After almost a week of St Patrick’s festivals the spring equinox brings the chance to get in touch with our more ancient ancestors and wonder at their mastery of the heavens.
All weekend, members of the public can experience the equinox illumination of the Cairn T chamber at Loughcrew, Co Meath. The cairns at Loughcrew form the largest complex of passage graves in Ireland, and twice a year the chamber is illuminated by the rays of the rising sun.
Admission to the cairn is free, and the illumination takes place from 6.15am until 7.30am. The cairn will be open tomorrow, Sunday and Monday mornings, and staff from the Office of Public Works will be in attendance to ensure everyone enjoys the event.
The Irish rugby team will also hope its stars shine bright as they seek to claim the Triple Crown by beating Scotland at Croke Park from 5pm tomorrow.
Gordon D'Arcy has been cleared to start for the Six Nations finale after sustaining heavy bruising above his left knee in last Saturday's 27-12 victory over Wales.
Mathematically, Declan Kidney’s men can still win the championship, but it would take a miracle for England to beat France by the point differential needed for the boys in green to retain their title.
Maybe those taking part in the Croagh Patrick Walking Festival could pray to our patron saint on the reek for the right result in the Stade de France tomorrow night.
The three-day 60km-hike starts today in the town of Balla, Co Mayo, and head westwards to Murrisk at the foot of Croagh Patrick taking in castles, prehistoric stones and tombs on route.
Patrons can complete the entire walk or join the group each morning for a 20km daily hike. More details are available at http://www.croaghpatrickheritagetrail.com
Tomorrow is family day at the “Nyah” Cavan Arts Festival. From 3pm to 5pm members of the junior branch of Comhaltas in the town are asking the public to turn off their televisions in favour of traditional music sessions for the afternoon.
Members of the public are asked to join in with the impromptu music sessions outside houses that the branch hopes will give a more eco-friendly approach to traditional music.
Later that night at the Backyard Arts Centre there will be a traditional music recital with John Wynne (flute) John McEvoy (fiddle) and Fintan Mc Manus (bouzouki) followed by a "seisiún" for all. The gig starts at 8.30pm, and admission is €7 or €20 for the family rate |
The festival has been running for a week and will continue until Sunday March 28th.
In Dublin on Sunday Hula Hoops is attempting to break the world record for the most people hula-hooping simultaneously.
The company is attempting to have 200 people hula hoop for two minutes at Spencer Dock from midday, and hoops will be provided on the day.
The Irish leg will run simultaneously with 15 other events in the United Kingdom in the hope it will beat a world record. Incidentally the current record is believed to have been set by 2,290 participants at Chung Cheng Stadium in Taiwan on October 28th 2000.
The West Cork Rally takes place at various points throughout the county this weekend, and there will be a number of road closures as a result.
Roads in the Ballinascarthy, Clogagh and Ring areas will be closed tomorrow, while on Sunday closures will affect the Rossmore, Sam’s Cross, Ardfield and Hayes’s Cross areas. See AA Roadwatch for more details.
In Gaelic games there is a host of fixtures on around the country this weekend with the pick of the bunch being the division one league clashes in both disciplines.
Tomorrow in hurling Galway take on Offaly in Pearse Stadium while on Sunday Dublin face Kilkenny at Parnell Park and Waterford are against Cork in Walsh Park - throw in for all games is 2.30pm.
Also tomorrow, Dublin will travel to Páirc Uí Rinn to take on Cork at 7.30pm in the football.
The weather for the weekend will be generally dry and bright with some patches of rain in places. Highest temperatures will be 13 degrees.
