Andalusian culture blooms in Moyne as part of the Longford Flower Festival

Anyone passing the old Latin school in Moyne will be struck by a distinct Andalusia flavour.

The former priest's house adjacent to the historic building is painted white, with flower details painted on, giving a distinct feel of the south of the Iberian Peninsula.

The work represents an emblematic patio from Córdoba, and is a central part of the Longford Flower Festival.

The patio is a large-scale art installation, it will be the locus where a number of pieces created in the run up to the Festival will be displayed. Works will be created by different community groups, sculptures, and flower arrangers from across Longford prior to the day of the Festival on Sunday June 2.

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“The first time we ran the festival was in 2022,” visual artist Raquel Montero Calero outlined.

Raquel is the main organiser of the event and draws on her Córdoban heritage for inspiration. At this time of the year the people of the Souther Spanish city decorate their houses with flowers planted in beds and pots, which either hang from the walls or are placed on paving stones.

The patio houses are communal, family or multi-family dwellings or sets of individual houses with a shared patio, located in the city’s historical quarter. Raquel wanted to recreate the May tradition from her hometown, “I came up with the idea because the priest house in the Latin school hasn't been used in around 20 years,” Raquel explained, “I suggested to the local men shed that we should do something with this building.”

The artist said the building resembled the courtyard architecture of her hometown: “We renovated the place as if it was a courtyard, which is a patio in Spanish. In my home town, we celebrate a festival called Patios de Córdoba, the Courtyards of Córdoba. So that's how we started to develop the project.”

And it's not just centred on Moyne, it's all over the county: “We are spreading the folklore and the history of all related to the festival. It's flamenco, it's visual art, and the flowers.

“We are facilitating workshops all around the county as part of the Festival.”

The events in the run up to Sunday June 2 are as much a part of the Festival as the gathering in Moyne, however that is the culmination of the project: “On the days we have artisans markets and flower markets. We have a lecturer of a garden designer local from Longford, Mary Holmes.

“She's going to do a demonstration and a lecture. We will have a street performance for kids and families. There's a live concert with a flamenco guitar player and composer and a flamenco singer.”

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The most striking part of the festival is the mural at the Latin school: “One of the workshops we did was with the students from the local area. They designed the mural and an artist has rendered the murals on the walls beside the Latin school.”

As well as the work on the mural Raquel has facilitated a flower felting workshop in Moyne and a flamenco dancing workshop in St Christophers in Longford town. That flamenco workshop travels to Clondra this week.

“People do a bit of dancing, but also learn the roots of flamenco dance and the connections between flamenco dance and Irish folklore because there is a lot, believe it or not,” the artist says of the focus of the workshop.

Longford Flower Festival culminates in the open day at the Latin School in Moyne on Sunday, June 2.

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