Locals enjoy an Army band performance at Ballykeeffe Quarry near Kilmanagh, Co Kilkenny, now landscaped and redesigned by the Kilmanagh Ballycallan Killaloe Enterprise Group. Photograph: Alan Betson
A quarry in north Kilkenny has been transformed into an amphitheatre where everything from theatre to rock-climbing will be facilitated.
The 65ft cliffs at Ballykeeffe Quarry, near the village of Kilmanagh, will provide a dramatic setting for a concert by the World Wind Quintet at next month's Kilkenny Arts Festival.
The development is the work of the Kilmanagh Ballycallan Killaloe Enterprise Group, which was formed in 1986 with funding from the Self-Aid concert in Dublin. Used until recently by Kilkenny County Council as a marshalling area for scrapped cars, the quarry has benefited from a major clean-up operation.
A large, kidney-shaped mound has been constructed facing the cliff wall which will be terraced to form a seating area for audiences. Trees and plants have been put down and work on the stage - a mosaic of dressed and rough-cut limestone pieces forming the cross of St Brigid, the patron saint of the parish - is almost finished.
Mr Declan Rice, of Barrow Nore Suir Rural Development, which provided funding for the project, says it has the potential to become one of the most exciting theatre venues in the country. Locals were given a taste of its potential at an open day on Saturday, which featured a performance by an Army band and a display of rock-climbing and archery.