The Lady of The Lake Festival - A Conversation With Joe Mahon

For almost five decades, the Lady of the Lake Festival has been at the heart of summer in Irvinestown, bringing people together through community, creativity and celebration. While thousands enjoy the events each year, few see the countless hours of planning, dedication and voluntary effort that make it all possible. Behind every parade, family activity and memorable moment is a passionate committee whose commitment keeps this much-loved tradition thriving. At the centre of it all is Joe Mahon, who has devoted decades to carrying forward the vision first created by his family. We sat down with Joe to reflect on the festival's remarkable journey, its enduring community spirit, and what continues to inspire him year after year.

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The Lady of The Lake Festival has become one of Fermanagh’s best-loved summer traditions. What does the festival mean to you personally?

Well I suppose it has a very personal connection for me. My father worked on the Tourist Board in Fermanagh, and in the late 70s he wrote out to all the towns to try to put events together and run a festival, none of the towns got back to him, so he decided then that he would run his own festival. So he contacted Gerry Magee and approached a few business people in the town and spoke to them about organising this festival. It was 1977 and my father wanted to try to get more people to Fermanagh, that was the origin of The Lady of The Lake Festival, it was 1978 when the first festival took place, at that time they had it in June and it ran for 3 weeks. So they got the whole thing put together, and I don’t know if I should tell this or not, (we laugh and hope that Joe doesn’t hold back, we’re intrigued now) the myth of the Lady of The Lake is that she walks from island to island carrying a bunch of fresh flowers, well my father made that up himself, (we all had a great laugh about this) Joe continues, he made that up himself as the theme for the festival, the lady walks the islands with a bunch of wild flowers as a sign of the good times ahead, and now there’s a bronze statue in Irvinestown dedicated to the myth that my father came up with.

Unfortunately my father died in 1979, and then my mother took on the role as chairperson of the festival and continued to do that for a number of years, I came home from England in 82 and got involved in it with her, and when she died I took it over.

A few years ago we built an 8 foot lady of the lake, with the help of SOLACE – (Supportive Opportunities for Living with Addiction in a Community Environment.) I told the story of the Lady of the Lake by the water side, my two sons were into scuba diving so when I was telling the story, they were down under the water and towed her along the water, no one could understand where she came from or how she was moving along the lake. The first year of that was the best, no one knew how it was being done, until the boys then emerged from the water with the scuba gear on.

Joe goes on to talk about his own sons and their connection to Fermanagh, one of his sons has a wall of his home office dedicated to Fermanagh, his own childhood memories, and those of his wife, the mural depicts many Fermanagh landmarks, and of course includes Mahon’s Hotel and The Lady of The Lake. Joe proudly shows us a photo of the mural and talks us through each part, a lovely piece of very special artwork.

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You’ve seen the festival evolve over the years, how has it changed and what do you think has stayed wonderfully the same?

Well it started of as a three week festival in June, and I thought the events were very spread out and it was nearly too long, so we decided to change it to the twelfth fortnight to give people something to do over the holidays. A lot of people were on holidays all over Northern Ireland so it gave them somewhere to go and something to do. It was then more intense, more happening and less spread out. There’s multiple events now on each day, talking to the caravan parks they tell me that people ring them as early as November asking when the festival is on to book their holidays around it for the next year.

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This year’s theme is “Lost Through Time”, what are you most looking forward to  about this year’s festival?

Well the Lost Through Time theme sort of came up through businesses in the town, they would dress up the shops in old time theme, like the way they would have been in the old times, we have changed the town sign names to Lowtherstown, as Irvinestown was called Lowtherstown back in the 1700s, so I changed all the signs over yesterday, I love to see that. The theme for the fancy dress will be lost through time, it’ll be great to see  everyones interpretation, it’s a great theme for the children for the parade, which is always one of the highlights.

I started the truck festival 26 years ago now, and it’s one of my favourite things about the festival, its for a good cause, and somebody said to me a good few years ago “ye know truck Sunday the whole of Fermanagh is packed, all the towns on the route are packed, and the lay bys with spectators, it’s a great community event, it brings all sides of the community out and enjoyed by everyone”

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You also have some very random events Joe, tell us more about that?

Well over the years we’ve had a good few different events, the sheep dung spitting competition was a big one, we did it as a one off thing but then an American TV crew phoned me the following January asking if it was running again as they seen it in Ripleys Believe it Or Not, I asked why and they said they’d like to come and do a show about it, so I said aye no bother we’ll be doing it this year again. So they put on a crew and came over and spent two weeks here and made the programme about it. Unfortunately when they came looking for rooms I was booked out, It was great for the county. Another event  that would get a lot of PR over the years, would be the hole digging competition. Not a weird one but a new one for this years opening festival we have got Tom Muldoon, he’s originally from Lisnarick but he’s a massive DJ now in Germany, Ibiza, Spain, his gigs are sold out everywhere and he’s going to  do an hour on the street on the opening night, a massive DJ all over Europe, at our opening night.

We’ve the Donkey Derby and the Sports Day on the Sunday and this year the Scouts are going to run free activities for children, like how to light a fire and different tasks, and The Boys Brigade are running an all day event on the second Saturday at the Church of Ireland hall.

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Mahon’s Hotel has long been at the heart of Irvinestown, what role does the hotel play during festival week?

The hotel is sort of the hub of the whole festival, a lot of things centre around it, and I suppose me being involved in it works that way. The hotel has been here for 143 years, it’s been part of Irvinestown all that time, so a lot of events are in the hotel and we have the facilities for them , the likes of the senior citizens party, and then a lot of people come in motorhomes, they come in for their tea and coffee and buffet and that sort of thing.

We talk about the importance that the hotel has within the community, the employment it brings, the entertainment it provides and the community and family feel that is so evident when you walk through the doors. Joe says he’d love to do something on the amount of people employed by Mahons over the years and where they are now, he talks about the head of the hospital who worked in Mahons, an employee who could barely speak a sentence of English who is now a top barrister, he tells us of a girl who worked there that was asked to fill a salt shaker one day and she was filling the salt through the hole in the top, she ended up working in Downing Street. Joe talks about his pride in the people who have came through the hotel.

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Keeping with the theme of Mahon’s, the oldest family run and owned hotel in Northern Ireland, celebrating an incredible 143 years in business this year. What does it mean to you to be part of such a remarkable legacy, and how do you balance honouring the hotels heritage while continuing to evolve for todays visitors?

Well the hotel means so much to me, I’ve been here for so long, I was actually born up in room 4. It’s nice to be part of keeping the whole thing going, like a lot of the staff here, one of the girls in reception she’s here 39 years and another over 30 years, we’re like one big family, it keeps the whole show going. Make the money and invest it back into the hotel, that’s one thing all over the years we have done all the time, put it back into the hotel and keep the thing going, extend and extend it, when I came home we only had half the street, now we have the whole street. We’re doing a big extension now, that’s us with the whole street.

When I first came home there was a hotel in nearly every town in Fermanagh, family hotel, it’s wild to look back now and all the family hotels are nearly gone.

We discuss the fact that the hotel is actually highly likely to be the oldest family run hotel in the whole of Ireland, Joe tells us that he seen a Galway hotel advertise that they were Irelands oldest family owned hotel in Ireland, 130 years, Joe sent them an email to say that Mahon’s were 143 years, they never got back to him!

In the restaurant you’ll see framed photos, they were found in a house in Bangor, which used to belong to a cousin of my father, I got them all enlarged and put up. People going in there love to see those, and ask about them. It was a pure coincidence how I came on them, this boy that listens to Hugo Duncan on the radio, Hugo had mentioned me on the radio, the boy contacted the station and asked if I’d any relations in Bangor, I said my fathers cousin lived in Bangor but she’s dead 25 years, he said he’d bought a house and the woman’s name was Montague, and I found all these photos , they had names on them, Joe Mahon, Vin Mahon and Nora Mahon on the back of them. So it was just good luck that he listened to Hugo and good luck that the names were on the back.

He sent me down about 70 photographs, it’s nice when people ask about them, there’s one there with my Granny and my Father and the goat, and that was taken where the bar is now, there’s a lot of history in them.

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Back to the Festival Joe, if you could relive one from the years gone by which one would it be?

I think the one I was telling you about earlier, the one with the statue in the lake, it was just great, this 8 foot lady floating along the lake, and nobody knowing how it was happening, the whole marina in Castle Archdale was packed, the  boys swam for a mile and a half under the water, she appeared from around the bend, it was very eerie, people couldn’t understand it, no sound, quiet. There was great conversation about how on earth this was happening.

One of the other things that really sticks out was one of the very first truck shows, and we got the mummers involved, the town was jammed, it was a really hot night, the mummers went in front of the trucks, all the lights were out in the town, I was sitting in the back of a jeep going round it taking photos and videos, we came round the corner here and Mannix Magee sort of stopped the jeep and came over to me, he said Joe I’ve never been here for the festival as I go to Spain, I’ve been to a lot of fiestas in Spain and this is one of the best things I’ve ever seen, that tops it all.

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For someone who doesn’t know what the festival is all about and they’re planning their first trip, what are the events or experiences you would say they can’t miss?

The truck drive would be the main thing, and the Friday night you’ve the vintage cars and tractors as well and the light show afterwards, and the fancy dress night, there’s so many great things. The Donkey Derby is always packed, and we do the trip over to White Island on the Lady of The Lake boat, we get all the churches involved in the town, the ministers and the priests, they go over and they do a service on the island, you just turn up on the day, no need to book, last year we’d three boat loads over, that’s on the 12^th July.

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Festivals like this bring a real buzz to the town, what impact does the Lady of The Lake festival have on local businesses and the wider community?

At the end of the day everyone does appreciate the festival being in the town you know, I think they probably say “there’s Joe the torture coming again” but they do appreciate the festival.

For the fair day for example, we hold it out at Necarne now, but throughout the day we have a horse and trap service that brings people up to the town itself so they can shop or eat or grab a coffee, see around them, then hop back on and return to Necarne, it’s great for everyone.

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The Lady of The Lake has always been powered by an incredible team of volunteers. How important are they to the festivals success and what does their commitment say about the community spirit in Irvinestown?

I really appreciate the people that help out with the festival, every year they are there, anything they are asked to do they do, they look forward to it themselves, we’re like a wee family now, the core team sit down and organise and plan, and book the bands and entertainment,  that starts about January, every week they turn up for a meeting and put their time and effort in, every year they tell me it’s their last year, but every year they come back. I really could not do it without them.

We chat about the massive undertaking the festival is, the huge amount of work to be done, planning, managing and organising, there are multiple events running over a10 days period, this is no mean feat, the small team behind the festival do an absolutely incredible job, it is clear how highly Joe values the team, they are a credit to themselves and to Irvinestown.

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Last year you and the team behind the festival were deservedly shortlisted for a Fermanagh Herald Business Award, recognising your contribution to the local community, what did that recognition mean to you and the team?

It’s nice to be appreciated and that people see the work that goes into it by the committee, you know people always look at me but the committee themselves are outstanding and its great that what they do is recognised.

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And lastly Joe if you were to say something about the Lady of The Lake in a few short words what would they be?

“Come for the craic”

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As our conversation comes to an end, one thing is abundantly clear – Joe Mahon's passion for Irvinestown runs through everything he does. From preserving and growing Mahon's Hotel, one of the town's greatest assets and a cornerstone of community life for more than 140 years, to leading the Lady of the Lake Festival with unwavering enthusiasm, his commitment is impossible to miss. Alongside the wider Mahon family, Joe has played an immeasurable role in shaping the character and spirit of Irvinestown. It is hard not to think that his parents, who first set this incredible journey in motion in the late 1970s, would be immensely proud to see the festival not only still flourishing today, but continuing to evolve under Joe's stewardship. Their legacy lives on in every visitor welcomed, every volunteer who gives their time, and every smile created during one of Fermanagh's most treasured festivals.

You can find the full programme of events here