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‘Foxygen' fun as gingers paint Crosshaven red

August 29th, 2016 5:35 PM

By Southern Star Team

King and Queen of the Redheads Andy O'Neill and Emma Ní Chearúil. (Photo: Daragh Mc Sweeney/Provision)

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The 7th Annual Redhead Convention in Crosshaven was another ‘red’ roaring success with gingers from Kilkenny and Galway taking away the scarlet crown.

THE 7th Annual Redhead Convention in Crosshaven was another ‘red’ roaring success with gingers from Kilkenny and Galway taking away the scarlet crown.

Andy O’Neill from Kilkenny and Emma Ní Chearúil from Galway were named the new ‘King and Queen of Gingerdom’ on Sunday after a weekend which saw hundreds of redheads paint the pretty coastal town red.

‘The fun family festival of ginger-loving madness is a celebration of all things to do with having fabulous red hair, the rarest hair colour in the world,’ said organiser Joleen Cronin.

This year’s festival organisers greeted hundreds of redheads, along with friends and family. These included Debbie Murphy from Atlanta in Georgia who won Best Redhead Granny, Jean Remley of California who won the Longest Red Hair Award and Thomas Gronemeir from Frankfurt who won the Best Ex-Redhead Award.

‘Our ginger-loving festival continues to go from strength to strength,’ added Joleen. ‘Redheads are very proud of their redhead identity. The festival is a fantastic coming together for gingers and wonderful celebration of everything to do with fabulous red hair. Through social media, the redhead community is truly global and it is wonderful that the festival attracts people from as far away as Australia, Europe and the US.’

 The non-profit Irish Redhead Convention partners with the Irish Cancer Society every year and has raised over €30,000 for the national charity to date. Redheads are one of the most susceptible groups to melanoma and other skin cancers. The message being promoted at the weekend for all fair and freckled friends is to be ‘sun smart’ by seeking shade, covering up and wearing lots of sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30.

 Weekend highlights included a redhead-only parade through the town, a group photograph featuring hundreds of redheads, and the ginger jig, where redheads joined together in traditional Irish ‘céilí dance, setting a world ‘red-cord’ of jig-happy gingers in the village square.

 For the first time ever, the Irish Redhead Convention hosted the highly coveted MOGO (Music of Ginger Origin) awards, with public votes crowning winners such as Tori Amos for Special Services to MOGO.

 Dublin redhead musician Orla Gartland collected an award for Best Irish Ginger Musician, who also red-headlined the Foxygen stage over the weekend. Best Ginger Newcomer which went to actor and soap star Gary Lamont of Scotland’s ‘River City’ who was also performing at the event.

 A number of other Best Ginger Awards were presented, including accolades such as The Most Freckles per Square Inch and The World’s Greatest Ginger Beard.  

Next year’s Irish Redhead Convention will take place in Crosshaven from August 18th-20th. 

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