Mumming centre opens in old school
Thursday, 29 March 2007
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Ireland's only mumming centre was officially launched this morning in a former national school close to the Fermanagh border.
The £266,000 cultural centre, built in the restored listed building of Aughakillymaude National School on the shores of Lough Erne, is set to become a major attraction for tourists plying the Fermanagh waterways.
The key attraction will be an exhibition dedicated to the vanishing tradition of mumming, in which eerie straw-masked figures perform a midwinter folk drama whose origins are lost in pagan times.
The rhyming drama is centred on the clash of two combatants, the death of one of the heroes and his revival by the black-garbed Doctor.
The exhibition features 19 lifesized automated mumming characters created by Enniskillen modeller Gordon Johnston and capable of performing the traditional rhymes and re-enacting the clash of the heroes. Today's launch features a mumming performance by local children.
Not only has Aughakillymaude School been transformed into a tourist attraction, but local schoolchildren will visit to learn mumming roles and strawcraft. The centre will include an archive of mumming traditions and a small shop.
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I think this is a fantastic venture for children and also adults, it is so warming that these traditions are being passed on to the younger generation, while at the same time informing most adults, who had maybe little knowlege of mumming. really worth while. John.
Posted by john cattell | 21.11.08, 15:51 GMT