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The original purpose of the festival was a celebration of Irish culture, with an emphasis upon drawing tourists into the country during the Easter off-season. It was marked by a series of regional parades, arts and sporting events. Many towns began a clean-up plan, thus starting off the National Tidy Town Awards, which is running still in Ireland.
Beltany may be linked to marking both sunrise and sunset at these important ritual and ceremonial events in the year. It may also have a lunar orientation, yet to be calculated. A single ‘outlier’ stone about 2 metres high stands to the southeast of the circle. It probably had some function related to the rituals or ceremonies in the circle.
There are several specific and often ancient types of Celtic festivals. A fèis (plural fèiseannan) is a traditional Gaelic arts and culture festival, currently used referring to Irish dance competitions. In Ancient Ireland communities placed great importance on local festivals, where Gaels could come together in song, dance, music, theatre ...
Beaghmore is a complex of early Bronze Age megalithic features, stone circles and cairns, 8.5 miles north west of Cookstown, County Tyrone in Northern Ireland, on the south-east edge of the Sperrin Mountains. [1]
A significant recent change to pub culture in the Republic of Ireland has been the introduction of a smoking ban, in all workplaces, which includes pubs and restaurants. Ireland was the first country in the world to implement such a ban which was introduced on 29 March 2004. [57]
Ireland ratified the convention on 16 September 1991. [3] As of 2025, Ireland has two sites on the list, and a further three on the tentative list. [3] The first site listed was Brú na Bóinne – Archaeological Ensemble of the Bend of the Boyne, in 1993. The second site, Sceilg Mhichíl, was listed in 1996.
In Irish mythology, Uisneach is described as the sacred centre of Ireland, the burial place of Irish gods such as Lugh and the Dagda, the site of a sacred tree (the Bile Uisnig), and a place of assembly (the mórdáil Uisnig) associated with the druids, which, according to later tradition, was held during the festival of Bealtaine. [4]
During medieval times it was the site of great festivals, including one at which winter fires or bone fires (Tine Cnámh) were lit at Samhain, the forerunner of the modern Halloween. It is associated with the figure Tlachtga , a druidess in Irish mythology who is said to have given birth to triplets on the hill.