Arts & Culture

CULTURE Night will be providing its audiences and participants with a grand showcase of modern Irish culture, but one short film aims to go back to the very beginning, writes Conor Clohessy. ‘Lúgh – The Prophecy’ is an independently-produced short film, written by Ger O’Malley, telling the story of how the birth of the ancient Gaelic god Lúgh was predicted and witnessed. Ger says that he has always been fascinated with Irish mythology, noticing how often Lúgh would be mentioned and paid homage to – a simple example would be that he is linked to the festival of Lughnasa, which is also the Irish word for August. “I started looking into who he was and started writing stories about him years ago, but the stuff I was writing seemed very visual. I was talking to my brother Martin, who owns Malbay Studios in Miltown Malbay and has a lot of knowledge on how to put such things together. We brought …

CLARE FM is to broadcast a documentary to celebrate the life of Lahinch native Míchéal “Mick” Ryan who was posthumously awarded Humanitarian of the year in December 2020. The documentary, airing Friday at 11am, looks back at Mick’s life from his early years and has been produced by Clare FM’s programme director Padraic Flaherty with support from Mick’s family. Mick dedicated his life to helping others through his work with the United Nations World Food Program. During his life Mick helped the most vulnerable and most in need, and during his career he travelled to Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Liberia, and the world’s largest refugee camp in Myanmar. On March 10, 2019, Mick was travelling from Addis Ababa to Nairobi, when several minutes after take-off the Boeing 737 Max Aircraft crashed killing all people on board. Upon hearing the documentary for the first time Mick’s wife Naoise says “Padraic seamlessly weaves Mick’s story through conversations with people who knew Mick, …

CULTURE Night makes a welcome return this Friday and glór has a couple of contrasting events that will keep everyone entertained. To get the ball rolling at 5pm, Cracking Light Productions presents My Nature, a film for young people, by young people; showing us the things in Nature that mean the most to them in their own words and through their eyes. This unique and heart-warming film will lift anybody’s spirits and remind us of the bond we have had with nature since we were little kids. Following this gorgeous film screening, glór presents something completely different. At 9pm The Latchikos take to the stage for a wild night of trad! The Latchikos are fronted by well-known storyteller and musician Aindrias de Staic on fiddle and vocals. Spanish multi-instrumentalist Gabriel Gonzalez on Guitar and Mayo Percussionist Dominic Keogh on bodhrán and percussion. They will be joined especially for Culture Night by special guest dancer Siobhan Butler. The Latchikos’ blend a …

A HANDBALL alley in West Clare might not seem like the obvious place to showcase artistic talent, however this weekend at Querrin Pier the local sports facility will play host to a visual workshop for teenagers. The workshop with artist Ruth Wood is just one of many events taking place in the county as part of this year’s Call & Response youth music and arts festival presented by Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board’s Local Creative Youth Partnership. The festival, which kicks off on Culture Night in Clare, will bring a host of free creative events to the young people of the county including the launch of a new pilot theatre project in Kilkee. Monica Spencer, Creative Youth Partnership Co-ordinator with the Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board tells us that Call & Response is all about encouraging and engaging youth voices. “The name of the festival came from the call and response term in music, but really …

ANTICIPATION is building in East Clare as the fifth journal from Tulla Reaching Out hits the shelves, writes Fiona McGarry. Reflections from Home and Abroad 2020-2021 combines local and family history, as well as some beautiful images of Tulla in the late 1950s. Jane Halloran Ryan and her small but dedicated team, which includes Sr Eileen Callinan and Caitlín Moloney, have been busily writing, compiling, proofing and chasing up pictures to illustrate the publication. Now, they are getting a chance to enjoy the fruits of their hard work. The tradition of publishing a collection annually started in 2016 to coincide with centenary celebrations of the 1916 Rising. “That edition completely sold out,” Jane said. “We actually had enough material for the 2017 publication and we more or less kept going. “We had just launched our 2019 publication before the pandemic came along and that’s why, this time, we’re covering 2020-2021. “We have a fantastic committee of seven people and a …

A NEW Folk Club is being established by broadcasters Ruth Smith and Paula Carroll, starting this Wednesday night at Pepper’s bar, writes Owen Ryan. Ruth presents Simply Folk on Sunday nights on RTE and speaking about the spark for the new Folk Club, said it has been an idea long in the making. “Myself and Paula Carroll, who’d be well known to Clare FM listeners (she presents the West Wind), had an idea of doing it back in 2018. Just with our different schedules we were never able to kind of pull it together at the right time. “The pandemic had a couple of silver linings, with people slowing down. We applied for the live performance support scheme grant, which we were successful with. “That was with Gary Pepper and the venue being Pepper’s pub in Feakle, and it’s all systems go now, which is great.” She said that the two broadcasters became fast friends on meeting in Feakle. “Myself …

Don’t miss the opportunity to catch a few good plays online for free as The Kilkee Playwright Festival continues this Friday, September 10. For under 16 year olds and adults Crystal Vardo by Suzanna King will be streamed at 3pm and 8pm. Don’t miss your chance to join Crystal as she travels through time in her vardo on an extraordinary journey through Romani history. Brimming with a wealth of colourful characters, humour, music and storytelling, Crystal’s Vardo brings to life the rich tapestry of Gypsy Roma Traveller history and culture. One audience member has described it as “cracking good theatre. It remains entertaining while also raising awareness about the racism and injustice faced by Gypsies and Travellers today” On Saturday, September 11, at 3pm and 8pm brings the much applauded Sacrificial Wind by Lorna Shaughnessy (published poet with Salmon publishers ( Ireland ) and NUI Galway lecturer). Sacrificial Wind is a poetic examination of the characters around the story of …

IN celebration of this Saturday’s Ennis Book Club Festival The Old Ground Hotel has put pen to paper and created the perfect ‘book lovers break’. The hotel, of course, has many literary connections of its own, featuring a cosy library area for residents and it celebrates many of the great Irish Poets throughout the hotel, particularly in the bar area where painted portraits hang of writers like Seamus Heaney and Oscar Wilde. Fittingly then they have titled their Book Club Festival offer The ‘Poet’s Package’ which includes a one-night stay in a luxurious and spacious room or suite, dinner in the acclaimed Poet’s Corner bar which features delicious fresh local Ennis produce. Guests availing of the ‘Poet’s Package’ will also receive a signed copy of ‘This is Happiness’ by Man Booker nominated novelist Niall Williams in their room upon arrival along with tickets to a book festival headline event of your choice. https://twitter.com/ebcf/status/1434833536025088004?s=20 Commenting on the upcoming Book Festival and …