The Easter holiday will be a busy time in County Kilkenny, with gathering events taking place around the county.

Emigration through the centuries

Rothe House & Garden will be hosting ‘Emigration through the centuries’ a three day series mix of lectures, day trips, and social entertainment exploring factors influencing the departure of so many 19th and 20th century Irish men and women. The conference will be based in Rothe House Kilkenny and will engage with Irish diaspora seeking to connect with their Kilkenny roots. A full programme of events is available here

MacGiollaPhadraig/Fitzpatrick Way Walk

Easter Sunday March 31st 2013 sees the staging of the popular 17km walk on theMacGiollaPhadraig Way from Durrow Co. Laois to Gathabawn Co. Kilkenny. This estimated 3.5 to 4 hour cross country walk will commence from 11:30 am. The walk will leave the Church car park, Durrow at 12.00 noon and continue by Ballykealy then to Cullahill Mountain at 2.30pm, where intended walkers can join at the trail head. This particular location boasts spcetacular scenery where seven Counties come into view . At the conclusion of the walk lunch will be served in Mackeys Bar, Gathabawn. Registration and walk fee of €5,   fee paying shuttle bus will also be available throughout the day. More information available here

Pat Walsh Easter Memorial, Dunamaggan

THE ANNUAL PAT WALSH MEMORIAL PARADE will take place in Dunamaggan on Easter Sunday. The celebrations commence with the 11.00 a.m. mass in St. Leonard’s Church, Dunamaggan which will be followed by the Parade. The guest speaker this year is John McGuinness T.D., chairman of the Dáil Public Accounts Committee. The evening concludes with a Cabaret in O’Dwyer’s at 9.00 p.m. from which the proceeds will go to the Dunamaggan G.A.A. club and the committee. This Easter Sunday Parade is one of the longest established Parades in the country and your support is very welcome so as to ensure that it continues and is still part of the local celebrations in 2016 and 2021 when it celebrates historic centuries of Irish History.

You can play a part by organising your own gathering event. A gathering can be as small or as large as you want, all you need is one person form overseas. You can upload your event to www.thegatheringireland.com and use it as a central hub to help plan your event.

In addition to our large scale flagship events, we are hoping that the people of Kilkenny will plan and host as many smaller community events as possible.

You can take inspiration from some of the events others have planned, or perhaps you have your own unique idea. Either way, you should make use of A gathering can be as small or as large as you like.  Whether you are an individual, a business or a community or sporting organisation, you can help to make 2013 the year of the Gathering.You can take inspiration from some of the events others have planned, or perhaps you have your own unique idea. Either way, to get started, create an account at www.thegatheringireland.com and upload the details of your event. If you need any help, the local steering group is available to provide assistance, and can be contacted through the links here.

Whatever type of event you are organising, there are a few key things you can do to help your gathering succeed.

1.  Work with your community

You don’t have to work alone. Why not get everyone involved at the planning stage and work together? Pooling all your resources and experience will make your gathering more successful and give the whole community a sense of ownership.

2.  Identify who you want to target

Seek out your connections around the world such as family, friends, school and work colleagues and start communicating with them now. You don’t need to have your event confirmed to start the conversation.

3.  Seek out sponsorship

Local funding through individual or commercial sponsorship can make a big difference to your event. Talk to businesses in your area today.

4.  Work with your local tourism providers

Let local tourism providers like hotels, B&Bs, activity organisers and visitor attractions know about your event in advance. They may be able to support it in some way, either by offering packages or promoting it on their websites.

5.  Keep the local press informed

Stay in touch with your local press. Get to know your local journalists and editors, their deadlines and their particular news interests. Make their jobs easier by providing them with good quality press releases, pictures and captions. Announce events in the community diary.

6. Use www.thegatheringireland.com

There’s lots of resources available on www.thegatheringireland.com, including posters, invites and ‘How to’ guides to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. Social media is a powerful and completely free marketing resource. Choose one or two social media tools and use them well.

Kilkenny’s  first gathering event of the year took place on New Years Day in Castlecomer, when around 10,000f people turned out for the 33rd annual Wellie Race. This year, the race featured an international element, with Tyler Chuang of Toronto declared International World Wellie Race Champion!

Competitors were encouraged to run in the national colours of their home or adopted countries. Thousands of euros were raised for a variety of charities, and you can see s gallery of the highlights at the wellie races Facebook page here.

Street Performers, Kilkenny 400 Celebrations 2009

Kilkenny is a medieval city of 24,000 people acclaimed internationally as a centre for craft and design. Technology, Tourism, Craft & Design and food processing are the main industries in the county. Each year Kilkenny hosts a number of international festivals and the city is a very popular tourist destination.

This medieval city is characterised by many beautifully restored buildings and winding slipways – it is small and compact enough to explore on foot, yet full of fascinating historical buildings and contemporary shops, design galleries and restaurants.