A world of festive magic at Tír na Nollaig

Miniature doorways lead off down mystical pathways through a Christmas ‘faery’ village opened yesterday at Bishop Lucey Park in Cork.

‘Tír na Nollaig’ welcomed its first human visitors as part of Cork’s festive celebrations, featuring a giant Ferris wheel on the Grand Parade, outdoor market stalls with mulled wine and an indoor crafts market at Triskel Christchurch.

Magical fairy inhabitants greeted visitors on entrance to the enchanted village, created by Cork’s pageantry specialists Dowtcha Puppets. The team spent the past six weeks weaving a magical fairy woodland with lights, gardens and forest creatures from native willow, hazel and cedar.

The work began at design stage with a virtual model of the park and the team were busy putting the final touches to their wattle woven creations yesterday.

“It looks really well, there are some really nice scenes in the park, it’s a little magical area that leads to a village hall and a fairy sorting office,” Cliff Dolliver of Dowtcha puppets said.

The hand-made fairy village features tiny intricate houses, gardens, fairy guards, gardeners and a fairy post box for Santa’s letters. Elsewhere, the installation features Santa’s sleigh — also woven from willow — a bubble machine and magic mirror, all set to traditional Irish music recordings composed for the festive experience.

The ‘faery’ village is open weekends (Fri-Sun) from 4pm to 8pm at Bishop Lucey Park.