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THIS YEAR, THE annual Roscommon Lamb Festival will take place for the 10th time.
Beginning on Wednesday, and lasting until the bank holiday next Monday, the festival calls itself a celebration of family fun, great food, farming, heritage and crafts.
For its 10th anniversary, it is celebrating in style with local sculptor Mark Feeley commissioned to create a life-size sculpture of a ewe and a lamb, that will then get pride of place in the town centre of Roscommon afterwards.
Feeley told TheJournal.ie that the project was a lot bigger than he thought it would be, but that he was confident it would be ready in time for the opening of the festival next week.
The sculpture itself is being made from Lecarrow limestone, which acts as the “bedrock that underpins the Roscommon lamb industry”.
Limestone was said to have been essential in helping to foster the county’s sheep and wool industries, and Feeley said that native limestone was “special to the people of Roscommon”.
The festival has also started a Gofundme page to help support the creation of the sculpture.
Feeley is using a four and a half ton block of limestone to craft the sculpture.
So far he has spent 250 hours carefully crafting it, and the limestone is perfect for carving as “it rings like a bell” when struck with a hammer instead of cracking, according to the sculptor.
I’ve a little 10-year-old at home, and he’s been helping out giving it a few whacks.
Although it’s not quite finished yet, Feeley said that it would be ready for its grand unveiling next week.
“If I was given a deadline of two months from now, I’d probably keep working on it until then,” he said.
Festival organisers say that the festival succeeds in celebrating the proud sheep farming tradition in the county while also highlighting the other positive aspects of life in Roscommon.
Over the six-day festival, there is a farmer’s market, a local enterprise craft marquee, a family fun day and a bluegrass music fest.
“This festival is huge for the town and country,” Feeley said.
He is delighted that the sculpture will be placed in the town square following the festival, calling it a fitting tribute to the county’s heritage.
The Roscommon Lamb Festival starts this Wednesday 26 April. More details on it can be found here.
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Okay, unofficial poll: Thumbs up if you want the thumbs down back.
@Pounamustone: NO…they were childish and misused…
@Paul Foot: I want to down-thumb that! You’re denying me my God-given right to display culturally-significant, hand-digits at appropriate times and places. And this coming from someone called ‘Foot’, it’s cruel and un-natural.
@Pounamustone: this forum has gone to the dogs as you can see by the enormous drop in the number of people clicking on the thumb to any comment compared to the green/red thumb system is replaced. Political Party trolls love the new system as the absence of a red thumb means they can spout nonsense all day. The old system you could easily spot the trolls and speedily skip past their comments. That is no longer possible and it is easier for trolls to camoflage under the new format. Transparency removed, numbers way down, real debate disappeared.
@Paul Foot: at 14:12hrs unofficial result 229 for the red thumbs v 48 to keep the unfair ban
Next year it’ll be Westmeath’s lamb!
@Linda: So it’s a big Thank You to Galway, our sponsor for 2017. (I know ye’re possibly on about the Big Land Grab, but yiz won’t get away with it. Remember Sargeant Costume!)
In memory of Fargo Boyle
Roscommon s version of the ronaldo statue!
@Stouts O Shea: Only prettier.
Mutton to see here!
Single Roscommon mens’ favourite pastime enshrined in a statue
I have seen those at stag parties.
@Tony Daly: Be plenty of stains on that sculpture after a saturday night lol.
Roscommon? What with all the bleeding news this morning!
“This competition is a fraud and a sham and a..fraud!”
@Gavin Mckenna: Watch out for that beasht. I hear it sounds like Liam Neeson chasin a load of hens around in a barrel
Twenty sic sheep left Roscommon for Mayo-one died how many came back.
Right now thanks for coming to tonight’s meeting on “what in the name of jaysus are we going to call this festival”… Tom Clancy you said a goat festival? Well they are already doing that in Kerry… oh right well and other animals you can think of… a dog? No that would turn into a dog show so it would… a sheep? A sheep? Are we not feckin bad enough. I think it could turn people way, it doesn’t sound right… well maybe a lamb instead… Christ that’s a great idea everyone rise their hand if you want to call it “a lamb festival”… that’s an over all majority by the two of us… god can’t understand why we didn’t think of this years ago Mick…
Suits the stereotype I guess……
Call it Ram-esses lol.
@Alois Irlmaier: sap.
@Ryan Comiskey: Why would you want it called that for? lol.
No to gay marriage. Yes to giant sheep statue. Bog munchers.
@Ryan Comiskey: ‘Giant sheep statue’? Shlight exhaggeration there! How big is yer man Mark and exactly what is he doing round there at the back door in the photo? We only voted against that gay marriage thing to keep out intruders from Westmeath and Dublin. And enough of this bog fixation. Maybe that’s where you meet people, but not here. If you ever stopped on the way to Galway you’d see Ros is shtoney as hell. As Mark says: native limestone is “special to the people of Roscommon”. So think ‘Ros and limestone’, like we think ‘Galway and endless supply of sheep’. And enough of yer bleatin’, yer not pullin the wool over our eyes now.
@Ryan Comiskey: Like alot of rural Ireland the young are forced to leave their native counties and even country for jobs etc so Roscommon has the oldest population in Ireland hence why the marriage equality vote was lost there & it was only marginally lost. Also there was plenty of voting areas within the cities, towns & villages of Ireland that only voted in favour of equal marriage in the smallest of margins.
ba humbug
The Rossies like the livestock
Lets hope, some poor farmer doesn’t get any ideas after a few jars and gets caught with his pants down?
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