Laois town that is Ireland's tidiest on celebration mission

People in Ireland's Tidiest Town Abbeyleix are setting out on a new mission next year when the Laois town celebrates its 250th anniversary. 

A gathering of up to 70 people from across the community gathered in the Abbeyleix Manor Hotel on Thursday, August 30 to flesh out proposals made in recent weeks locally to have a year of celebration in 2025 to mark what will be a milestone year for the town.

Apart from the founding year other anniversaries will also take place. It's 25 years since work began on Abbeyleix Bog and also a quarter of a century since the Abbeyleix Manor Hotel opened. Abbeyleix Golf Club will also celebrate 130th year in 2025. 

Recent discussions led in the calling the meeting in the hotel. The organisers reported that many great suggestions were made from the floor and the energy was noticeably positive toward the idea of holding a celebration.

A skeleton plan of festivities was provisionally agreed upon as a roadmap. An idea floated that won support was to have a series of events each month with perhaps a weekend festival to take place in either the summer or Christmas next year.

But for the events to materialise, the organisers are keen for lots of local groups and businesses to participate. 

"The organisers are trying to involve as many of the groups, schools, and businesses in the area to come up with a 12-month calendar of events throughout the year," said one of those who convened the meeting. MORE BELOW PICTURE.

It's possible that each month could be given a theme such as music, sport, arts etc with the clubs and groups in that field running events under the co-ordination of an umbrella festival committee.

The meeting also agreed to form a working group committee called Abbeyleix Celebrates 250 which will be the umbrella banner title for all events next year. The committee will take responsibility for the administration and promotion of events throughout the year.

Among those already committed to supporting the Abbeyleix Celebrates 250 are the owners of Abbey Leix House and Farm. The General Manager and Head Chef attended the meeting. Tom Vesey was also there and endorsed the project. Cllr John Joe Fennelly also attended and the organisers are looking forward to working with him and Laois County Council to advance their plans.

The organisers of meeting thanked everyone who attended and welcomed the support from both businesses and people who could not attend on the night.

The immediate next step is to invite the primary and secondary schools to get involved.

If you would like to stay informed or would like to get involved, the organisers request that you email your name or business name to abbeyleixcelebrates250@gmail.com

This will allow them to keep people informed of upcoming meetings and events.