Arts & Culture

TWO men from opposite ends of the world convened in Kilrush last week to discuss the possibility of shooting a film based in the west Clare town. Joe Riley, now living in Sydney had his autobiography (initially known as Ghosts of Kilrush and now as Life in Kilrush) published a number of years ago and he was in west Clare to meet Chris Cusack from Grafton Productions in Hollywood. “What’s happened is the film rights, I sold them to an American company in Hollywood. The film producer has flown from LA to here, and I’ve come from Australia to here,” said Joe. While there is no indication yet as to when production might start, he said that a script has been written, various other preparations made and an overall investment of in the region of one million dollars made. “I haven’t come from Australia for the fun of it, and he hasn’t come from LA for the fun of it,” …

MODERN media and the knowledge of the older generation have been artfully blended in a project by pupils at a North Clare school exploring the history and folklore of their local area. The result is ‘Faery Tales & Folklore: A Clare Conversation’, a podcast produced and presented by the students of Clouna National School – https://bit.ly/3LHKFze The students worked with local historian Tom Barry to explore folklore and storytelling, and also engaged in a digital conversation with Pat Carroll, Mary Hurley and Bridie Davoren, who are currently patients in the Ennistymon Community Hospital. Pupils from fourth to sixth class in Scoil Cholmcille Clouna spent five weeks working with artist John Lillis on the project and used recording technologies to establish the conversational interaction between the pupils and hospital residents. They recorded questions and answers to document some of the memories of Pat, Mary and Bridie from times gone by. The podcast was co-produced and recorded with John as part of …

LIFE in rural West Clare is captured to stunning effect in a new exhibition from Mary Foudy O’Halloran which opens in Kinvara on April 15. ‘Revisited’ re-examines the everyday lives of rural Irish women in the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s and reworks the ordinary objects and tools of their hard physical work. Mary’s other recent solo exhibitions include ‘Weighed’ at the Ballina Arts Centre and ‘Endurance’ in association with the Clare Arts Office. The latter also examined the past in the now, questioning the ordinary and familiar and objects of loss. Mary works primarily in oil and mixed media, often incorporating ordinary household objects in her work. Growing up in rural Clare, Mary was not unusual in being raised in a house without electricity and running water. Speaking about the body of work, she explained that all lives were heavy with labour, but women bore the biggest brunt of the hardship. “In putting this exhibition together, I wanted to acknowledge …

CLARE’S artistic community have shown their true colours of generosity by finding various ways to support the people of Ukraine. From selling artworks to raise funds for charities helping those affected by the war with Russia, to offering to give lessons to refugees who have found shelter in Clare, a number of local artists across the county have offered their support. Among those is Lahinch-based artist Michael Hanrahan who recently auctioned off one of his paintings with funds raised going to the Red Cross to help the people of Ukraine. He has also offered to provide water colour classes for Ukrainian refugees who have arrived in North Clare, believing the power of art may provide some kind of therapy for the new arrivals. Michael, who travels the world teaching watercolour painting on cruise liners, painted a view of the Algarve in Portugal while visiting the country earlier this year. He said that when news began to emerge of what was …

A BIRD’S eye view on the past is what a dedicated group of Quin residents are hoping to share, after a year spent delving into the fascinating heritage and history of the area.  With the restrictions of lockdown putting a new focus on everything local, many communities have had the opportunity to find out more about their immediate environs. A thriving village with many non-native residents, Quin also boasts an abundance of features of historical interest. These stretch back into the Bronze Age and the Knocknafearbreaga Alignment of standing stones close to Clooney. They also include Magh Adhair, the inauguration site of the Dalcassian O’Briens and, of course, the magnificent Franciscan friary, dating to the 1400s.  As lockdown began to ease last year, Quin Heritage Group was born. Almost 12 months later, a committee of four have gathered a wealth of images, videos, articles and surveys which they have made available through a state-of-the-art website. Yvonne Gallagher, Siobhán O’Sullivan, Michael …

BALLADEER George Murphy clearly remembers his first encounter with the voice of the legendary Luke Kelly, and the impact that those richly textured tones had on him. “I was learning the poem ‘Raglan Road’ in school and my dad told me that it had been sung as a ballad by Luke Kelly,” he recalled. “I was nine years of age and from that moment, I was hooked. Luke’s voice is simply unmistakeable.” Less than a decade later, George wowed television audiences, as well as the judging panel of Phil Coulter, Louis Walsh and Linda Martin, when he performed ‘Raglan Road’ on talent show You’re a Star on RTÉ. To-date, George has four studio albums to his credit: Dreamed A Dream (Sony), So The Story Goes, The Ballad of Archie Thompson, and 2016’s Shadowman: The Stable Sessions.  He also has a touring track-record George with The High Kings, filling the vacancy left by the departure of Martin Furey. In 2018 when he decided to tour his solo show, …

THIS summer, national children’s arts and health charity Helium Arts will launch its first Creative Health Programme location in Clare at CBS Primary School in Ennis. The charity’s first outpost in Clare will provide arts programming for children living with long-term medical conditions. Helium Arts’ new Ennis location builds on the success of hubs in Cork, Limerick, and Galway which have served over 2,000 children living with long-term medical conditions since 2019, supporting their wellbeing, creativity, and ability to cope with their conditions. Helium Arts is dedicated to empowering these children and teenagers through creativity and the arts by creating connection and belonging for young people who can feel lonely and defined by their health condition. Led by local artist Ana Colomer, the workshops are a space for children to play, learn, and explore their creativity through hands-on activities. As a parent whose child recently took part in a recent Helium Arts programme put it, “My son’s creativity was opened …

TWO local girls are about to go to the World Irish Dancing Championships. Holly McKey will be dancing in the U-12 section, while Isabel Ryan will be in the under 16 competition. Irish dancing has quite a long history in the town, with what is now the Daniel Flanagan Academy of Irish Dance. It had previously been known as the Hackett Flanagan academy and before that again it was the Hackett School. Last November it had its first Munster Champion when Alex Carew took first place in the U-7 regional competition. Olivia Dullaghan is chairperson of the Parent’s Council of the Academy and she said that they are delighted to have children going to the Worlds. “They qualified pre-Covid, but because of Covid there were no World Championships. They’re going now, Holly is dancing on April 10 and Isabelle Ryan is dancing on April 12.” The competition is being held in Belfast this year. Olivia said that young people involved …