Hunt on for Wren boys

The job spec is simple; you must be enjoy a bit of craic, be able to dance, and be prepared to appear in public with your face painted, in a wig, and clad in anything from the wife’s a nightgown to skimpy belly-dancing costume.

The festive SOS has gone out — Carrigaline, Co Cork, is looking for 10 wannabe Wren Boys to join its annual ‘Wran’ this St Stephen’s Day.

Applicants can be of both sexes and any age — just so long as they’re up for the craic says chief organiser Barry Cogan, who is appealing for up to 10 ‘applicants’ to join the ‘Wren Boys’ in the village’s renowned St Stephen’s Day ‘Wran’.

Thousands of sightseers annually visit the village to watch this local tradition, which stretches back some 30 years. Next Saturday, the streets will close from around 11am, when a large and motley crew of about 50 very peculiar-looking folk parade noisily through the village.

First, about 25 or 30 ‘Wren Boys’ dressed in colourful costumes caper down Church Hill.Shortly afterwards, from the direction of the band-hall, and led by the local pipe band, a group of 15 ‘Straw-Boys’, dressed head to toe in eye-catching traditional hand-made skirts, capes and hats made from locally-grown oaten straw parade through the village.

“Every year we need to refresh the ranks of the Wren Boys, and this year we are looking for about 10 people to join the Wren Boys and take part in ‘The Wran’ — and we are also encouraging members of the public to dress up for the day as well,” said Mr Cogan , who says the two groups then meet and mingle and perform on a special gig rig.Later in the day the ‘Boys’ visit local pubs and the hotel, collecting money for charity - Cork’s Marymount Hospice and the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association..Retired civil engineer John O’Keeffe has been and a Straw Boy in Carrigaline for some 30 years.However but not only does the Monkstown resident don the costume – he and the other Straw Boys grow the oats and make the ensembles:“We grow the oats and reap them, and make the straw suits – there’s a cape and a skirt as well as a hat.“Each Straw Boy is covered from head to foot. The costume dates back to an ancient page festival but has become associated with the Wran,” says O’Keeffe, who says the suit-making is a time-consuming affair:“It takes a long time to make a costume, although they will keep for a number of years. Every year we get a meitheal of people together and we’dmake eight to ten new full suits. It takes about a day to make each cape and skirt but the hats can take a few days each to make. The whole business can take two weeks.“It’s a real spectacle – foreign people in particular are amazed by it and it’s fantastic fun for everyone.” On top of all that, sightseers can enjoy the colourful spectacle of the South Union Hunt, which holds its annual meet in the village at noon on the day.

Anyone who would like to be a ‘Wren Boy’ in Carrigaline on St Stephen’s Day, should contact interested can contact Mr Cogan on 087 8137990.