County Roscommon family and community to feature on series finale of ‘Raised by the Village’
Children from Willowbrook's weekly art class enjoy some toasted marshmallows during the filming of the show.
An inner city teenager gets a taste of life in rural Roscommon as part of the popular TV series ‘Raised by The Village.’
Willowbrook Glamping & Hideaways near Ballaghaderreen will feature in the series finale of ‘Raised by the village’ which airs on RTÉ 1 on this Sunday, April 13th at 6.30 p.m..
In the south Dublin suburb of Drimnagh, 15-year-old Clayton is addicted to the non-stop scrolling drama of Tik Tok and barely leaves his bedroom. He’s also having huge issues with authority and – he hates the countryside.
Transplanted to Wes Pollington and Tuesday Whitfield’s Willowbrook Glamping Site outside the village of Lisacul, Clayton struggles to live without his phone…but living under the rule of his new village mentors proves an even more mammoth challenge.
Shot in February this year, Clayton spent a week on the campsite, hosted by owners Wes Pollington, and Tuesday Whitfield along with their daughter Ziggy, giving him a taste of life in rural Roscommon.
In addition to being given tasks to do as part of the day-to-day running of the campsite, the teenager also spent some time working with a number of local businesses, such as Hayfield Alpaca Farm and Robert Flynn’s shop in Castlerea. He also helped with a painting project being undertaken by underage club members at the clubhouse of Éire Óg GAA Club.
The premise of each episode of the show is that a teenager from an urban background spends a week in the countryside, to experience a different lifestyle and taken out of their comfort zone in an effort to provide them with a broader world view and open their eyes to the value of hard work. The teenager must spend the entire week without their phone, which can be the biggest challenge of all. Often the teenager in question struggles to adjust to the change, and is resistant to carrying out the tasks given, and this particular teenager was no different as will be evident on Sunday evening.
“He didn’t seem to be cut out for life in the countryside at all when he arrived, it was a bit of a culture shock to him, but I think he left at least having an understanding of what life is like away from the big city,” said Wes Pollington.
April 13th will be a significant day at Willowbrook. Aside from the screening of the TV show in the evening, earlier in the afternoon, Hot House Flowers frontman Liam O Maonlai takes to the stage at the campsite as part of their ‘Willowbrook Whispers’ series of intimate concerts. Limited tickets for that show are still available online.
