March signifies the deepening of spring on the island, with more fresh growth, longer evenings and our unique and highly anticipated St. Patrick’s Day Cead Tournament. This ancient game is played only on Inis Meáin and only on St. Patrick’s Day, no matter what the weather. (And practising on any other day is against the rules.)
To celebrate our St. Patrick’s Day Island tradition, each order placed between the 6th and 17th of March will include a complimentary Shamrock Brooch, lovingly hand-crocheted on the island to support local charity, Cancer Care West.
Like so much about Inis Meáin, Cead is unique. A small wooden stick – the cead – is placed against a flat stone in the middle of a field. Using only a second piece of wood as a bat, players must hit the cead into the air and then again, fast and hard, over the far side of a rope over thirty metres away. It’s a game of skill and precision, and, to the delight of the spectators, several teams battle it out all day long. When the World Cup (the title is used proudly, and without irony) is presented to the winners, celebrations continue long into the March evening.
Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig
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