Féile na Beatha - Carlow's 'Festival Of Living' 2024

Carlow’s Spring festival of living took place on March 19th this year, with a range of compelling events throughout the day. Féile na Beatha has grown out of the Famine Walk which has taken place from South East Technological University to the nearby Famine Graveyard for more than a decade.
Féile 2024 began with a focus on realising the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. This workshop with Social Care students from SETU was led by Katie Martin. Katie is Global Citizenship Project Coordinator with Drogheda-based Development Perspectives, an NGO dedicated to the eradication of poverty and to tackling inequality and climate change.
Our annual Famine Walk will took place at 12 noon at the Agora in South East Technological University and proceeded to the nearby Famine Graveyard where there was spoken word, music and reflections. The Famine Graveyard is an extraordinary place, located in the heart of Carlow. It is close to the site of the old Workhouse, where SETU and Tyndall College are now built.
Local historians tell us that more than three thousand people who died during An Gorta Mór are buried there, making it a place of great importance for the town of Carlow and beyond. In recent years the Famine Graveyard has been promoting biodiversity, transforming a place of death and despair for so many in the past to a site for hope and abundance.
At 7pm, in the Haughton Building in SETU, Dr Iain Atack spoke on the theme ‘From Hurt to Healing to Solidarity’. Dr Atack is a Canadian who has lived in Ireland for many years. He has recently retired from Trinity College Dublin, where he lectured on the Peace Studies programme. He reflected on Ireland’s colonial history and how that interconnects with conflicts today, emphasising the vital importance of global solidarity.
Music was provided by Carlow’s own Eric Butler, a rising star in Ireland’s vibrant music scene and JoeBlackRyder a native Dubliner.
Féile na Beatha is organised by Afri in partnership with SETU and Carlow College.
For over four decades Afri has been involved in opposing war, promoting food sovereignty and tackling climate change - working especially with Secondary and Third level students as well as with the general public. We organise the annual Famine Walk in Mayo, a Hedge School in TU Blanchardstown and Féile Bríde in Kildare. Thank you for continuing to support our work.
www.afri.ie