It hardly seems like four years since its last big celebration, but the Bridge Community will be quietly marking a quarter of a century in Kilcullen next weekend,
writes Brian Byrne.
That will be 25 years since the community bought 'Nugents Field' and the Kilcullen Main Street buildings attached which had been a home and a forge.
Today it is a 'village within a village', with a campus that includes homes for the residents and co-workers, a weavery, workshops, a cafe, a complete farm with animals and organic vegetables growing, and a nature trail.
The move to Kilcullen followed clearance work along the riverbank by volunteers from the 'parent'
Camphill Community in Dunshane House.
Marking
the 21st year since the purchase, in August 2013, the Bridge Camphill Community welcomed back more than 30 former co-workers for a 6-day celebration.
They came from as far away as Israel, Germany, Spain, and a number of other European countries. The event featured a number of artistic and craft activities including the creation of a mosaic on the community's recently-built Hall and also repairs to the Sun Mosaic visible from the bridge.
They also helped to dig out a pond for the ducks alongside the new Nature Trail, and shared photographic and other memories of the community in Kilcullen.
Marking the 25th will be a much smaller event, with a number of long-term friends and helpers from the town invited to celebrate with chat, music, a little food and a quiet celebration of achievement far beyond anyone's expectation a quarter of a century ago.
