Pictured above are the winners of Apple Tart Competition - Marie Delaney 2nd, John James Gardiner (Junior 1st ), Caelan Bristow 1st and Shay Hannon 3rd. Photo: PJ Wright
Cloughjordan celebrated the wonders of the humble apple and a great family day out
Hundreds of people visited Cloughjordan Ecovillage last weekend to celebrate the annual harvest of the humble apple, at the Féile na nÚll.
Locals and visitors alike came bearing bags, crates and even wheelbarrows full of fruit for pressing into juice by local food enterprise The Night Orchard.
Marie, Noel and Billy McCormack are pictured above extracting apple juice with a crank press. Photo: PJ Wright
The apples were first pulped in a large grinder, then wrapped in square cloth bundles, stacked up between boards and compressed with a large hand-turned screw thread.
The lino printing class with Leontien Friel Darrell was very popular among visitors. Photo: PJ Wright
The busy juicing team reckon some 600 litres were pressed on the day.
Kevin Dudley is pictured with visitors among the apple trees. Photo: PJ Wright
A number of new festival offerings proved very popular: the Riot Rye baking demonstration on how to make a wholemeal apple tart with Irish organic grain, a plant medicine walk by Su Huschke and a talk by Paul Lawford of Small Change who built his own off grid tiny house on wheels.
Festival goers were able to taste a selection of the 60 varieties of heritage apples that grow in the ecovillage, with names as charming as Finola Lee, Mrs Perry and Eight Square.
'Enjoying a glass of juice at the Apple Festival in Cloughjordan. Photo: PJ Wright
There were tours of the ecovillage land including the research and education gardens managed by youtuber Bruce Darrell.
Pictured below is bottling the fresh apple juice and above are Kristina Lomas and Sinisa Mesaric picking the apples and Francesca seen here with a tray of crushed apples. Photos: PJ Wright
For art lovers the festival featured the premiere of Dancing The Orchard, a choreography produced by Instant Dissidence, and local dance artist Julie Lockett presented a series of her ‘landscores’ written in chalk on the ground and walls of the Enterprise Centre.
Pictured above is Thomas Shanahan with a bottle of Cloughjordan Apple Juice
Pictured above is Joe Fitzmaurice displaying his delicious wholemeal apple tart
Above are members of the Apple Festival committee in the Ecovillage - Elizabeth O'Shea, Tara Kirk, Julie Thompson and Anne McEleney Photos: PJ Wright
The annual Apple Bake competition was won by local architect Caelan Bristow with her French apple cake with the under 18-year-old prize going to a Dublin visitor John James Clarke.
Musician Shay Hannon, who has entered many apple pies over many years, won a special prize for best improver.
