Arts & Culture

The Fleadh Nua will pay tribute to the work carried out by the members of Tulla Comhaltas both past and present in the promotion of Irish music, song, dance and language this Sunday.The event, which takes place in Cois na hAbhna in Ennis at 8.30pm on Sunday, May 22, will recognise all that Tulla Comhaltas has achieved over its 50-year history. Tulla Comhaltas was established in September 1957 at a meeting in the Courthouse in response to a wish by the people of Tulla to host the County Fleadh Cheoil in 1958. A very successful Fleadh was held that year and the Comhaltas branch has gone from strength to strength since, growing and prospering every step of the way. The development in recent years of the Tulla Traditional Music Festival has also been a welcome addition to the county’s bustling festival circuit.  Meanwhile on Sunday, May 29, the Fleadh Nua will honour an East Clare great as Glór hosts A …

Flutes and fiddles everywhere, if it’s music you want you should go to Riches of Clare. The popular, free lunchtime concerts will begin another season at the end of May. Now in its seventh year, the Wednesday afternoon Irish-music series will have 60 musicians in 15 concerts, over three months in Ennis and festivals across Clare. The usual residency in the Clare Museum, Ennis, will begin during the Fleadh Nua festival on Monday, May 23, and continuing each afternoon that week.The Clare Museum will also host the series each Wednesday afternoon during June and July, featuring traditional musicians from or based in County Clare with an occasional visitor. This year will also see the series appear at the Fleadh Cheoil in Kilfenora on Friday, June 17, and at the Feakle Festival on Monday, August 8.Musicians performing in the 2011 series will include Kevin Crawford, Hugh Healy, Seamus Bugler, Tóla Custy, James Devitt and The Stride Set. Admission to all concerts …

INNOVATION and imagination in the presentation of traditional arts have been the hallmarks of Fleadh Nua since its inception in 1970, according to festival committee PRO, Rory Casey.“These core values have served us well in meeting the challenges which longevity presents and are exemplified in the series of events for the 2011 programme,” he said.While there has been much talk in recent months that economic sovereignty has shifted to Brussels or Berlin, Irish cultural sovereignty remains firmly rooted in County Clare and its centre is Ennis, the natural home of Fleadh Nua since 1974.  With a programme of over 60 events, many of which are free, Fleadh Nua is a family-friendly festival with the emphasis on entertainment and enjoyment. While the strains of music, song and dance fill the air during the cultural festival, so too does the ringing of cash registers all over the town. The Fleadh Nua, as one of the top annual crowd pullers to Ennis, is …

CLARE County Library is holding a sale of used books from Monday to Saturday next week. The sale will take place over the week in the de Valera Public Library, Ennis during library opening hours and all books are in good condition. “This is a wonderful opportunity for people to have a presence of books in their homes at very little cost,” said a library spokesperson. “We, as librarians, are anxious that children especially have access to books in their home environment.”For further information contact Clare County Library Headquarters on 065 6846350.

DECLAN O’Rourke is playing at Glór  on Saturday, May 21. The singer, who made his name with hits such as ‘No brakes’ and ‘Galileo’ has returned to the scene with his third album, Mag Pai Zai. He is now an independent artist, and says that he needed more control over his own output. “Maybe I knew what I wanted too much. I’ve learned from experience that there are certain things that are very valuable about having a record company. But I felt it was time to start owning my own music. I don’t own my first record (Since Kyabram, 2005) and had very little control over that and the second record (Big Bad Beautiful World, 2008) in how they get into the shops, how they’re packaged, presented and so on.”He says he is happier with Mag Pai Zai, than the others. “If it weren’t my own record I’d say it blows the other two albums out of the water. The …

THE committee for this year’s Iniscealtra Festival have issued an open invitation to children and families across the county to join them in following Alice down the rabbit hole on June 6 to attend the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party in the wonderland of Mountshannon.All those attending the tea party event are being asked to leave their serious sides at home as from 2pm to 6pm all will be turned on its head for the Iniscealtra Festival of Arts family fun day.The Mountshannon National School Parents Association Committee, supporting the free family fun day organisers, are requesting one and all to don their maddest fancy dress costumes to help raise funds at the event for the school.“We would like as many children and adults as possible to either bring a silly costume or come dressed up on the day along the theme of Alice in Wonderland. Many of the costumes worn at the St Patrick’s Day parade for Narnia will be …

Water For Elephants DIRECTED BY: Francis Lawrence STARRING: Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon, Christoph Waltz CERT: 12A Ah, the circus. Sure you have to love it. Or not, if you’re allergic to clowns. Or if you’re a particularly sensitive animal lover perhaps one of the many who’ve been quick to condemn this film for its depiction of the rough life endured by creatures in show business, going so far as to suggest that anyone who buys a ticket to see Water For Elephants is supporting animal cruelty.Personally, I’m more concerned that anyone who buys a ticket to see this movie is helping to promote the career of Robert Pattinson and is thereby supporting cruelty to innocent audiences. Pattinson has been the major selling point for the film, whose marketing gurus correctly assumed that swooning fans of the pale, mumbling one from Twilight would gladly cheer on his reincarnation as a human, all the better if he still gets to have a …