Tradition kills off the old year in Ireland’s oldest New Year festival
LOCALS in Portmagee, Co Kerry, will ring in the New Year in their own unique way tonight by recreating the scene of a French landing there almost 300 years ago.
The village was used by the crew of Star Wars: The Last Jedi as the departure point from which to ferry actors Mark Hamill and Daisy Ridley to Skellig Michael but tonight it will focus on a different form of invasion.
The ‘Old Year’ festival is the oldest of its type in the country. It is based on the story of a Kinsale brig flying a French flag landing in the area in 1727.
The action revolves around two people, an old man who appears to be on his last legs (the Old Year) and a younger man or woman (representing the New Year), smartly turned out, wearing a sash and wishing one and all a happy New Year.
Gerard Kennedy, from the Bridge Bar, helps to organise the festival every year.
He said the French ship landed three days after Christmas in 1727 and the soldiers stayed with it until New Year’s Eve.
“As the locals were retiring for the night, they heard a strange noise coming from the pier,” he said.
“When they looked down to the pier, they saw the crew was making its way towards the village. Locals could see the soldiers marching up with torches.
“They came up through the village and in the middle of them was a shaggy old man, staggering around the place as if he was about to drop dead.”
A shot rang out through the village and the old man crumbled to the ground, lifeless.
The village was stunned into silence before a younger man, well turned out in a swallowtail coat and top hat, arrived on the scene to wish everyone a happy New Year.
“He explained to them that the old man was symbolic of the Old Year and that as of midnight, he was no more. The younger man represented the New Year and symbolised its youth and vitality,” said Gerard.
The scene has been recreated in the centre of Portmagee every year since.
One local dresses as the old man and wears a mask. He appears dishevelled and bent over and has straw inside his clothes.
A younger local is selected to be the ‘New Year’ by Gerard, and another member of a local committee charged with running the festival.
Gerard said locals only get one opportunity to be the ‘New Year’ and the chosen person will not be known to others until the ‘Old Year’ has been apparently shot.
There is no countdown to ring in the New Year and no fireworks.
“The whole thing is very fluid and he might not be shot at midnight. Generally, everyone gets put out of the bars at 11.30pm and then he will get shot some time after that,” he said.
“Everyone lines the streets and cheers him on. A pipe band and torch men will walk him through the village until he is ‘shot’.
“It is a very local thing and it is where all the locals gather when they are home from America and Canada or wherever.
“It is a tradition now to come to it as well.
“People are talking about it all week, trying to figure out who will be the ‘New Year’ and there is a bit of excitement about it because the ‘New Year’ is always honoured to be asked to do it.
“They are expected to give a talk about the New Year and the good things coming up. Then they go around to the houses and wish everyone a happy New Year.”