Archive for the ‘ volunteering ’ Category

Easter Tours of Charleville Castle

Come along to Charleville Castle on Easter weekend (1st and 2nd of April) between 1pm & 4pm for a historical tour of Ireland’s most haunted castle.
On our guided tours you will learn about the historical facts surrounding Charleville Castle and its residents.
Tickets: €8 per Adult €4 per child. Minimum Tour Cost €20
Tours on the hour.

Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1282319628567294/

Shakefest 2014 – Launch Parties

Shake Fest 2014 is coming up and so is our launch party!

 This year we will be hosting two launch parties for Shake Fest in May, one in Dublin and one in Tullamore. Come along to one (or both!) and enjoy a night full of entertainment!

 

Dublin Launchunnamed1

Tuesday 13th May 7:30 p.m.
Woolshed BAA & Grill, Parnell St., D1. – Map
Our dublin launch will include performances from The Underscore Orkestra, Bollywood Fusion Ireland, The Red Embers, Bollywood Fusion Ireland, Johnny Rayge, Resham-Ka Tribal, Spoken Word and more!
There will also be a raffle with prizes on the night.

Admission is €5.

 

Tullamore Launch

Wednesday 14th May, 7:30 p.m.
Seomra Beag, Joe Lee’s, Tullamore – Map

Our Tullamore Launch party will include another performance from our headline act The Underscore Orkestra, performances from The Red Embers, The Tullamore Rhymers Club and more!

There is a €5 suggested donation and there will also be a raffle on the night.

For information please visit http://www.shakefest.net/ – Tickets available via EventBrite

Bring King Henry back to life in Charleville Castle

 

We would like to share with you a fascinating project we are working on — we are reproducing a huge 18th Century Masterpiece which hung for Centuries in Charleville Castle Ireland. The painting, entitled “King Henry the 8th at the baptism of the later Queen Elizabeth the 1st” is a historic and noteworthy piece depicting a scene which foretells the dramatic events which brought hitherto unimaginable change to Ireland and set in motion a growing Irish Diaspora which spans the Globe We are all working together to complete this project over the coming months Our story begins when in 1970, Canadian, Graham Gordon climbed through the window of a derelict castle in Ireland, this Castle. The floors were strewn with debris, rotting furniture and broken glass — a seat of power now long forgotten and lost in a deep primordial oak wood in the middle of Ireland. Light was streaming in through a broken shutter, casting rays across a giant room of intricate ornate design. There towering over Gordon hung a giant 10 foot by 20 foot grimy gilt frame encasing a gutted dark leather-like material. Gordon having felt sympathy for the falling heap of a castle instantly became determined to save this giant painting. The owner gladly sold the painting to Gordon and the painting was carted off on the back of the tractor never to be seen again. Or so we thought? Many years passed and eventually, people came to find the castle and see how they could do something to stop the demise of this almost forgotten treasure. Battling against incredible odds, through decades of rotating volunteers, they took possession of this great building, each year saving more of it and opening it up to be shared with the community both local and international. The faces change but the ethos of this great place remains — a story hard to tell — how does one explain it all? There has always been the story of the missing painting — and sketch of it on the wall was discovered many years back — we searched and searched … In January of this year it suddenly reappeared fully restored at the Beaverbrook Museum in Canada. This is when we became determined to return an exact reproduction of this great painting to Charleville castle In Phase 1 we got permission from the owner. Phase two was the most challenging and we decided that if we could succeed with this phase we could seek funding to complete the return of King Henry to Charleville Castle. We were lucky when we found Arthur. Arthur had honed his skills in Poland before taking on this project to prove his high capability. Since then the reproduction has been completed and the canvas is rolled away – awaiting funding to complete the last phase — this involves the stretching of the canvas 20 foot by 10 foot in the great Dining Room of the castle and it’s mounting in a gilt frame on the wall where it had hung before for many , many years. This project which once seemed impossible to achieve is now within our reach. Soon with your help it will be open to the public. What a powerful statement — that such a masterpiece could be so visibly returned to its rightful place by pure voluntary effort — this is our story and we need you to come on board to help us complete it.

Help needed with Chapel Protective Roof Project Head Quarters

Volunteers at work!

Volunteers at work!

Chapel Protective Roof Project Head Quarters

The Chapel Protection Roof Project HQ was built for the ability to manage and assemble a safe plan to restore the chapel roof. This area allows volunteers to continue work in a comfortable environment during harsh winter conditions. The ability to work through the winter will allow for more stability and quicker completion of all the restoration projects. The materials that will be used on the chapel roof has been recovered from the Limerick tunnel project. These materials which are all recycled will be disassembled and transformed into an elegant new chapel roof.

The amount of commitment and hard work that has been put into the Head Quarters has been incredible from all the volunteers involved. Since Castlepallooza 2011, this area has gone through a large renovation. Which include:

– Uplift/restore the floor

  • Install a subfloor
  • New support beams and ceiling
  • Fiberglass insulation in floor and ceiling
  • Hang and design doors
  • Wall building
  • Painting/sealing

These jobs have been completed by just a hand full of volunteers, there are still many jobs that need assistance with this project.

– Hang plaster board on walls and ceiling

  • Design and install bathroom
  • Install wood heaters/ventilation
  • Upgrade floor surface

The Castle needs as many hands as possible, these types of jobs might not be as much fun as the event volunteering; but to make the events fun and safe we would greatly appreciate your help!!

Volunteers a huge success in Castlepalooza

Caharleville Castle Volunteers

On Bank Holiday weekend 2011, Charleville Castle hosted Castlpalooza, one of the best music festivals in Ireland.  Over the course of the weekend, almost 200 volunteers or “Paloozateers” gave up their spare time to ensure that a good time was had by all and the castle grounds were kept clean and tidy.

Without our volunteers, events like Castlepalooza would not be possible and with that thought in mind, we would like to take this opportunity to thank you all!