Distillation with Luke Casserly at the Fiesta Hall, Kilcormac, Offaly 

By Helen Shaw, Tóchar Stories 

The Saturday morning village market in Kilcormac was busy with local farmer’s products, wonderful homemade jams for sale, just in front of the newly restored Fiesta Hall, as we opened the doors for the first performance of Luke Casserly’s Distillation on August 15th.  

WATCH: A snapshot of Distillation in Fiesta Hall  

Luke, a Lanesborough native, created his bog-inspired theatre piece as an experiential way of exploring our changing relationship with the boglands and uses his own personal and family history with the bogs, turf cutting and Bord na Móna as a story within it. The one-man show has toured across the country at arts festivals  this Summer (and is soon heading to Australia) but we were keen to bring it to the community in Kilcormac, to the newly reimagined Fiesta Hall and invite local people as our guests. The Fiesta Hall, under the management of the Offaly Local Development Company (OLDC), has been beautifully restored and the building is itself a story of regeneration and transition. The walls – and indeed the floorboards – carry tales. It was once the Ballroom of Romance and many people have memories of the music and bands there, the love stories and marriages that began there, but like other places it later became a cinema, a bingo hall and more recently was derelict and in danger of being lost.  

Local environment and heritage champions Salters Sterling and Michael Hanna, were central to initial plans to restore it and to use the existing materials, like the maple dance floor, in the refurbishment. The building’s new life, as an enterprise and cultural centre, has been funding supported by the Just Transition Fund (like Tóchar Wetlands Restoration) and our community co-hosting of Distillation, in partnership with the OLDC, was the first public and community event in it.   

For us, bringing Distillation to the Fiesta Hall, and to a community where everyone is personally close to the bog and often has family history in Bord na Móna, was special; capturing the essence of cultural transition and regeneration. Many people were curious about it but uncertain, even sceptical, about how it would work. “I was apprehensive about it, unsure of where the performance and narrative may go right up to the point where we were hearing the perspective of the peat itself”, Ricky Whelan, Offaly’s Biodiversity Officer said after the show. “However, I found it nostalgic and nuanced in how the bogs and their past, present and future were considered. I was impressed with the venue too!”. 

In Distillation Luke brings about 25 people together around a table dressed in turf and moss and gives a voice to the bog itself but also starts by sharing that as a young lad growing up going out to help with the turf cutting he could not wait to get away from the bog and the work. Ricky said that once he heard that, he relaxed and saw himself in that shared experience. Luke also uses a conversation with his own Dad within the show and Ricky’s Dad John Whelan, who has his own family history of turf cutting in Co. Laois, was in the audience too. He was equally apprehensive coming in but later told us: “I thoroughly enjoyed it and was truly heartened by Luke’s dissertation on the bogs and the manner in which he handled this complex and sensitive subject. The more people that get to see Distillation the better.” Celine Nic Oireachtaigh, a relative newcomer since 2018 and a keen nature and boglands photographer agreed saying “it can be easy to have strong opinions from afar, when you haven’t grown up having a direct connection to the land or personal experience of working in it. It was great to hear the differing perspectives of Luke and his father, and the way their viewpoints gave an insight into the complexity of the issue”.  

Last September when we facilitated a community storytelling day in Kilcormac, Tina Claffey, the well-known nature photographer from Birr, shared her bogland macro photography and joined us on a heritage walking tour of the village. Tina was back in Kilcormac for the show and summed it up as a deeply sensory and personal experience.  “Distillation is a unique and powerful experience that draws the participant in.  All of the senses are awakened. The visual of the peat within the circular table which we all surround, the sounds of the bog, the thought provoking conversations, the touch and feel of the peat, and the immersion and sharing of the scent. Really unique, and powerful experience.” 

We hosted two shows on the day and partnered with Freda of Tús Maith, the lovely coffee wagon in Kilcormac, so that people had a chance to unpack their thoughts about the show and their own memories, triggered by the scent of the bog, over hot drinks and gorgeous cakes. John Mitchell (90) who spent his life working for Bord na Móna came with his daughter Linda and we got a chance to catch up with him afterwards as he shared stories of putting down the rail lines and the machinery that underpinned the industrialisation of the peatlands. John enjoyed the show and was even more curious to see the Fiesta Hall – given all the memories it holds for people.  

For Luke the Fiesta Hall was the highlight of a busy touring schedule. “It was a really special day” he said – getting to stage in a place with such history for people and with a community so close to the essence and origin of the show itself.  

The Fiesta Hall will have a community launch day in September and local artist Esther Lambe’s art will be the next community and cultural event in the Hall with her solo exhibition “Memory in the Landscape” – opening August 27th, 6.30PM. Besides the newly redesigned Fiesta Hall another great addition to Kilcormac is the new coffee shop Móin at the Kilcormac Development Association (KDA) and it ( like Freda’s Tús Maith)  is worth a pit stop when visiting Lough Boora Discovery Parklands.  

For connected stories see: 

“There’s a Massive Human Story to be Told” – Boora Workshop Reunion June 27th 2026  

“Finding a Just Transition for People, Places and Nature” – Kilcormac Community Storytelling Event, September 25th 2025.