TAOISEACH ENDA Kenny declined an invitation to a redhead convention in Crosshaven, Co Cork, at the weekend, but that didn’t stop an estimated 500 people with ginger locks from partying to raise funds for cancer research.
Joleen and Denis Cronin, whose parents run Cronin’s Pub in the town, held the first redhead convention last summer. Ms Cronin said the event originated as a joke over a pint after the red-headed brother and sister team decided to invite only their follically similar peers to a birthday party.
“It was a joke, where we were saying we would have a birthday party where we would only invite redheads. It just spiralled from there. It is a bit of light-hearted fun that raises funds for the Irish Cancer Society.
“About 1,000 people turned up this year – 500 were redheads. We had people from the midlands and Dublin turn up, and further away. First prize in the strawberry cupcake competition went to Rachel Neglia from Canada.”
Festival-goers with red locks received an Official Redhead Certificate of Genuine Foxiness, a gingerbread man and a can of red lemonade. Ginger-locked revellers were also given a free ticket to local tourist attraction Fort Camden.
The events on Saturday centred on Cronin’s Pub and Crosshaven farmers’ market. Food consumed on the day was washed down with the event’s official beer, the red-tinted “Sunburnt Irish Red”, brewed by north Cork-based brewmasters Cam Wallace and Scott Baigent.
Some of the day’s activities included make-up and styling tips for redheads, orange lawn bowling, redhead group photographs, a red balloon race, redhead fast ’n’ foxy dinner-dating, and freckles competitions.
Julie Ahern from Carrigaline, Co Cork, was crowned Queen of the Redheads, and joked on Twitter that she “always knew she was royalty”. King of the Redheads was Christopher Duncan from Ballyphehane in Cork, while Alan Hayes from Palmerstown in Dublin scooped the award for best red beard.
The highest percentage of natural redheads in the world live in Scotland, at 13 per cent, with Ireland close behind, at 10 per cent. According to some genetic scientists, redheads are becoming increasingly rare and could become extinct in 100 years.
Separately, revellers in Cork over the weekend participated in the third annual Decades Festival. The festival saw punters hitting 35 pubs in the city decorated in the styles of various decades.
Pub and restaurant Electric adopted a 1920s theme while venues such as An Bróg, the Old Oak and the Woodford were inspired by the 1980s. The Crane Lane and the Sextant went back to the 1950s, while even the “noughties” were celebrated with music from 2000 onwards on offer at the Idle Hour and the Bodega in Cork city centre.