The Kerry Homecoming Festival at Halloween is a countywide initiative to encourage the Kerry diaspora to return during the month of October this year.
It is presented by Kerry County Council as part of the Global Irish Festival Series which is a joint initiative between Fáilte Ireland and the Department of Foreign Affairs.
The event is a call home from all aspects of Kerry business, tourism, sports and cultural organisations to those who are away to come and enjoy close to 50 events and activities, such as Samhain spectacles, storytelling, Jack-o-Lantern carving, genealogy workshops and heritage talks, star-gazing and an American wake.
The legendary Cailleach – a hag or witch who is the Gerry – will be the centerpiece of a thrilling Samhain spectacle in Listowel, Dingle, Kenmare and Tralee. The Samhain spectacles will be supported by a series of family-friendly workshops in 16 towns and villages led by Juli Ní Mhaoileoin, the Dingle Druid, in which people of all ages will learn how to make traditional Samhain masks and Jack-o-Lanterns and they, in turn, can take part in the spectacles wearing their masks or bearing their lanterns.
Genealogy and family research feature heavily in the programme with talks and workshops being presented by experts Kay Caball in the Killarney and Tralee libraries and Tom Dillon in Castleisland and Killorglin.
Kerry’s tradition of storytelling, particularly of the otherworldly kind at Halloween will also be honoured through a number of storytelling sessions from Seán Ó’Laoghaire, Niall de Búrca and Tom Dillon throughout the county.
The programme also features the Global Gaelic Games Social Festival, in Killarney on October 18 and 19. This truly unique celebration will bring together Gaelic football enthusiasts from all corners of the globe to take part in non-competitive nine-a-side games that emphasise inclusiveness and integration.
The Homecoming Festival will provide a very unique opportunity to deepen our linkages with the Kerry diaspora, Mayor of Kerry, Cllr Breandán MacGearailt stated.
“Despite being a small country on the edge of Europe, we have, over many generations developed a global network of Irish-diaspora, who are embedded into business, culture and society across the world.
“This is our way of welcoming our first, second, third and fourth generation of Irish back home, and showing them our culture and history,” he said.
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