Lough Eske Castle will be ruled by a new monarch from this weekend, as competition winner Darragh Crawford begins his reign.

Every year, Lough Eske Castle hosts a story writing competition for the children of Donegal. The winner this year is Darragh Crawford from Little Angels School in Letterkenny, who will be crowned The Prince of the Castle this Sunday, December 4th.

The Prince will be the special guest at the Christmas light switch-on event, where he will be treated to a Signature Christmas Tea Party with his classmates on the day.

Darragh will be switching on the Christmas lights at 5pm and then will be ruling over the castle during an overnight stay with his family.

There will be performances by Tirconaill Youth Choir and a children’s disco on the day to celebrate Christmas and to welcome the new Prince. Another special guest is expected on the day, as Santa will be taking a break from making toys in the North Pole to visit the Castle.

Food Appeal

December 4th will also see Lough Eske Castle launching its annual Christmas food appeal. The Castle invites everyone to help support the St Vincent de Paul by bringing non-perishable food, such as tinned soups, pasta and sauces, to feed local Donegal families in need during the festive period.

Gingerbread House at Lough Eske Castle

Gingerbread House at Lough Eske Castlechs

“The charity involved provides invaluable support for families across Donegal and we are pleased to be supporting this great work once again,” said Seán Carney, General Manager of Lough Eske Castle. “We’ve had fantastic success with previous appeals and would like to invite the Donegal community to once again join us in making Christmas special for everyone this year.”

The Castle is working alongside Kavanagh’s Supervalu in Donegal and both locations will be collecting food items from Sunday 4th December until 24th December for this deserving cause.