The government’s annual Markievicz Award honours Constance de Markievicz, artist and the first woman to be elected to Parliament and appointed to Cabinet.
This year, one of the award recipients is Ennistymon native, Róisín Stack who will develop an outdoor performance as part of her proposal.
The Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin (GP), announced the 10 new recipients of the Markievicz Award for 2024.
The recipients included Zoe Conway, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, Pea Dinneen, Laura Fitzgerald, Megan Grehan, Katherine Lyons, Emma O’Halloran, whose opera adaptation of Mark O’Halloran’s ‘Mary Motorhead’ and ‘Trade’ recently played at glór, Áine Ní Laoghaire, Sinéad Diskin and Róisín Stack.
Stack will work with Berlin-based artist Ant Hampton to create a contemporary outdoor piece drawing on research inspired by Máire MacNeill.
Folklorist Máire MacNeill was an accomplished editor, author and scholar who lived her later years in Corofin.
She collected stories to capture the traditions of people in County Clare and beyond.
Stack will likewise collect oral histories from women in North Clare to understand the traditions that reflect a modern and multicultural Ireland.
Doctor Sarah O’Brien of the university of Limerick and theatre director Maeve Stone will also partner on the project.
“It’s a huge honour to get this award and to be in the company of so many other brilliant artists,” said Stack.
“I’m really looking forward to developing a piece that looks at how we connect to our past and to place.
“A lot of my work takes me away from Clare so I’m excited about developing something here and getting to know the area in a new way.”
In 2023, Róisín Stack presented her solo performance No Woman is an Island at Dublin Theatre Festival to critical acclaim.
She’s the daughter of the late author and folklorist Eddie Stack who wrote extensively about North Clare and whose final major work before his passing was an extensive exploration of the culture of Doolin.
Róisín Stack is also the sister of musician and storyteller Aindrias de Staic.
The Markievicz Award is an important legacy project designed to support artists to develop their craft and ultimately produce great art that recognises and commemorates the role of women in the 20th Century and beyond.
Andrew Hamilton is a journalist, investigative reporter and blogger who has been working in the media in Ireland for the past 20 years. His areas of special interest include the environment, mental health and politics.