Crepes with nutella from the crepe van have been sustaining my children for the past week along with ice-cream and slushies from the ice-cream van and chips and burgers from the local chipper ‘Richies’ in Goleen Village. The truth is there has been so much going on in Goleen Village for the past week that they just about make it home to rest their heads at night-time. We did supplement this diet somewhat with the odd bbq and fry up at home and of course roasted pork from the Pig Roast outside Denny O’Meara’s pub on Sunday. (Oh and I’m forgetting about last week’s home-made brownies that managed to stretch until yesterday.) Apart from that there hasn’t been much home cooking going on.
The Goleen Festival began on Sunday 8th August with a Vintage Car Drive from Goleen to Crookhaven followed later in the day by the Route to Crook 5 mile road race. (The kids race was 2.5 miles). My better half has made half-hearted promises to stick with me through other races but then his testosterone gets the better of him and he leaves a path of road dust for me to follow however this time he came through and we crossed the line together (me a toe in front!)
The week progressed at a busy pace with plenty of sporting and fun activities for all. They included; a table tennis tournament, charades, pub talent singing contest, art workshops, athletics, treasure hunt, art competition, fancy dress, fishing competition, historical guided walk, children’s races, busking competition, peddle carting and tug o’war.
On the food side of things there was a Cookery Demonstration by Carmel Somers (of The Good Things Café, Durrus) at Barleycove Hotel and on Sunday there was a Pig Roast outside Denny O’Meara’s pub. The roasted pork was served in a roll with a tasty potato stuffing, coleslaw and a choice of relishes.
Music on the street went on well into the night on Friday, Saturday and Sunday night and luckily this year the weather was on our side. The festival closed when the sun went down after one of the hottest days of the summer with the crowning of the new Queen of Goleen. A tremendous amount of time, hard work and commitment is shown by the organisers and I hope that they realise how appreciated it is by the blow-ins who visit during the summer.
Til next time, Sheila