County Sumner Irish Festival

Celebrate the Irish with live music, food, games, and more at the family-friendly County Sumner Irish Festival!

County Sumner Irish Festival
March 9th, 2024
10am – 3pm

The County Sumner Irish Festival is a fantastic event held in March at Bledsoe’s Fort Historical Park in Castalian Springs, Tennessee. The park is home to an authentic Irish cottage built by Hugh Rogan in the late 1790s, as well as a historic trail that runs alongside a settler cemetery and remnants of a 19th-century spring house.

Live Irish music is sure to have you dancing and toe-tapping! Food and fun create the perfect festive celebration! The event also includes guided hikes, storytelling, craft beer from Half Batch Brewing, historic house tours, kids activities, and food vendors.

Wear your favorite Irish-themed attire to participate in the costume contest, pets included, where prizes will be given away!

Please, no outside food or drinks.

Admission: $10/vehicle

Enjoy these Irish recipes from the 2021 Virtual County Sumner Irish Festival below provided by The Go Go Gourmet Catering in Gallatin:

Beef & Guinness Pie

Serves about 4

4 tablespoons butter
2 large red onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
10 mushrooms, trimmed and sliced
3 pounds brisket (preferably second-cut) OR chuck roast OR stew meat, chopped into bite-size pieces
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons flour
1 sprig rosemary
About 4 cups (2 cans) Guinness or other stout
Puff Pastry Sheets (freezer aisle)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Leave puff pastry out to thaw while cooking stew.
In a large, ovenproof pan fitted with a lid, heat 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium-low heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until soft, about 10 minutes.
Add the carrots, celery, mushrooms and remaining 2 tablespoons butter and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms are dark in color and the moisture released by them has evaporated, about 15 minutes.
Season the beef pieces all over with salt and pepper. Add the beef, flour and rosemary to the pan and cook over high heat, stirring often, for about 5 minutes.
Add enough Guinness to just cover the beef. Cover the pan and put it in the oven for 1 1/2 hours. Remove from the oven and stir. Return to the oven and cook for 1 hour more. If it remains thin, set the pan over medium-low heat, remove the lid and reduce the liquid. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Turn oven up to 400 degrees. Stretch thawed pastry a little and place in pie tin or small baking dish (pastry sheet should billow over the sides of your pan) fill with stew and pull in the sides towards the middle leaving some of the stew exposed. Brush top with butter or spray with pan spray and bake till light golden brown.

Cider Braised Corned Beef & Cabbage

Serves about 4

1 package Corned Beef Brisket (3-4 lbs)
4 tablespoons Butter
4-6 cups Apple Cider
1 head of cabbage cut up

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Unwrap the brisket and place it fat side up inside a baking dish or dutch oven. Sprinkle the spice packet over the top, place a few pats of butter on top of the brisket and just cover the brisket with apple cider. Cover the dish with heavy aluminum foil or lid and place it in the oven for 2 1/2 hours.
Check the brisket and if it seems to be getting close to fork tender (may need to cook a little more before adding the cabbage) add the the largely chopped cabbage around the brisket, cover and continue cooking until brisket is fork tender and cabbage is soft.
Remove from the oven and let it rest a few minutes before slicing. Slice against the grain and serve with butter parsley potatoes and rye bread!