Arts & Culture

OVER the years since it opened its doors in 1979, Scoil Mhuire Ennistymon, has been renowned for all things musical. Producing school musicals to a very high standard is very much part of its tradition and audiences across North Clare and further afield have been wowed by productions including ‘Oliver’, ‘Calamity Jane’, ‘Godspell’, ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’, ‘The Sound of Music’ and ‘Les Miserables’. As Scoil Mhuire enters into amalgamation with the CBS and the Vocational School next year, its forthcoming show will be one like no other. Staff and students have promised “an absolute feast of colour and song for the eyes and the ears”. Rehearsals have been underway since September, under the watchful eyes of director and choreographer, Peter Kennedy and producer, Patricia Dooley. The high standards set by previous productions have pushed the cast and crew to new levels. Fittingly, the school will end its run of musicals by returning to its roots. In 1994, Mary O’Loghlin, former …

A NATIONAL art competition for primary school children aimed at promoting inclusivity and diversity has extended the deadline for this year’s projects. As with pupils across Ireland submitting their entries for the annual Someone Like Me art competition, the National Disability Authority has extended the competition deadline to Friday November 25. The prestigious competition, which is organised by the National Disability Authority, has seen thousands of primary school pupils submit projects over the last six years, all of which were inspired by their learning about inclusivity and diversity through the medium of art. This year’s competition invites Ireland’s 500,000+ pupils attending over 3,000 mainstream and special primary schools, as well as those who are home schooled, to take part in what has become an annual campaign to help develop more positive attitudes towards persons with disabilities. It offers a range of prizes up to the value of €1,250 and is open to all primary school pupils from junior infants to …

A NEW book on Éamon de Valera’s personal secretary provides a fascinating insight into the life of Kathleen O’Connell and her support for the Fianna Fáil founder’s political career.  The Life and Times of Kathleen O’Connell by Patrick and Paul Murray also sheds light on de Valera himself, through painstakingly compiled details of their communications. Described as “Éamon de Valera’s Indispensable Secretary,” Kathleen, a native of Caherdaniel, County Kerry, is described as someone with an unwavering attachment to the causes she believed in.  Published by De Búrca Books, this is the first biography dealing with the life and times of Kathleen O’Connell. When her name is mentioned, it is almost invariably in association with that of Eamon de Valera. This is because her life derived its deepest significance from her unwavering attachment to whatever cause he espoused. For this reason, any record of her life is bound to throw incidental insights of varying quality on several aspects of de Valera’s career and …

THE story of the life of Ernest Shackleton and the legendary voyage of the HMS Endurance on its expedition to cross the Antarctic continent is being told as part of a new show in glór this weekend marking the centenary of the explorer’s death. County Kildare Orchestra presents ‘South! Always South’, a concert commemorating the death 100 years ago this year of Irish explorer Shackleton. The performance, on Saturday, November 12 in the Ennis venue, is a new work composed by fellow Kildare native and traditional musician Brian Hughes who performs uilleann pipes and whistle, accompanied by the County Kildare Orchestra and conductor Lorcan Daly. Shackleton was born in Kilkea near Athy, and had already gained a reputation for courage and leadership on previous Antarctic expeditions. However, what started as a great geographic and scientific adventure turned into a dramatic rescue mission when the Endurance became trapped in the ice floes in the Weddell Sea, and sank. Over the following …

AUTHOR John Connell will be the special guest at this year’s annual Clare Reads Day 2022 this Friday, November 11. Every year, Clare Libraries celebrates the work of an Irish author by encouraging the whole community to read a chosen book by that author. The chosen author this year is John Connell, author of The Cow Book and The Running Book. Clare Reads Day will feature John’s latest book, The Stream of Everything, published earlier this year by Gill Books. The Stream of Everything is an account of a two-day trip along the Camlin River in a kayak during lockdown with a close friend. The rich biodiversity of the river forms a quiet backdrop to John’s much-loved philosophical observations. Book Clubs around Clare will read and discuss John’s book together ahead of attending a special author event in Scariff Library. Clare Reads Day also includes a special author event in Scariff Library. John will be interviewed by Jim O’Brien, journalist …

THE Wings music festival was a big hit in Shannon this summer, and plans are in train to have another one in 2023 – but this time it will be a winter event. Damian O’Rourke was behind this summer’s event, which went down very well and he explained the thinking behind the reboot. “After Wings, a few of us met to see what had worked well, what could we do better for next year. After that I started thinking about it being on in the summer, and with there being so much else on in the summer, it might be better as a winter festival. “We decided to go with the last Monday to Sunday in February, the 21st to the 26th. There is a lot on in the summer and in Shannon the gigs are mainly indoors, so if there’s a spell of sunny weather it can be harder to get people to come. In February it’ll be dark …

CLARE musician Aisling Lyons is in line for two prizes at a prestigious national awards ceremony next week. The harper has been nominated for this year’s RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards in both the Best Folk Instrumentalist and Best Emerging Artist categories. The Folk Awards night will be in Vicar Street Dublin on Thursday, November 17. The following night Aisling will perform with Sean Lyons and Dermot Sheedy in Glór premiering their new work ‘Merfolk’ which has been a collaborative project developed by Glór and Creative Ireland Clare.  Aisling who also plays concertina, performs alongside Seán on vocals/guitar/uilleann pipes/whistles and Dermot on bodhrán/percussion at the Ennis venue. The three began playing together in 2021 and have refined a folk sound that is deeply-rooted in tradition yet brimming with originality. Focusing primarily on the traditions of music and song in County Clare, their music displays a reverence for the past as well as a willingness to embrace modern influences and international …

IN June of 2019 the visit of Metallica to Liscannor was an unexpected novelty, coming the day after the American heavy metal group had played in Slane. Their visit was recalled in an exhibition entitled Tiny Little Histories which was at the Limerick City Gallery of Art recently. The visit of Metallica was evoked through an audio story made by artist John Lillis entitled ‘Black Helicopter’. Speaking about it, John says, “There was a call out from the GAFF in Limerick to do with audio storytelling. I have an interest in storytelling in general and I knew it was something I’d be interested in applying for. “It was quite short, you only had seven minutes, and they wanted something that was kind of a contemporary story, it had to have happened in the last 100 years. I just sat with it for a couple of days.” By chance he came upon his subject. “I live in Clahane just outside Liscannor …