Two years ago while in Ireland on a buying trip, I discovered the Aughakillymaude Mummers and their Samhain ritual on Halloween night. I knew that this event was something I wanted to include in my next tour to Northern Ireland and Donegal.

The Aughakillymaude Community Mummers, widely known as much for their unusual sounding townland name where they all hail from (Aughakillymaude meaning the wooden field of the wild dog), have unwittingly become the unofficial cultural ambassadors for rural Fermanagh. The sixteen strong motley mummers troupe have literally been tramping the roads at all ungodly hours bringing luck, diversion and mayhem by re-enacting and performing an ancient mid winter hero/combat folk drama that is heavily pregnant with all the pagan symbolism of a mid winter European fertility play.

To check out the Aughakillymaude Mummers go to You Tube and search for “Men of Straw an intro to the Fermangh Mummers”.

If Ireland is on your bucket list, please consider joining us on tour of Donegal and Northern Ireland October 29-November 7, 2010. Halloween is just one of the events in our tour!

Happy Halloween,
Linda Keady
Celtic Rainbow Gifts
www.CelticRainbowGifts.com

For more information on Aughakillymaude Mummers go to:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/yourplaceandmine/fermanagh/A975576.shtml

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