Coole Park begins spring programme

Well-known singer songwriter Julie Feeney and sean nós dancer Emma O’Sullivan are some of the headline acts that will perform in this year’s Coole Park Spring programme.

The Coole Park Cultural Programme aims to provide a series of high-quality multi-disciplinary arts and heritage events to as wide and inclusive a local audience as possible in a site that has national and international cultural status. In a variation from previous years, all the arts events take place on Mondays and Thursdays from mid-January to mid-February and all the heritage course lectures take place on Mondays and Thursdays from mid-February to mid-March.
The events include traditional music, creative writings readings, a sean nós dancing workshop, an Irish play and launch of Féile Raftéiri, classical music, Mexican music drama and storytelling.
The first event takes place this Thursday from 8pm to 9pm when Terri Shoosmith will present A Strangers Gaze The Town Land of Coole: Stony, Rocky and Two Thirds Profitable. The arts series begins next Monday from 8pm to 9pm with an evening of Irish music with Denis Liddy and Elvie Miller.
On Thursday, January 28 from 8pm to 9pm, writer in residence with Galway County Council, Michael O’Loughlin will give a talk entitled Inside and outside the gates. The lecture is on Yeats, Kavanagh, the big house and the cottage in rural Ireland. On Saturday, January 30 from 2pm to 5pm, All-Ireland champion sean nós dancer Emma O’Sullivan will conduct a sean nós dancing workshop. Emma is currently in the semi-final of the All Ireland Talent Show on RTÉ 1. Advanced booking is required for this workshop.
On Monday, February 1 from 7.30pm to 9.30pm, the launch of Féile Raiftéiri will take place, followed by readings and drama excerpts on Pádraic Ó Connaire by Diarmuid de Faoite. There will be an evening of classical music on Thursday, February 4, from 8pm to 9pm with the Cantabile Trio. The Cantabile Trio are made up of Tom Murphy on violin and viola, Katharina Baker on violin and viola and Rachael McCall on piano.
On Monday, February 8, from 8pm to 9pm, Coole Park will host a concert by award-winning singer songwriter Julie Feeney. Julie’s performances in Galway are often a sell-out. Julie won the Choice Music Prize, Ireland’s equivalent of the Mercury Prize, with her debut album 13 Songs, which was self-produced and self-released. On her second album, Pages, Julie sang, composed and produced the songs in their entirety. Advanced booking is required for this event.
On Friday, February 12, from 8pm to 9pm, there will be creative writing readings with Michael O’Loughlin and students from Gort Community School. This event was carried over from Winter 2009 Programme. On Friday, February 19, from 8pm to 9pm The Gombeens will perform Stories of a Yellow Town, which comprises a collection of real-life personal stories and observations that were recorded from six months of interviews with the Brazilians and Irish in Gort.
The NUI Certificate in Local History continues to be delivered as an outreach programme at Coole Park Visitor Centre. The course provides participants interested in local history with an opportunity to obtain formal training in the subject matter. This course is now in its second semester. The project is funded by Galway Rural Development.
“The fact that NUI Maynooth approved Coole Park Visitor Centre to deliver their outreach programme stresses the importance of having such a facility locally from the education and cultural perspective, as it serves as a focus for the area,” a spokesperson for Coole Park stated.
“The haven that is Coole Park Reserve, on the doorstep of Gort, serves both Galway and Clare and it is a marvellous educational facility for both children and adults. The Spring Arts, Cultural and Educational Programme 2010 continues this tradition,” she continued.
More information is available from Coole Park Visitor Centre and from www.coolepark.ie.