Big welcome at Kilcullen’s popular Picnic on the Green

It began in 2019, and the Old Kilcullen Picnic on the Green has since become a much-anticipated fixture on the local mid-summer calendar. In addition to bringing people in the Old Kilcullen area together, it brings others home from the faraway places where they have made their new homes.

The green is an iconic place, down the hill from the famous round tower, the last remains of the ancient monastic settlement. It's a commons area, which, before the modern Kilcullenbridge developed on the Liffey, would have been a town outside the monastic walls with a population of at least a thousand people — we can see from records about Viking raids that that number of hostages was reportedly taken during a capture in the first millennium. Now the monastics are long gone too, but there's a substantial, if somewhat scattered, number of residents who come under the aegis of the Old Kilcullen Area Community Association.

Regular and new attendees at the picnic were welcomed to the event by Fergus Aspell of the association. He extended a special welcome to Johnny Howard, who had travelled from Australia for the event.

Thanking everyone who had worked to make the day possible, Fergus gave a special call-out to the Lenihan family, whose home is on the green, for their contribution in mowing the grass for the picnic location and the car park.

Activities on the day included races for children, face painting for children and adults, burgers and strawberries (separately), a tug-of-war, and music from John Kelly and Terry McNally.

The picnic was only cancelled once since it was initiated, in the pandemic summer of 2020.

"We do it because it's a great way to come together and enjoy part of the summer," Fergus Aspell told all those present this year. "There are faces here that I certainly recognise, and some that I don't, so if it is your first time at the picnic, you are very welcome indeed."

Even if they were Vikings, maybe Danes bringing Carlsberg. Probably.