The ‘first draft’ of the documentary was shown for free in the ‘River Island Hotel’ Castleisland, in April 2018. This formed part of a medieval festival which was entitled ‘The Castle of the Island Festival’. It occurred over the course of one weekend (20st-21st April 2018)
This was a memorable festival; the main event was the screening of the documentary. It was premiered in the local ‘The River Island Hotel’, at the time, the society hired tiered seating (capacity of 300 people), along with a high-resolution projector, screen and speaker system from ‘O’Sullivan Sound System Ltd’.
The festival began on Friday the 20th April 2018, when over 200 secondary students from the town attended the first free screening of the documentary at 1pm. Later that evening, another screening took place at 8pm for the production team, cast, crew and the general public. The local TD Mr. Brendan Griffin (Minister of State for Tourism and Sport 2017-2020) was the key speaker, then Robert McGuire (Producer) introduced the documentary.
On the following day Saturday (21st April 2018), the local Castleisland Rugby Club grounds were converted into a medieval camp and battlefield. The society hired the living history group ‘Déisc Medieval’ in order to bring history back to life with a bang. Busy stalls were erected and eager locals got the opportunity to question medieval specialists on a range of topics, such as food, diet, health and medieval cures etc. Then a ‘mock’ battle was arranged between the native McCarthy Mór clan and the Normans.
Overall, the festival was a huge success, as people of all ages and backgrounds became immersed into the various events and had the opportunity to learn more about their local medieval history. Finally, later that same evening, a third and final screening was held for additional members of the public. In the end, over 800 people viewed the documentary for free, as part of the medieval festival I would like to take this opportunity once again to thank all of the donors, as well as all of the people who made the event possible, through their generous support and general kindness.
‘The Castle of the Island Festival’ was in honor of our Castleisland ancestors, who endured difficult times. May they rest in peace. Ultimately I am grateful and proud that our great Desmond Castle (after which our town is named) has finally been given the voice it so truly deserves.
-Robert McGuire
