Festival in Tipperary celebrates Irish folklore, wildlife, and traditional customs
Shane Lehane, Éanna Ní Lamhna, and Eimear Chaomhánach bring Ireland’s past and nature to life
Nenagh’s upcoming festival celebrates Ireland’s folklore and natural heritage with a series of engaging events on October 11 and 12. On Saturday, October 11, Shane Lehane will present his book Old Ways to New Days at Nenagh Castle at 4 PM, inviting audiences into a world where turf fires warmed the hearth, wells supplied water, and candlelight brought stories to life more vividly than electric bulbs ever could.
Through storytelling and illustration, Lehane explores Ireland’s traditions, seasonal customs, and rural practices—from birth and courtship to death and mourning.
From matchmakers and milking stools to butter charms, Skellig Lists, and fairy lore, he traces a society rooted in the land, evolving with bicycles, electricity, cinema, and radio. Scholarly yet personal, the book celebrates how Ireland’s past continues to resonate in the present.
The festival continues on Sunday, October 12, with nature-focused events. Éanna Ní Lamhna, biologist and environmentalist, will lead a Ku-ee-tu cruise exploring Ireland’s wildlife habitats, from bogs and beaches to woodlands and grasslands, highlighting the plants and creatures found in each ecosystem.
On the same morning at Ballycommon’s Muintir na Tíre Hall, Eimear Chaomhánach will discuss her book The Keeper of Bees, weaving folklore with personal experience from her childhood in a beekeeping family and offering insight into the traditions and beliefs surrounding bees.