Evening programs
Evening Program
A Lúnasa Ritual
With Regina de Búrca
Lúnasa (loo-nuh-suh) marks the beginning of the season in the ancient Celtic calendar where the fruits of harvest are celebrated. Our Lúnasa ritual will be a guided journey into the harvest of knowledge: the shining gifts that follow sustained effort. It draws inspiration from both the mythic landscape of Connemara, and the idea – rooted in Irish myth and seasonal rhythm – of the inner landscape as sacred territory.
This is a sensory, reflective, ceremony intended to help participants honor what sustains them and recognize the unexpected wisdom already living within them, gained through lived experience. We will be guided by stories of Lú, Tailltú, Hy-Brasil, Fionn and the Salmon of Knowledge, and the sovereignty figures of Gráinne Mhaol, Ériu, Banba and Fódla. Through meditation, storytelling and reflective ritual, we have an opportunity to explore what life has taught us that no book could. And to consider what we are still harvesting in our lives, and what is still ripening.
Evening Program
A Traditional Céilí Dance Party
Get ready for a fun, high-spirited evening of traditional Irish dancing to live music from instruments like the fiddle, flute, accordion and bodhrán (bow-rawn, or drum). A céilí (kay-lee) is all about community and conviviality. Anyone who has done Irish dancing knows how energizing and exhilarating it is, and how irresistible the music and dance are.
Evening Program
An Evening in Clifden
We’ll follow our afternoon of archeological explorations with a taste of small town life in nearby Clifden, the “vibrant heart of Connemara,” known for its unhurried pace, colorful streets and echoes of its bohemian past as a destination for hippie culture in the 60s. We’ll have dinner here, nestled in the mountains and amidst the dramatic coastal scenery of the region.