Across Fermanagh, a number of groups celebrated Culture Night last Friday, September 23 by hosting free events and activities in celebration of the arts, culture, heritage and creativity of the local community.

The Fermanagh Culture Night programme began in Enniskillen with 'Mumming Disturbances' – an exhibition in Fermanagh House featuring a display of press cuttings by the Mummers Foundation.

Press cuttings from as far back as the 1870s revealed news reports and court proceedings, collected over many years.

These included the likes of a news story from 1918, when shots were fired at Wrenboys from Kiltyclogher in Kilcoo near Garrison as they visited houses and sang “humorous ballads of a non-political character”.

Or how mummers fell out in Glangevlin in 1951, with one man being struck on the face with a flashlamp, with a police officer describing it as a “drunken brawl, except the use of the bicycle and lamp, which was a dangerous instrument to use”.

Then there is the story of Sergeant long and the mummers on New Year’s Eve in Blacklion. Coming from Belcoo, they were spied going into a shop by Sergeant Long, who was at his dinner.

“The Sergeant, armed with a good blackthorn, went for the mummer, yes went for them with a vengeance,” read the report. “With unerring blows, he sent their paper turbans, cocked hats and wideawakes flying in all directions.”

And in 1920, another story recounts how trouble broke out at a mummers' spree over a barrel of porter, which resulted in a man’s leg being broken.

These were just some of the examples that highlighted the hidden untold heritage of masked intrusions and how they were treated by officialdom.

Also at Fermanagh House, Sruth na hEirne presented ‘Mo Thuras Teanga’ (My Irish Journey) – a display of testimonies from 20 Irish speakers around the importance of the Irish language to them in their life.

One of the group's members, Marie Dolan, who specialises in writing in old-style Irish script, had local children and their parents spellbound when she gave each child their first name translated from English and scripted into old-style Gaelic script.

The popularity of this idea to attract people to the Irish language soon proved its worth when a constant flow of children began to stream into the exhibition room on Irish language.

Over at 'the Round O', members of the public were treated to open-air live music from the Fermanagh Concert Band, who performed a fantastic repertoire of Jazz, Big Band, film and TV tunes at the bandstand.

This was followed by an upbeat dance performance from the Erne Highland Dancers, a group dedicated to the promotion, conservation and development of this fundamental component of Ulster-Scots.

Over at the Ardhowen Theatre, Fermanagh and Omagh District Council presented its Autumn Arts Gathering – an informal networking event for artists, arts organisations and creative people.

The Devenish Gallery, in partnership with Fermanagh Live Arts Festival (FLive), launched an exhibition of works by local artists, Catherine Keogh, Anna Ciepluchi and the late Liam Blake.

The gallery was abuzz as artists, gallery curators and the festival organisers were joined by Culture Night attendees for drinks, nibbles and chats at the opening of the exhibition and the launch of the 2022 FLive programme of events.

Meanwhile, a crowd gathered at the gates of Forthill Park, eagerly anticipating the live promenade-style performance of Oscar Wilde's, 'The Happy Prince', from Enniskillen Royal Grammar School A-Level performing arts students.

From the park's gates, the audience members were led up the path towards Cole's Monument by students in the roles of Narrator, Troubadour and Little Swallow.

Sat at the foot of Cole's Monument, the drama unfurled around the audience as the students performed their reimagined version of the tale, with a good dose of wit that Wilde would've been proud of.

Elsewhere in Fermanagh, Benaughlin CCÉ took Culture Night attendees on a trip 'Down Memory Lane' with stories of times gone by and music of the local area, while Roslea CCÉ hosted an informal celebration of music, song dance, storytelling and a taste of Irish language from performers in the area.

In Donagh, St. Patrick's GFC entertained with a mixture of performances from local traditional artists, singers and dancers.

Culture Night in Fermanagh was supported by Fermanagh and Omagh District Council.