All Hallows Eve with The Aughakillymaude Mummers

Last Halloween I was lucky enough to be in Ireland. The first week of my trip was mostly business with my Celtic buyers group. But the second week was just for me, having fun visiting family, friends and looking for holy wells in the countryside.

I wanted so much to have a truly authentic cultural experience for Halloween in Ireland. After all, Halloween originated there. I called my cousin Rory, (who lives outside of Athlone) to see what his kids did for Halloween. “It all Americanized,” he said, “The kids go trick or treating just like the Yanks!” I was so disappointed! Sure there was a big street festival up in Derry and lots of towns had fireworks displays, but that’s not what I had in mind.

Heading up to Enniskillen in Northern Ireland, just outside the village of Derrylin, I spotted a sign for a holy well, so of course I had to check it out. The holy well was located near a boat launch on Lough Erne. I took some photos and filled a small bottle with the holy water. As I was leaving I noticed a sign referring to the Aughakillymaude Mummers Centre just down the road. Upon checking out the locked center, I inquire with a neighbor who informed me that there was to be a ritual on Halloween night.
Wow, how lucky can I get, this is just what I was looking for!! Halloween was just three days away and that meant that I’d have to cut short my trip to Donegal to be back in time, but I felt it would be worth it.

A little background: Mummers Plays have descended from pre-Christian druid ceremonies and rituals that were later adapted by early Christian monks to demonstrate the gospels to their pagan communities. After reformations of the Christian church the village communities revived these ceremonies as a form of entertainment that also maintained the basic ritual of closing one year and opening the next. This ritual was performed by converting the elements of old year and new year, dark and light, this world and the otherworld, and even good and evil through guised people in the form of hero, villain or healer along with additions such as a scoundrel, jester, maid, ringmaster, circle diviner, and damsel in distress.

The Aughakillymaude Community Mummers are a sixteen-member, cross-community group dedicated to maintaining and reviving ancient mumming traditions in rural County Fermanagh. Like the Rhymers in nearby County Armagh, they go door-to-door performing ancient skits that bring prosperity, good luck, and fun to neighboring households. The group has begun touring internationally and last year was part of a Smithsonian event in Washington DC.

On Halloween night I got back to Derrylin about 4PM, found a B&B, then headed for the mummers center to find out what time the event was to start.By 8PM the troupe of” mummers” or “straw boys” were ready. They lined up outside the centre all decked out in their straw costumes, some playing bodhrans, tin whistles and pipes and others carrying torches of fire. They marched down the road to a field where they were meet by a crowd of people that followed them to a huge bonfire.

The crowd gathered around the bonfire while the mummers circled the fire three times. This was to symbolize the end of the harvest then they threw a cup of seed into the fire to give something back to the earth. They had a grand little fireworks display followed by sessions and a Halloween costume parade. Now this was a very local event in a rural area so these folks were rather surprised that I even knew about it. When everybody got back to the center, they asked me to judge the Halloween parade. I was called up front and introduced to the crowd. “This is Linda Keady, we flew her in from Maine in America to judge the Halloween parade, and I’ll tell ya right now, she doesn’t accept brown envelopes like her man George Bush”! With that intro the crowd had a good laugh and started clapping! Two ladies stood up and sang a couple of songs for me then the junior mummers played some fast paced jigs. I judged both the adult and children costume parade and give out the prizes. Then they presented me with a braided straw futility wall hanging and the sessions and dancing began.

Happy Halloween!!!!

Check out these two web sites for more information and photos.
www.fermanagh.info/aughakillymaude
www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/yourplaceandmine/fermanagh/A975576.shtml

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