The iconic Warwick CBD monument to former Queensland premier Thomas Joseph Byrnes has again shown his support for a local festival – this time CelticFest – by donning a custom-built CelticFest hat and a scarf, both in the Irish green.
This comes hot on the heels of his wooly outfit for the Jumpers in July festival, as seen in the August edition of Anglo&Celtic magazine.
Members of the Toowoomba-based Darling Downs Irish Club and the Warwick Caledonian Society were on hand to place the hat and scarf on the monument, expertly assisted by the Southern Downs Regional Council Parks Crew.
The larger-than-life statue (7ft 6in) is now adorned with a specially made Irish hat, craftily made by Warwick Caledonian Society members Louise and Roger Cox to fit Mr Byrnes’s very large noggin. Darling Downs Irish Club members Aileen Cater-Steel and Michael Steel did the honours of putting the hat on TJ Byrnes’s head and placing the scarf around his neck.
The former much-loved Queensland Premier and Member for Warwick, who had Irish parents, passed away in office at the all-too-young age of 37. He was the first premier to die in office.
His monument looks east along Grafton Street and is situated to face the rising sun. It is 5.9m high, weighs 26 tons, was carved in Italy from Carrarra marble, and sits on a pedestal of veined Sicilian marble and a plinth of Melbourne bluestone, with a concrete block at the base. It was erected not only in honour of TJ Byrnes, but also to serve as a reminder to young Queenslanders that, like the man himself, even the poorest of them could potentially rise to the top.
CelticFest will take place at the Warwick Showgrounds on Saturday, 30th September and Sunday, 1st October, alongside CelticFringe (separately organised and ticketed events, where applicable) from Friday, 29th September to Monday, 2nd October.
The Darling Downs Irish Club will host a family ceilidh in The Pavilion at the Showgrounds on the Saturday night, with dances called by The Scotsman. No ceilidh-dancing experience needed!
CelticFest tickets are available online now from http://www.celticfestqld.com.au. Pricing for an adult ticket is $20 for Saturday, $25 for Sunday, and $35 for a weekend ticket (Saturday and Sunday). Pensioner pricing is $15 for Saturday, $20 for Sunday and $30 for a weekend ticket. Children’s tickets (for school-aged children between 5-17), are $5 for Saturday, $5 for Sunday and $10 for a weekend ticket. Children under 5 are free.
CelticFest would like to acknowledge the support of the Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF). RADF is a partnership between the Queensland Government and the Southern Downs Regional Council to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland. CelticFest would also like to acknowledge the support of Tourism and Events Queensland’s Queensland Destination Events Program (QDEP).
Anglo&Celtic 