Timoleague reaping rewards of harvest festival

The Timoleague Harvest Festival is celebrating its half century – what started out as a fundraiser to help develop a building in the village has brought the entire community together as well as some of the biggest names in entertainment to West Cork

A PROPOSAL made by a group of young farmers at a Macra meeting half a century ago, resulted in a festival that has generated millions of euro that’s been invested in a West Cork community.

Timoleague’s 50th summer festival will get underway on Friday August 18th. The first harvest festival was held in 1973 and was organised specifically to raise funds for the repair and maintenance of a newly-bought building in the village.

The forward thinking proposal to purchase the building came from local Macra members Pat Hayes, Peter Long, Michael O’Mahony, Liam Barry and Dermot O’Driscoll. The building had been used as a piggery, but when it came up for sale, the young men recognised its potential as a community hub and were supported financially in their ambition by local farmer, the late Jackie Deasy.

It was Jackie’s idea to first organise a fair, and then a festival to raise money to cover the cost of the purchase and he’s widely credited with being a major driving force and visionary behind getting the event established.

Macra members Micheal O’Mahony, Dermot O’Driscoll, Peter Long, Pat Hayes, and Liam Barry saw the potential in a community hub for the village. (Photo: Gearoid Holland)

The initial debt was quickly cleared, and the festival’s continued profitable success has allowed for the development of other major amenities in the village including the GAA pitch, the village’s playground, tennis courts, roofing its ball alley, building an after-school facility and lots more.

Jackie Deasy was the first festival chairman, vice chair that year was Richard Fleming, secretary was Noelle Harrington, joint treasurers were local business men Dan Harte and Oliver McCarthy along with a loyal band of hard working committee members and volunteers.

The official opening that year was performed by legendary Ireland, Munster, and Lions captain Tom Kiernan, who also coached Munster’s famous 1978 win over the All Blacks (Tom returned to do the honours in 1997).

Events in 1973 included a baby show, bowling contest, mongrel dog show, steam threshing, a festival queen event (won by Mary Russell from Drimoleague, and an AIB employee in Bandon) along with the ever popular adult and children’s fancy dress. At that time Clonakilty had a festival but, unlike now, there wasn’t a huge amount of competing summer events, which added to the attraction of the harvest festival.

The Southern Star reported on prepartions for that first festival back in 1973 and the original organising committee: Jackie Deasy, Dan Harte, Noelle Harrington, Oliver McCarthy and Richard Fleming.

Timoleague’s railway line had closed in 1961, but the village was still thriving, with a vibrant Macra group set up in 1968, and the local GAA reforming in 1967.

With a hard working committee in place, the festival went from strength to strength over the following years.

Other figures who opened the festival over the years included the former editor of The Southern Star, the late Liam O’Regan in 1983 who said in his address: ‘Belief in oneself and one’s own community is, I feel a prerequisite for a dynamic community and you here in Timoleague have every reason to feel proud.’

He added: ‘The very fact that a community like Timoleague comes together every year in this way, will inevitably bring about a greater sense of unity among the more active citizens and who knows, as has happened in other places, this demonstration of a common purpose can have spin-off effects.’

Joe Dolan’s performance was a festival highlight for Donie O’Callaghan.

In the millennium year, a festival dome was introduced that helped to attract big names like Joe Dolan, Nathan Carter, Aslan, The Coronas, Walking on Cars, Tommy Fleming, Jenny Greene Disco Roadshow, The Stunning, Frank and Walters, DJ Tony Fenton and Brendan Grace, to mention just a few.

 Everything from pig racing to pillow fights; duck races to a raft race; and dancing to discos have featured on the programme over the past 50 years of the festival when it took place every August,with the exception of the two pandemic years. 

The dome is no longer part of the schedule, with a return to a more family oriented festival, with the hugely popular amusements in the village green a major draw, with many people planning their holidays around the event.

Festival chairmen after Jackie Deasy were Jerry Collins, Pat Hayes, Fachtna Hennessy, Donie O’Callaghan, Gerald Madden, and Sean Deasy.

Donie O’Callaghan said the success of the festival has been down to the hard work of the volunteers and stewards, along with the support of the local business community and county council. His own personal highlight over the years was seeing Joe Dolan in the dome, after seeing him perform in such iconic venues as the Industrial Hall in Clonakilty and Enniskeane. ‘That was definitely a surreal moment for me!’ said Donie.

International acts like The Coronas have featured through the years at the festival.

Pat Hayes, who was part of the Macra group who suggested buying the building that led to the festival said: ‘It’s hard to believe that so much good has come for the community from that proposal 50 years ago. It grew out of something very small, people backed each other and everyone helped each other. It’s great that it’s there for the next generation to carry it on and leave their own mark.’ Gerald Madden, who was chairman from 2000 to 2021, and who was responsible for booking all the acts that performed in the dome, said it was the committee’s dedication that made the festival so successful.

‘There was always great community spirit behind the festival,’ he said.

Current chairman Sean Deasy concluded: ‘It is a fantastic achievement for the people of Timoleague to be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first Timoleague Harvest Festival. I say the people because it is them, whether alive and well or regrettably no longer with us that put the work, commitment and support into the festival since 1973. We especially honour our first committee members that took on a challenge as a new group, many in their 20s and 30s at the time, hoping to achieve their goal of paying for the community hall.’

A huge legacy of the festival, and proof of its incredible success, is the fact that there are currently plans in the pipeline to upgrade the hall, and future-proof it for the next 50 years.

• This year’s festival takes place from Friday August 18th until Monday August 28th. See social media for more.