Introduction 2015
Following the cutting of the barley at the Chinkwell Field in Portrane, the straw was used to build a straw bale round tower by Gareth Kennedy in the weeks leading up to the Bleeding Pig Festival, a ‘folk folly’ of sorts this temporary 12m tower joined the towers of the Portrane skyline and was activated by a series events including special performances by the Fingal Mummers and the Tower Singing Circle, to mark the harvest and the close of the holiday season. The tower was created on site at the Chinkwell Field with Master Craftsman Eoin Donnelly who provided the role of mentor to the local volunteers and invited participants engaged in the build, this produced the meitheal (collective work) of a pre-industrial age that would have taken place in fields at this time of year.
In addition to this impressive spectacle, Paul Carville of Irish Straw Crafts facilitated a series of workshops with a selection of participants from the Tower Singing Circle to create Mummer and Strawboy masks and costumes for use at the launch of Bleeding Pig Festival. The inauguration of the tower and the launch of the Resort Revelations programme and the festival was conducted by Councillor David O’Connor, Mayor of Fingal.
