Festival to celebrate rich heritage of Arigna mines to get underway

The closure of Arigna mines in 1990 left an indelible mark on the social fabric of County Roscommon, but 35 years later the people of the area are marking this momentous event by holding a special festival celebrating its history.

Taking place from this evening, July 9th until July 12th, this Arigna 35 Festival
promises to be a special festival for all the family and will offer everything from history to football and memories to music. 

The official opening of the new community park will also take place on Saturday.

The four day festival will include a special mass taking place this evening, Wednesday, in the Arigna Mining Experience at 7 p.m..

Arigna 35 will also be a celebration of the Arigna mining heritage and will mark the three and a half decades since the mines closed – an industry that provided much needed work throughout the centuries.

Our heritage and history are vital to who we are as a people today and what our future generations will become. It is the lessons that we learn and the realisation of the sacrifices that were made by others that help us acknowledge the benefits enjoyed by our community.

Marking 35 years since the mines closed is not just symbolic but shows a pride in the mining history of Arigna and how resilient the community was, how they overcame a devastating blow to show strength and growth.

It will see old work colleagues from the mines reunite to reminisce and to relive some of the wonderful times they experienced together.

The activities will get underway on July 9th with a special Mass at the Arigna Mining Experience, which will remember all miners and their families.

One of the highlights of the festival is the hugely popular ‘Night with the Miners’. This is essentially a Late Late Show type event, but done in unique Arigna style. It was originally held last year and proved so popular it had to be brought back for a second run. The event is taking place in Kilronan Castle on Thursday, July 10th. 

A number of ex-miners will be taking part and will be talking about their lives, past and present. They will be joined by a number of guests who have a strong link to mining. 

Audience members can also expect “seanchaí, rogues and storytellers’. Eurovision winner, singer/songwriter and well known Drumshanbo man Charlie McGettigan will also be providing entertainment and will perform some of the songs he wrote related to the mines. There will be local musicians and children performing while Charlie will also join Ocean FM presenter and festival committee member John Lynch on stage.

On Friday, July 11th, a special celebration dinner dance will take place in Kilronan Castle. This will be a night of music and dancing with Patrick Feeney. This event will bring back memories of the miners’ dinner dances from yesteryear, when this event was the highlight of the social calendar for the workers.

Tickets for these events are currently on sale at various locations.

On Saturday, July 12th, the official opening of the new Community Park will take place. This is a wonderful facility in the village and plans to develop it were first mooted back in 2019. At that time a mini-festival was being held and a number of games were played on the local pitch. However, the area had been used to facilitate the transport of wind turbines and needed to be developed and since its completion has proven to be a focal point of the area.

Special guests will be in attendance on the day, including the return to Arigna of Paddy Joe Burke, Roscommon’s greatest GAA supporter who last visited the village in 2019 when the Nestor Cup was on display. 

Paddy is also an Active Age Ambassador and the committee hopes to promote the walking track at the pitch. One of the many sports being developed is walking soccer (soccer where you can’t run), which is becoming a highly competitive sport. A number of other very special guests will also be attendance.

It promises to be a day full of events, entertainment, and matches on the new state-of-the-art community astro turf pitch.

Organisers of the festival include John Lynch, Kyle Flynn, Brenda Cull, Maurice Cullen, Cllr Leah Cull, and Jim Gaffney. For more information and updates check out social media.

•Later in the year it is hoped to launch an audio recording of interviews with the miners which people can listen to along the Miner’s Way and the Historical Trail. It is hoped that while appreciating the scenery and beauty of Arigna that walkers can learn the history of those who worked far beneath ground in a dark and brutal environment.