The festival of Lughnasa honours the Celtic god Lugh of the Tuatha de Danann.
Lugh was the god of arts and crafts among Celtic tribes and Lughnasa sat high in the Calendar of festivals.
Lughnasa ushered in the harvest season.
Lughnasa was a celebration of, and for, the Divine, for a successful harvest.
This ancient festival marks the first day of autumn in the Celtic Calendar, and thus the start of the harvest season.
In Britain Lughnasa is known as Lammas, from the Anglo-Saxon hlaef-mass meaning ‘loaf-mass’.
Here in Ireland the nearest Sunday to Lughnasa was known as Cally Sunday, the traditional day to lift the first new potatoes.
The man of the house would dig the first stalk, while the woman of the house would don a new white apron and cook them.
The floor would be spread with fresh, green rushes in their honour.
Lughnasa was celebrated on the hills and mountains as well as the valleys.
Climbing a hill or mountain and celebrating with lighting a bonfire was, and remains, a tradition.
In addition to climbing hills, Lughnasa was also a time for visiting holy wells.
Lughnasa falls on August the 1st and the evening before is usually when the celebrations begin…
I am hosting an “Open Weekend,” for anyone who wishes to visit the Permaculture gardens of Bealtaine Cottage.
This will be over the weekend of the 7th and 8th of September and in aid of The Leitrim Animal Welfare Shelter, so there will be charge of ten euros per adult…and will include tea and home made cakes!
This wonderful animal sanctuary is where I have adopted two dogs from, including Jack!
If you would like to visit Bealtaine Cottage on this special open weekend, please let me know in advance, so I can make arrangements for cakes, teas and coffees to be available!
This is a link to a short film made by RTE TV all about this wonderful animal sanctuary!
Hopefully we can raise much needed funds for this cause so close to my heart!
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Thanks to the following lovely people who have donated to the Leitrim Animal Sanctuary…
Carole (wspines) from Whispering Pines Farm
Vivien Cruickshank
I’ve just watched the video. Just heart rending. My two dogs are from Ireland. A lady in Clanfield, Hampshire, used to go over on the ferry and bring a group of dogs back with her, nearly all collies. My Border Collie, Flossie is very like the collie in the video with the eye patch. Fleck (he had that name when he arrived), is a cross Collie / German Shepherd. I’ve had them both for eight years now and consider myself lucky to have their love and friendship. Wouldn’t it be lovely to save them all, but we will have to content ourselves by helping where we can. I would love to donate a gift to this rescue kennel.
That is really generous Vivien…bless you!
You can donate direct to the Leitrim Animal Welfare, or, through this blog. My intention is to make a public donation in September following the Open Weekend and get a little piece in the local paper as this will help to advertise the Animal shelter even more!
Whichever way you donate, Vivien, you will have helped a mighty cause and bolstered the work of a very caring and compassionate lady, Christine Coulson.
Sounds brilliant. Are you going for Aug 4th or July 28th for your Cally Sunday? Liz is crisping up the best white pinny. We should have some spuds dig-able by then.
Ha! Ha! You won’t catch me in the kitchen…but I may just cut some rushes and lay them in the barn!
My Grandson and I watched the video and it was just so lovely. Especially the part about Sparkles. To go that extra mile to bring Sparkles to see it owner in the Nursing home, it brought me to tears. I wish I could come but instead will donate 10 euro’s to the cause. The pictures if your hoop house are lovely.
Blessings to you
That is just so very generous…I will put a donation counter on the end of the blog and feature it on the side of the main page so all can see what is happening!
Bless you for your generous spirit! This money will be donated in one lump sum after the Open Weekend!
Colette X