Tomorrow's Fairy Trail relaunch in the Valley

Clockwise from top left: Paddy Brangan, who laid 400 tons of stone; the Community Council Valley Committee; one of the new fairy houses; volunteers getting the Valley ready for its opening; pouring the concrete for the Valley pond.

Tomorrow's relaunch of the Valley Fairy Trail will also mark some five decades of the Valley itself, and Noel Clare will speak at the event on the park's background and development, writes Brian Byrne. 

The land was purchased by the Community Council in the early 1970s and formally opened as a park in 1978. In 1979 it won a national Best Environmental Award.

A full gala afternoon is planned for the relaunch of the Fairy Trail, on Saturday 12 August, with fairies, princesses, ice cream and free drinks and fairy cakes for the children. A Fairy Wand will start the magic at 2pm. Music will be courtesy of DJ Curly's disco as well as live song performances. The Suas Knitting Group will put displays on the bridge and the Valley for the occasion.

The Yellow Post Box at the Valley entrance is now open to take entries for the Children's Colouring Competition, up to and including the relaunch day. Results will be announced on 19 August.

Children can also avail of face glitter, nail painting and hair braids from the Pamper Me Beautiful crew, with KCA providing each child with a €2.50 voucher redeemable at the PMB stand. Children (and their parents) are encouraged to dress in appropriate fairy gear for the afternoon.

The Valley Fairy Trail was inaugurated in 2019 as part of Kilcullen 700 with sponsorship by Kilcullen Community Action and Ger Doyle. It has been a great success, prompting this year's upgrading with new fairy houses and displays. The upgrade was made possible by funding allocated by Cllr Tracey O’Dwyer and Cllr Fiona Mc Loughlin Healy, a grant from Kildare Credit Union, and a fundraiser event held in Fallons in 2022 by Paula Phelan and Michelle Reddy.

In addition to the fairy elements, new wild garden displays have been installed in the Valley over the past year, and all the benches have been repainted in bright colours. A major clean-up of the park this week by KCA will have it looking its best for Saturday.

"Our KCA team of volunteers and CE workers deserve a big thank you for the litter picking and maintenance of the valley throughput the year," says Antoinette Buckley. "We always love to see new volunteers on our team, so anyone who would like to give as little as hour of their time on a regular basis will be very welcome. It takes a lot of work by the volunteers to maintain and keep Kilcullen looking so beautiful but every hour of volunteering helps."

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