New festival to celebrate work of Dylan Thomas

A FESTIVAL celebrating the life and works of poet, short-story writer and playwright Dylan Thomas, along with his ties to North Clare, is the latest addition to the county’s cultural tourism offering. The inaugural festival is expected to draw visitors from across the country when it takes place next month.
Dylan Thomas’ wife, Caitlin, was the youngest daughter of Francis MacNamara, who transformed Ennistymon House into the Falls Hotel, the venue for the inaugural Dylan Thomas Literary Weekend from Friday, May 18 to Sunday, May 20. The three-day festival will feature lectures, poetry recitals, a documentary screening and a history tour outlining Ennistymon’s connections to the Welsh literary legend and other poets, including Brian Merriman.
Barbara Faulkner, chair of the Clare Tourism Forum, stressed the importance of the county showcasing its culture to attract more tourists. “Cultural tourism is becoming increasingly popular throughout Ireland and Britain. In Clare, we are particularly fortunate to be associated with numerous world-renowned poets, writers, artists and musicians,” she said.
“The Dylan Thomas Literary Weekend is a very welcome addition to the local festival calendar, which already boasts such popular annual events as the Ennis Book Club Festival, West Clare Drama Festival, Cumann Merriman Festival, Eigse Mrs Crotty, Ennis Trad Festival, Iniscealtra Festival of Art, Feakle International Traditional Music Festival and the Willie Clancy Summer School,” added Ms Faulkner.
The festival’s keynote lecture will be delivered by Dylan Thomas biographer and journalist Andrew Lycett, who will join a host of national and international writers and poets.
Other contributors include John F Dean, poet and founder of Poetry Ireland; Fred Johnson, Hennessy Literary Award winner and co-founder of the Irish Writers Co-operative; award-winning Welsh essayist and poet Robert Minhinnick; freelance writer, translator and editor Diarmuid Johnson; Jo Slade, poet and painter; Clairr O’Connor, Dublin poet, playwright and fiction writer; author, storyteller, lecturer and broadcaster Eddie Lenihan and Paul O’Mahony, Limerick-born poet.
“This Literary Weekend focuses not only on Dylan Thomas’ inspiring work but that of his contemporaries and those who continue to be inspired by him. The festival will enable fans of Dylan Thomas to celebrate his connections with Ennistymon and learn more about the man who is known the world over for the passion and love of life he infused in his poetry and prose,” according to festival organiser Joanne Clancy of the Falls Hotel and Spa.
Commenting on Thomas’ links with the Falls Hotel, Ms Clancy said, “The Dylan Thomas link with the hotel is that the original Ennistymon House was owned by the MacNamara family.
Thomas himself did not live in Ennistymon at any stage but his wife Caitlin did. Her father, Francis, was the person responsible for transforming the manor house into a commercial property, what we know today as the Falls Hotel and Spa.”
Acclaimed as one of the best-known and important poets of the 20th century, Dylan Marlais Thomas’ most popular works include his play for voices Under Milk Wood and his poems And Death Shall Have No Dominion and Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night. Thomas died, aged 39, in New York in 1953. His wife, Caitlin, died in 1994 at the age of 80.
Mayor of Clare Pat Hayes will officially launch the 2012 Dylan Thomas Literary Weekend on May 18 at 6.30pm.