow the N59 in the direction of Mulranney for approximately 3 miles to reach a road junction on your right (signposted Derradda Community Centre). Turn right and follow this road for 500 meters until you arrive at the Community Centre.
A spokesperson for the Festival committeestated that the festival, now in its 22nd year, will attract their biggest numbers ever. “We get a lot of people coming back year after year and each year there are new people and new groups. What makes the Burrishoole Festival different is the friendships that have been developed, the camaraderie and the emphasis on the social aspects of the festival,”
There will be 2 low level educational walks led by local experts, one along the shore of Clew bay to Mulranney beach which will deal with marine life of the bay, and another, will deal with local history matters.
Included in the Challenging category walks are the Letterkeen Loop walk (4 hours) and the Glendahork Horseshoe (5 hours, 716 Meters).
A unique feature of the Festival is the celebration ofmass at the Ochilly Mass Rock, over 300 people of all denominations attended last year’s service, most of whom walked up to the Mass Rock, but for those unable to do so, they were transported on a quad by the local farmers.
Food, refreshment and transport is provided for the walkers all weekend and there is a registration fee of €25 for adults and €15 for students to cover the cost of the social events.Discounts are available for family groups, children under 14 must be accompanied by an adult.
“The important thing for the committee is to try to make all the visitors feel at home. We provide nice, relaxed social occasions following the hard work of the walks during the day and we seek to involve the walkers as much as possible in the music, singing, dancing and activities that go on at the centre,”
For more info contact; or call Sinead Cusack on 087 2249679