The Orchard County was sue to host the event between September 8 and 11, with artisan markets, tasting menus and cider tours all planned.

Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council has now confirmed the event will not take place.

Helen Troughton from the Armagh Cider Company and Art O’Hagan, who chairs the Armagh city centre management group, told of their disappointment at the news.

Ms Troughton told the BBC’s Evening Extra: “It’s a shame that it’s not happening

“Rather than let us try and fend for ourselves (the council) have decided to pull the event, which I can understand too because some producers need more than others and it’s only fair that everyone’s hit by it.”

With many visitors having already booked accommodation in Armagh, she said her business would still be running an open day over the weekend.

“There will be no charge to get in, because in these times before winter sets in, come on, let’s have a decent day out.”

Mr O’Hagan said he was also very disappointed to see the festival pulled “at the eleventh hour”, with a letter from the council to traders  saying the  decision was made “with great regret” because of strike action and resultant staff shortages.

Four weeks of strike action for workers with ABC council started on August 15, with members of NIPSA, GMB and Unite the Union taking part.

The action is causing major problems across the borough, with some complaining about a rise in flytipping because bins are not being collected.

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For a very long time, you might have been hard pressed to name a region in Northern Ireland less likely to attract the attention of tourists than south Armagh. But that’s no longer the case.

Today, the country’s smallest county enjoys its fair share of curious visitors, intrigued by its plethora of ancient sites, its rich rural vistas and, of course, its apple orchards and the cider that flows from them.

That list grew by one on Easter Monday this year when the doors opened on Killeavy Castle Estate – a luxury hotel and spa development complete with its own farm and set on 350 acres of rolling Armagh parkland.

The grade 1 listed building had lain derelict for over a decade. Formerly known as Bell’s Castle, its last resident – Maureen Bell – was forced to live in a caravan in front of the property because the main building had fallen into such a state of disrepair.

When the entire property eventually went on the market in 2013, it attracted the attention of Mick Boyle and his wife, Robin, former residents of Armagh now living and in Australia where Mick runs a successful civil engineering firm.

The couple, who return home frequently to visit friends and relations, were keen to invest back into the community in south Armagh and seized on the idea of converting the ruined family home at the foot of Slieve Gullion into a luxury rural getaway.

A £12m investment followed and more than 90 contractors – many of them from Armagh but now living in Australia – set about the mammoth task of restoring the castle’s former grandeur.

‘Robin and I wanted to change the way that people think about south Armagh,’ Mick said recently. ‘We wanted to create a destination venue where tourists and local people could come and enjoy great dining, access the beautiful mountain walks and feel very connected with their natural surroundings. We want Killeavy Castle to be a world-class destination where people can escape the busyness of modern life and get closer to what’s important.’

Built in 1836, the restored Killeavy Castle offers four luxury bedrooms, a formal dining room, a cellar bar and private function facilities, all with period features that have undergone significant restoration. Behind the castle itself is a permanent marquee that can be used for weddings and corporate events.

The main hotel is located 300 metres from the castle on a site that was formerly occupied by the estate’s coach house and farm buildings. It comprises 45 bedrooms, a spa and a walled garden from which much of the food cooked in the hotel kitchens is sourced.

The estate also boasts a working farm with Cheviot sheep and longhorn cattle.

Jason Foody (43) from Ballina in County Mayo, is the new general manager at Killeavy. Jason has strong hospitality credentials, having already supervised a number of new hotel openings including Rockhill House in Letterkenny and the former City Hotel in Derry-Londonderry.

For a time in the early noughties, Jason owned his own hotel, Foody’s Lodge at Quigley’s Point in Donegal on the site of the original Point Inn.

And he was also manager at the renowned Redcastle Hotel in County Donegal, now the Oceanfront Golf & Spa Hotel.

‘I first got involved at Killeavy when a recruitment agency contacted me. I drove up to see the place and fell in love with it straight away,’ Jason told LCN this month.

That was in June last year and Jason subsequently got heavily involved in all aspects of the ongoing renovation work, making adjustments to the internal configuration of the hotel, managing the budget for the interior fit-out and supervising sales and marketing and staff recruitment.

‘The hotel opened a little behind schedule,’ he says. ‘We had originally intended to open at the end of 2018, but the weather held us up a little and Mick and Robin wanted everything to open at the same time, so we took the decision to hold off until the spring. The hotel opened to the public on Easter Monday and everything is now open accept the café facilities in the walled garden.’

With more than 60 events already booked at Killeavy, Jason says that most of the feedback they’ve received from visitors has been ‘constructive’:

‘People are very pleased with what’s been done here,’ he adds. ‘The majority of them comment on the setting and the peace and quiet. It’s like another world here and people love the way that the castle has been brought back to life.

‘This is really a balance between the old and the new, it’s about bringing the modern world into this setting and many people have complimented us on the way that’s been managed.’

Inside the main hotel building, the theme is noticeably equestrian, referencing the stables that once occupied the site. In the rooms, the colour schemes reflect the seasons of the year.

‘Guests will have a view out across open farmland or down onto the inner courtyard of the hotel. No matter where you are, you’ll have something interesting to look at,’ adds Jason. ‘Even though most guests don’t stay in the castle itself, they are able to connect with the history and story of the place.’

As for business, Jason says that since opening on April 22, the response has been ‘very positive’. By mid-May, 63 events had been booked at Killeavy.

‘At this point, we are now focused on getting in, getting our service levels right and making sure that the team is comfortable and competent in what they’re doing,’ he goes on. ‘After that, we’ll be focused on developing both [parts] of the hotel and creating something that is different and distinctive.

‘Long-term, it’s going to be about seasonality, we want to keep developing the ‘farm to fork’ ethos that we have here, we want to develop our walled garden and grow our herds of sheep and cattle. We want to become a lot more seasonal in everything that we do.’

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Joanne Shilliday didn’t have to be asked twice when her former employer at the Hole in the Wall in Armagh offered to sell the business to her in 2007.

By that time, Joanne (38), had spent 14 years working for Robert Lawson part-time behind the bar of the Market Street venue. As retirement beckoned for Robert, he offered to sell the business on to Joanne.

“Traditionally, this was an old man’s bar. The smoking ban had just been introduced and things could have probably been better trade-wise. But I knew that the place had potential,” recalls Joanne.

As well as that, Joanne knew that she was about to be made redundant from her full-time position with a recruitment agency, so the timing of Robert’s offer couldn’t have been better.

“I knew that with a bit of effort, I could make this work,” Joanne told LCN.

The building itself has been in existence since about 1615 and was once used as a gaol. It is said to be haunted by ‘Wilfy’, the ghost of a former licensee.

When Joanne took on the premises, she replaced the seating, re-decorated and changed the interior layout. She also introduced live music, which still continues at the bar every Friday and Saturday evening and more screens were installed, making it easier for customers to enjoy sporting events and music videos.

“This is still a traditional pub really, but now we cater for people from 18 upwards to our oldest customer, who is 92. We are getting a lot more young people coming in now, perhaps because of the music, but we find that everyone mixes really well.”

For Joanne, The Hole in the Wall is a full-time occupation, although she does get help now and again from husband, Richard, when he isn’t busy with his own business, Shilliday Refrigeration.

The latest innovation to be added at the pub is a ‘garden bar’ which is located at the back of the smoking area. It hosted a gin and beer festival during the summer and a number of bands during Armagh’s 7 Hills Blues Festival recently.

By her own admission, Joanne is a huge gin aficionado and in recent years, she has added dozens of varieties of the popular spirit to the shelves at The Hole in the Wall. There are now 55 gins available over the counter and Joanne reckons that’s pretty good for a venue traditionally perceived as “an old man’s bar”:

“We’re now attracting lots of couples,” she says. “The man wants a proper pint and the ladies are looking for a new gin.”

Joanne does her best to introduce a new gin every month at the bar and gin tastings are offered usually every couple of months.

“Armagh has really improved over the last few years, especially the mix of pubs and if I was going out, I’d have no hesitation in going to any of the pubs here,” she adds. “Traditionally we aren’t really in competition with each other, we all have our catchment areas and we try to help each other out.”

Cocktails aren’t in big demand at the Market Street venue, says Joanne. In the last six months, she believes she’s been asked for a cocktail perhaps three times, so it’s something that isn’t on offer. They don’t do food either although Joanne says that this is something that they might well consider adding to the offering in the near future.

As for plans going forward, Joanne is considering an expansion into the premises next door, which she currently leases and is using for storage. Ultimately, she sees her future very much tied to development of the Hole in the Wall:

“I’m really happy with the way the business is going,” she remarks. “I;m enjoying it and there may come a day when I don’t, but I always think that great pubs are born, they’re not bought and I love what I do, so I have no plans to stop.”

Joanne recommends:

Simply Gin 

35 ml Glendalough wild botanical gin

125ml Poachers Wild Tonic Water

Lots of ice

A Wedge of orange

Curl of orange peel

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