Savour a festive tipple in M/town

THE Mitchelstown-based Eight Degrees brewing company has issued an invitation to the public to kick off the festive season in style and sample some of their award-winning brews.

The company is throwing a party on Saturday, November 25 for ‘Fanah-Fest’, a free beer and music festival to celebrate St Fanahan the ‘warrior Saint’ of Mitchelstown.

Best known to most people as the squat statue outside Mitchelstown Garda Station, the warrior monk came from Ulster to found a monastery near the town in the 7th century.

“Traditionally, St Fanahan was a pattern day, a local holiday. People gathered at his well, probably a ritual that goes back far further to pre- Christian times, as the well would have been a place for pagan worship,” said a brewery spokesman.

“We love our festivals here in Mitchelstown and so, bearing in mind that St Fanahan’s monastery would in all probability have brewed its own beer, we have decided that this would be a good day to celebrate beer in Mitchelstown.”

The festivities will get underway at 2pm when Sean Sherlock TD will officially launch the new Eight Degrees’ #Ma uri ti oust oM itch els town brewery at the Coolnanave Business Park, followed by tours and beer tastings up to 5pm.

The party will continue afterwards in Mitchelstown with the turning on of the town’s Christmas lights, a live music and beer trail, fun, games and the promise of plenty of seasonal merriment.

People can register for the free event in advance at www.eventbrite.ie or simply rock up on the day.