Chapterhouse Theatre Company will host an outdoor production of Pride and Prejudice at Bellingham Castle tonight.
The event gets underway at 7.30pm with tickets on sale now ranging from €17 for adults to €12 for children. A family ticket (two adults and two children) is also available for €48.
Transaction and delivery costs apply with tickets available from here.
Anyone who is attending is asked to bring their own rugs or low-backed seating with them.
Markree Castle
The Corscadden family, who own and operate two of the North East’s most popular wedding venues, have announced the purchase of Markree Castle in Sligo.
The owners of Bellingham Castle in Castlebellingham and Cabra Castle in Kingscourt, have paid an undisclosed sum for the hotel which will now undergo a €5m restoration with a view to re-opening to the public in March 2016.
It’s the first time that the castle has changed hands since it was gifted to the Cooper family by Cromwell in the mid-17th century. The family put the property on the market back in September 2014 for an asking price which was understood to be €3.1m but no selling price has been disclosed for the sale.
“We are delighted to add this incredible property to the Corscadden collection of Irish castles,” said Howard Corscadden, whose family also run Ballyseede Castle in Co Kerry.
Last year the family completed the restoration of Bellingham Castle, which it acquired in 2012 for €900,000.
Anyone who ever got married or who had the pleasure of visiting Cabra Castle in Kingscourt will be saddened to learn of the passing of the hotel’s Irish Wolfhound, Oscar, yesterday morning.
A constant companion to visitors to the hotel, many people have been sharing stories and pictures of Oscar on the hotel’s Facebook page.
The Corscadden family had made Oscar a star of Cabra in recent years and even got another Irish Wolfhound, Ferdia, to take up residence in their sister hotel Bellingham Castle when it opened in January 2014.
Bellingham Castle
Chapterhouse Theatre Company will host an outdoor production of Pride and Prejudice at Bellingham Castle on Tuesday July 14th.
The event gets underway at 7.30pm with tickets on sale now ranging from €17 for adults to €12 for children. A family ticket (two adults and two children) is also available for €48.
Transaction and delivery costs apply with tickets available from here.
Anyone who is attending is asked to bring their own rugs or low-backed seating with them on the night.
The revamped Bellingham Castle
Bellingham Castle has been granted conditional planning permission to retain many of the refurbishments carried out to it following its reopening in January 2014.
Late last year owner Howard Corscadden applied to Louth County Council for retention permission for the work carried out at the castle including the internal refurbishment and decoration of rooms, internal alterations, the removal of non-original walls/partitions and stairs, the openings in original walls, the fireplace in the reception hall, the new bar and lounge, the restoration of existing external walls and the new stone entrance steps.
He has now been given the go ahead to retain the changes to the castle, which recently hosted The Voice of Ireland finalists.
Also set to be retained are the external landscapings, the lawns, new statues, water fountains, carparking and the security gates to the entrance driveway.
Permission has also been granted to lower the existing chimney to the front elevation and the amendment to the extract ducting.
American actor Aaron Paul was a visitor to Bellingham Castle last night.
Paul, best known for his role as Jessie Pinkman in Breaking Bad, took a shine to Irish wolfhound Ferdia on his visit to the castle.
The Need for Speed star has been in Ireland for the past few days but is said to have left Bellingham for Dublin Airport this morning.
Aaron also visited Bellingham’s sister hotel Cabra Castle during his stay here with Brenda Sheenan giving a full account of his visit here.
Alan Wilson and Jacqueline Cooling with their daughter. The couple have set up a campaign to try and get Gary Barlow to perform at their wedding next month
Two local brides are battling it out to have Take That front man Gary Barlow perform at their weddings in 2015.
The former X Factor judged announced via his Twitter page in recent days that he would perform at three weddings in 2015 and he has been inundated with requests from brides and grooms to be since then.
Amongst those hoping to catch the eye of the multi-platinum selling artists are local couples Jacqueline Cooling and Alan Wilson and Sarah Smyth and John Kenwright.
Jacqueline and Alan will be getting married in Ballymagarvey Village in Co Meath on February 27th and have launched a Twitter page to help their campaign. The couple have been sending various rewritten lyrics to Gary to help catch his eye and you can follow them here.
Sarah and John, who have featured on radio this morning, stand to benefit in more ways than one if Gary decides to perform on their big day in Bellingham Castle in August.
Local videographer Gerry Duffy has offered to do her wedding video for free if Gary turns up on the day and following his kind request The Wedding Guy has offered to plan it for free if Gary performs on the day.
Barlow has already chosen one lucky couple but will not be revealing who they are until after the event.
O’Brien’s Discount Store in Castlebellingham have announced that they will cease trading after the Christmas period.
The business will keep going, however, on a door to door basis with deliveries in Kilsaran, Castlebellingham, Togher, Dromiskin, Stabannon and Dunleer.
Writing on their Facebook page, owner Paidi O’Brien said: “It is with regret that I wish to let you all know that after the Christmas period, O’Brien’s Discount Store will cease trading in Castlebellingham.
“Over the last few months things have happened beyond our control, and we feel that in the long run it is better to close the shop and continue on with a new business venture and new direction.
“The ‘O’Brien’s Discount Store’ brand will still be running behind the scenes but it will be door to door from now on – daily deliveries of all washing powders, coal, logs, gas, sticks, toilet rolls etc. We will be delivering fliers around over the coming weeks so make you let us know if you would be interested in door-to-door deliveries. This will cover all areas – Kilsaran, Castlebellingham, Togher, Dromiskin, Stabannon, Dunleer etc.
“On behalf of myself, Eileen and Charlotte, we want to say a huge thank you to all our customers, for your support from day 1 and we wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.”
The revamped Bellingham Castle
Bellingham Castle will be reopened a year following its refurbishment quite soon and anyone who has visited it in the past 12 months or so will tell you what a fine place it has become.
The castle, which recently hosted the judges from The Voice of Ireland, faces a sweat to hang on to many of those changes, however, after only recently applying for planning permission for the work carried out to the protected structure.
Owner Howard Corscadden has applied to Louth County Council for retention permission for the work carried out at the castle including the internal refurbishment and decoration of rooms, internal alterations, the removal of non-original walls/partitions and stairs, the openings in original walls, the fireplace in the reception hall, the new bar and lounge, the restoration of existing external walls and the new stone entrance steps.
Also seeking to be retained are the external landscapings, the lawns, new statues, water fountains, carparking and the security gates to the entrance driveway.
They are also seeking permission to lower the existing chimney to the front elevation and the amendment to the extract ducting.
Louth County Council are due to decide on the matter by December 18th.
Ferdia and Una at Bellingham Castle
Irish wolfhound Ferdia has certainly made a big impression since taking up residence at Bellingham Castle since its reopening at the tail end of last year.
Visitors are frequently enthralled by the friendly pooch but it appears he has a new celebrity fan too.
The Saturdays star Una Foden (nee Healy) was in the Castlebellingham-based castle this morning and took two pictures of Ferdia, including one alongside her new best friend, which she then shared on her Instagram page.
Healy seemed impressed with all that Bellingham had to offer and she is a tough judge of late having recently signed up to be a coach on the new series of The Voice of Ireland.
Talk of the Town 