Arts & Culture

PREPARATIONS are almost complete for the Shannonside Winter Music Weekend, which runs from January 17 to 20.Things will kick off with a concert at Sixmilebridge Courthouse on Thursday, January 17 by Sixmilebridge’s own Kieran O’Loughlin and Brendan Walsh. They will be playing classical, folk and traditional music. O’Loughlin his now based in Sweden where he has forged out a career in music.Friday will see performances from the Sixmilebridge Folk Club and Friends, the Fake McCoys, the Voice Squad and Lilly of the West, Members of Diversus, the Phelan Family, the Banjaxed Bluegrass band, John Nyhan and friends, the Gypsy Rebel Rabble and Two Time Polka.There are a huge number of performances on Saturday, both in Sixmilebridge and Bunratty, including the likes of Special Consensus, the Diversus Guitar Orchestra and the Shaskeen Full Band in Bunratty Folk Park and the Fake McCoys, the Alan Kelly Gang and Bending the Strings in Sixmilebridge. On Sunday, there will be festival mass in the …

John Rainsford talks to Risteard (Dick) Ua Cróinín recently appointed editor of The Other Clare about the importance of this historical journal to his native county  

SINGER Thomas Dormer is hoping Ennis music fans will come out in support of his dream of becoming a recording artist. The 19-year-old will be taking part in the final stages of the All-Ireland Music Competition next weekend in the West County Hotel.

Tá Gradaim Ghaeilge an Chláir do 2012 bronnta ag an eagraíocht An Clár as Gaeilge Teo. Is gradaim iad seo a bhronntar ar bhonn bliantúil ar an comhlacht agus ar an duine a dhéanann an méid is mó chun an Ghaeilge a chur chun cinn ina gnáth-shaolta.

THE first amateur dramatic society to form in Kilmurry McMahon in living memory puts on its debut performance in the West Clare parish in the new year.Last Tango In Kilmurry McMahon, a one-act comedy written by David Tristram, will be presented on January 4 by the newly formed Rambling House Players and will introduce four new Kilmurry McMahon actors. Also taking to the stage on the same night is the Kilmurry McMahon ICA with their production of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?Originally called Last Tango in Little Grimley, Rambling House Players decided to change some of the names and references to make it more accessible to a local audience.Michael Coughlan plays Gordon, Sabrina Keogh stars as Margaret, Francis Downes plays Bernard and Yvonne Baumann plays Joyce. This is the first time the four actors have performed on stage since their days in school.The play is about the local drama group, who have hardly any members and struggle to attract …

RENOWNED Clare photographer Carsten Krieger has recently released his latest book of photographs.Entitled Ireland’s Coast, it is a celebration of Ireland’s coast with 250 beautiful photographs by the Kilbaha-based photographer.Wherever you are in Ireland, you are never far from the sea. The country’s 3,000km coastline is a place of natural beauty and vibrant history – beaches, fishing villages and harbours, mudflats and salt marshes, lighthouses and promenades. These are the images that Carsten wanted to capture in this book.“I always wanted to make a book on the coast. It’s an obvious theme if you live on an island. After I had finished my first book with the O’Brien Press (Ireland – Glorious Landscapes), we did some brainstorming what to do next and Ireland’s coast appealed most to all.“Where it became difficult was the approach: I had another landscape book in mind. O’Brien wanted a more general approach. In the end, the brief was very simple: include anything related to the …

DUE to popular demand, Christy Moore has added a second concert at Ennis’ Glór Theatre. Hailed as Ireland’s greatest living musician, in RTÉ’s People of the Year Awards, Moore will play the Ennis venue on Friday, February 22 and again on Saturday, February 23. A busy 2012 saw the Kildare native continue a series of sold-out shows and TV appearances and this coming year promises to be yet another milestone in a packed and eventful career, that has spanned over 40 years. Christy began 2012 with three sell-out shows at Dublin’s Grand Canal Theatre, followed by a televised performance at the BBC Folk Awards in February. Last spring, he appeared in a series of dates around Ireland, before embarking on a 10-day tour of the UK, which included two triumphant gigs at London’s Royal Festival Hall.On his return to Ireland, he kicked off the summer with an appearance at the Live at the Marquee concert series. This marked the folk-singer’s …