The impact and legacy of Brian Merriman will be keenly felt at Awakenings 2025, an exhibition of work from learners at the College of FET in Ennistymon.
Indeed Merriman’s great work, The Midnight Court, played a central part of the group’s development this year, with tutor Maeve Collins hosting a live production of the epic poem in Kilfenora.
To coincide with the exhibition, the Clare Arts Office have kindly lent the group a collection of prints of watercolour paintings by Irish artist, Pauline Bewick, depicting scenes from the Midnight Court.
The prints, which are part of a body of work called the visual translation of the Midnight Court, will hang alongside original works by the current crop of North Clare artists in the exhibition.
“As part of the work of the QQI level 6 students this year, Maeve Collins put on a social engagement art project of the Midnight Court. They put on a live staging of the Midnight Court in the hall in Kilfenora. It was a brilliant production, they made all of the masks themselves and there was an element of sculpture and costume design in that too,” said Deirdre Larkin, one of the learners and PRO for the exhibition.
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Andrew Hamilton is a journalist, investigative reporter and podcaster who has been working in the media in Ireland for the past 20 years. His areas of special interest include the environment, mental health and politics.