Tag Archives: John Lillis

IN June of 2019 the visit of Metallica to Liscannor was an unexpected novelty, coming the day after the American heavy metal group had played in Slane. Their visit was recalled in an exhibition entitled Tiny Little Histories which was at the Limerick City Gallery of Art recently. The visit of Metallica was evoked through an audio story made by artist John Lillis entitled ‘Black Helicopter’. Speaking about it, John says, “There was a call out from the GAFF in Limerick to do with audio storytelling. I have an interest in storytelling in general and I knew it was something I’d be interested in applying for. “It was quite short, you only had seven minutes, and they wanted something that was kind of a contemporary story, it had to have happened in the last 100 years. I just sat with it for a couple of days.” By chance he came upon his subject. “I live in Clahane just outside Liscannor …

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 …

GLÓR’S director has said the venue are “thrilled” to be open after a “long and challenging period” due to Covid-19. The Ennis arts centre is looking ahead to offering a full programme of live, in-person performances from September. As the venue embarks on its 20th year, director Orla Flanagan has reiterated glór’s committment to supporting and developing a range of artists and with the support of the Arts Council and Creative Ireland. She said the venue was pleased to have commissioned and co-commissioned a number of projects which will come to fruition over the coming months. Ms Flanagan said, “We are thrilled to now get the show firmly back on the road at glór. It has been a long and challenging period being dark and we have given 100% to imaginatively engaging with the public and supporting artists, but we cannot wait to share the magic of the live experience again. We now know there is nothing quite like it.” …

CLARE national school students have been making their voices heard as part of a new radio project. The third class students of Ennis National School and fifth and sixth classes of Broadford and Kilbane National School have created their very own podcasts which are now available to stream. In partnership with the Clare Arts Office and Creative Ireland, Glaoch! is a commissioned recording project that aims at amplifying the voices of national school children in Clare. Artist/producer John Lillis was invited to work with national schools in Clare to develop the two unique podcasts which were created, directed and presented by primary school students. John explained, “In our current social climate of restricted movement and distanced interactions, our dependence on each other and our ability to communicate lies at the core of our wellbeing. “Listening remains one of the more potent skills available to us. Our ears do a lot of the work, but the rest lies in our imagination. …