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Carndonagh woman goes medieval
23.08.10
by Eamonn MacDermott, Inishowen Independent
A Carndonagh woman is going back in time after
joining a medieval family at Taaffe’s Castle in
Carlingford, Co Louth, to live as they did during
the period of King John in 1210.
Over 100 national and international applications
were received and those entering the castle are the
final eight. Emma Downey, grandchild of John and
Moira Saddler, who is originally from Derry but
divides her time between Carndonagh and Italy, is
looking forward to the experience.
She told the Inishowen Independent: “I do tours
around Europe and had one in Ireland and saw this ad
for the venture.
“The idea of foraging for your food and being
dependent on your own work has always appealed to me
so I applied.
“I think in Ireland we have something broken in that
we all want to own land but very few actually know
anything about it. So foraging for my food appealed
to me and so I am looking forward to going out
looking for my dinner.”
The event is part of Heritage Week and will see
Carlingford transformed into a medieval village. |
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Emma Downey, centre, travels back in
time to the period of King John in 1210 |
Emma explained: “People
can come and visit the village and see how things
were done years ago.
“The castle there was built to mark King John’s
visit in 1210 so it is a real step back in time. We
will have our own goats and one of our number is
making traps to catch fish, another is going to
teach us to make soap, and we are also going to
learn how to make ale. Apparently the Celts were big
into hygiene and taught the Romans how to make
soap.”
The event will take place from August 22-29 and the
participants will live in medieval mode for the full
week. Among their daily tasks will be feeding
chickens hens, geese, pigs, sheep and ducks
Collecting the donkey from a nearby field and dress
with harness and creels as well as taking the animal
to the mountain to collect firewood.
They will also have to milk the goats twice a day
and then the animals have to be returned to the
field. They will also be expected to light fires
with flint stone, steel, and kindling and go fishing
each day by boat under sail accompanied by local
medieval boatman. They will also gather and forage
for wild plants and fungi each day and gather
winkles oysters, cockles, mussels and crab from the
sea shore as well trap mullet along the sea shore
using medieval spring traps. |
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