Arts & Culture

CLARE harpers Aisling Lyons and Paul Dooley will be performing as part of the Harps Alive | An Chruit Bheo | Harps Leevin festival in Belfast this weekend. Known as one of the finest musicians in traditional music, Aisling Lyons is a multi-award winning musician and composer. With performances all around the globe and eight All-Ireland titles under her belt, Aisling is the current harp tutor at the University of Limerick and University College Cork. Aisling will be one of fifteen harpers to perform at the Commemorative Concert on Saturday, July 16; a recreation of the Belfast Harpers Assembly 230 years ago. Early Irish harp maker and musician, Paul Dooley is a leading exponent of the Irish harp in its traditional form and style. After studying the construction of medieval Irish harps in the 1980s, Paul’s performing career began in 1986 and has since continued to flourish. Specialising in traditional Irish dance music, a difficult genre from the harp, Paul …

A SOUTH Galway community is set to revive its Showband heritage next weekend with a festival that will help raise funds for the local GAA club. In the 1950s and 60s, the village of Ballinderreen in Galway was a firm fixture on touring maps for the showbands who travelled the length and breadth of the country. The inaugural South Galway Bay Music Festival aims to revive that spirit over the weekend of July 22-24. Organisers are inviting one and all to gather together to celebrate music and dance at the festival hosted by Ballinderreen GAA Club with fully licenced bar and food stalls to run over three days. Anyone worried about missing the All-Ireland final can rest easy as the match will be shown on the big screen the all Ireland match can be viewed on a big screen… and celebrations (hopefully) will take place with Galway man Mike Denver on stage at 5. Headline acts include the very biggest …

PRODUCERS of the popular TV show Gogglebox Ireland are calling on Clare people to join the cast for their upcoming season. A spokesperson for Kite Entertainnment, said “Do you have plenty to say and love a good chat while watching television? If so, you’re not alone! And we’re calling on you to join Ireland’s most-loved and opinionated TV critics from all across the nation in the next season of Gogglebox Ireland, starting this autumn on Virgin Media Television. (Throwback to last year’s Gogglebox skit by the team at Hotel Woodstock) “We are on the lookout for groups of older male pals who love nothing more than chatting about what they watch on the box while down at the local Men’s Shed or waiting at the Taxi Rank. “We’re also on the hunt for new families, especially those who have a brother and a sister combo. And despite them proving to be a lesser spotted breed for Gogglebox Ireland, we’d still …

Celine O’Donovan on the journey she undertook following her cancer diagnosis   IT is almost six years to the day since I got the news that I had breast cancer. It still amazes me that those two simple words could dramatically alter the course of my life in an instant. Nothing would ever be the same again. The life I knew just disintegrated before my eyes and I was left reeling. I’m sure anyone who has been given difficult news or come face to face with tragedy will understand what it’s like. Everything stops in that moment while life continues on as normal all around you. It is hard to comprehend how the world keeps on turning when you have been dealt such a devastating blow, but it does. The truth is, no-one escapes devastation in life. As tough as it is, and I know there are some tragedies that are beyond comprehension, I firmly believe that how we view …

A QUIN native is among the stars of a new documentary that had its world premiere at The Galway Film Fleadh last Saturday.  ‘One Mile Down: Siberian Scramble’ is the dramatic story of Declan McEvoy’s record-breaking motorcycle adventures across Siberia’s notorious Lake Baikal. The film follows Declan and fellow thrill seeker Gary O’Keefe as they put together an international team for an epic adventure in the winter of 2020. The documentary, which was executive produced by world-renowned cinematographer and director Claudio Von Planta, follows the team as they battle the odds to set two Guinness World Records – one for the Longest Motorcycle Journey on Ice and the other for the Longest 4×4 Journey on Ice.  A seasoned adventurer, Declan embarked on an epic Siberian journey, over seven days in February 2020, to drive 800km on treacherous ice over Lake Baikal. The lake is the world’s deepest, with a depth of over one mile and a length of 800km, it …

A STORY exchange and art-making workshop for adults takes place at Scariff Library on Saturday, July 23, as a way of reuniting East Clare communities after the pandemic. ‘Sharing Ground’ is a participatory art project that responds to the divisions that arose during the lockdowns. It will examine ways to meet each other with understanding, even when we hold divergent views. Story Exchange is a process of sharing short stories from participants’ lives, and includes participation through active listening. Its purpose is to create a space where people can see and acknowledge each others’ differences and, on a human level by sharing stories, build understanding through empathy. The project is being organised by artist Nathalie El Baba, who has trained under Narrative 4 as a Story Exchange facilitator. It is funded by the Arts Council and will be visually documented by West Clare-based photographic artist, Myriam Riand. A publication about the exchange will be produced. An information session takes place …

KAVA presents a solo exhibition of paintings by Mavis Gormally from July 15 to 24 at the Courthouse Gallery in Kinvara. An official launch for Path to Home takes place on Friday, July 15, at 7.30pm and all are welcome.  More than 30 paintings will be on display, depicting landscapes, heritage sites, and seascape scenes of the Gort, Kinvara, and surrounding areas.  A fine artist and painting tutor, Mavis enjoys sharing her passion for art through teaching painting in the locality. She currently teaches pre-teens, teens, and adults from her home studio and has been sharing her knowledge and love for art in this way since before she moved to Ireland.  Mavis was born in New York City, raised on Long Island, and relocated to Gort in 2003. Though moving from New York to Gort was a big change, Mavis has found great inspiration for her subject matter, the landscape, in the rural surrounds. This body of work was executed during the …

THE art of motherhood is explored in a new exhibition which has just opened at The People’s Museum in Limerick.  Created by a collective of ten Clare-based artists, the exhibition explores the overlap between the roles of mother and artist, as well as the creative tensions and potential they spark. “The exhibition is called ‘Stretched’ and was created by ten Clare based artist-mothers, exploring our various journeys through motherhood and our innate desire to create,” said artist Claire Frawley. “We celebrated our inaugural group exhibition on Friday (July 1), with a wonderful wine reception to a packed house of family, friends and art enthusiasts.” Members of the Artist Mothers collective come from many backgrounds and several different disciplines. They are described as being of different ages and stages of motherhood, as well as in their artistic careers.  “We have formed as a group to encourage, support and inspire each other, through collaboration and conversation,” an artist’s statement said. “Within the …