Feile Fidelma 2010
Article Added: 10/09/2010
CASHEL and the FÉILE FIDELMA 2010
A Personal View by
Peter Tremayne
When I was still in short pants, my father, a Corkman, told me stories about ancient Ireland. He told me that Cashel was once the seat of the Eóghanacht Kings of Muman (Munster) who ruled from the ancient Rock for nearly a thousand years. Muman, he informed me, was the largest of the five kingdoms of ancient Ireland, even though the overall authority of the five kingdoms rested in the High Kings at Tara. This and much more, he told me; of legends and stories associated with the Eóghanacht and their people.
Perhaps it was natural that when I started writing medieval mystery stories about Fidelma, trained in the ancient Irish Brehon Law, and solving crimes in 7th Century Ireland, I should choose to make her an Eóghanacht; sister of the historical King Colgú, ruling from the Rock of Cashel c.AD 665/6-678. The Fidelma mysteries are mainly set in Munster and locations around Cashel itself.
The Fidelma mysteries were born as short stories. I little realised that, within a short space of time, a publisher would ask me to write full-length novels, nor that these novel would appear in 18 different languages, be adapted as radio plays, audio books and optioned for developing for television. Nor did I realise that there would be such enthusiasm for the stories The International Sister Fidelma Society would be formed in the USA in 2001, with a website and a print magazine appearing three times a year and entitled The Brehon. The 21st book in the series is due out in July, 2010.I brought my wife to show her Cashel in the 1970s. It has since become a special place for the both of us, where many memorable events have taken place. None so memorable as November, 2004, when the I was given a civic reception and presentation by the Mayor, Cllr Tom Woods, and Cashel Council, after I had opened the Cashel Arts Fest that year. It was following my talk that Cashel Arts Fest proposed the idea of holding a three-day festival in honour of my character Fidelma of Cashel.
The first Féile was held in September, 2006, and was an amazing success (amazing to me, that is) with visitors from ten countries attending. This year will see the third such gathering. Each time, it has been an honour to see the incumbent Mayor of Cashel, spending the time from his busy schedule to officially open the weekend.What is really heartening is that the Féile attracts not only international visitors to Cashel but also attracts some of the leading Irish scholars of the medieval period who come to speak. Professor Máirín Ni Dhonnchadh, Dr Dan MacCarthy, Professor Dáithi Ó Cróinín, Dr Dagmar Raedel O’Riain, have spoken as well as literary scholars, like Dr John Scaggs, and such famous Irish novelists as Morgan Llywelyn. These talks are open, not only to registrants of the Féile, but on an individual payment basis, to those who don’t want to register for the entire weekend. So the Féile presents an excellent opportunity for local Cashel people, and especially young students, to come and hear some of Ireland’s greatest scholars talking about their town and its cultural heritage. This is not to exclude the contributions of some of Ireland’s most interesting exponents of the arts and literature. Just look at the line-up for this year’s Féile.
The Féile Fidelma at Cashel has become a unique gathering and I am more than delighted that a literary accident of mine has created such a vibrant and exciting gathering.
Féile Fídelma – September 10th-12th 2010
2) Anna Heussaff, award winning Irish language novelist.
3) Luigi Sanvito, editor of the Italian publishers of the Fidelma series.
4) Caroline Lennon, an actress from Co. Wicklow, who has recorded several of the Fidelma books for the audio book editions.
5) Neil Donnelly is one of Ireland’s leading playwrights and directors. He is dramatising Peter Tremayne’s short story “Invitation to a Poisoning,” which will be presented as a “rehearsed reading.”
6) Joanne O’Brien of the County Tipperary Historical Society will be leading a tour of “Historic Cashel.”
7) David R. Wooten, from Charleston, South Carolina, is director of The International Sister Fidelma Society, and editor of its journal, The Brehon.
8) Peter Tremayne, the creator and author of The Sister Fidelma Mysteries.
The third three-day international gathering of Fidelma enthusiasts will be held on September 10-12, 2010, at the Cashel Palace Hotel. Sister Fidelma is the heroine-sleuth of a series of popular novels and short stories by author Peter Tremayne. She is an Irish religieuse of the 7th Century AD who is also a trained advocate of the ancient Irish law system of the time - the Brehon law system. Full registration for Féile Fidelma 2010 is €130, which includes the opening reception, all the seven lectures and the gala dinner on Saturday night. Anyone interested in the lectures only may attend at a cost of €10 per lecture.
The 2010 speakers will be:
1) Professor Pádraig Ó Riain, former Professor of Old and Middle Irish at University College Cork.2) Anna Heussaff, award winning Irish language novelist.
3) Luigi Sanvito, editor of the Italian publishers of the Fidelma series.
4) Caroline Lennon, an actress from Co. Wicklow, who has recorded several of the Fidelma books for the audio book editions.
5) Neil Donnelly is one of Ireland’s leading playwrights and directors. He is dramatising Peter Tremayne’s short story “Invitation to a Poisoning,” which will be presented as a “rehearsed reading.”
6) Joanne O’Brien of the County Tipperary Historical Society will be leading a tour of “Historic Cashel.”
7) David R. Wooten, from Charleston, South Carolina, is director of The International Sister Fidelma Society, and editor of its journal, The Brehon.
8) Peter Tremayne, the creator and author of The Sister Fidelma Mysteries.
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