Event type: Comedy

Written and performed by Manchán Magan and produced by Once Off Productions, Arán Agus Im (Bread and Butter) is supported by Culture Ireland.

…………………………………………………………………

We need to find a way of talking about the Irish language… About the sublime beauty and profound oddness of this ancient tongue (that has been spoken on the island for 2,500-3,000 years), which is now slipping slowly from our grasp.

What can the word for the lonesomeness of a cow bereft of her calf – diadhánach – teach us about our current methods of food production? Why does one need to orientate oneself to the sun to give directions in Irish? To what degree is the Otherworld embedded in words for cancer? What’s the word for the sound horses make when they meet after an absence?

Arán Agus Im (Bread and Butter) is a theatrical performance in which Manchán Magan bakes sourdough bread while offering insights into the wonders of the Irish language. During the show, he’ll explore potent words of landscape, terms of intuition and insight alongside phrases that bring the mysterious glory of our natural world to life.

The show is a celebration of language, land and local Irish food. It invites audiences to slice freshly-baked traditional sourdough bread and to spread it with butter they’ve churned from Irish cream.

Knowledge of Irish/Gaeilge is not required.

Please note: there is a 5.30pm and an 8pm showing, both on 18 Oct 2024. Ensure you select the correct ticket for the performance you want to attend.

The Liverpool Irish Festival would like to thank The Institute of Irish Studies at University of Liverpool for helping to bring this show to Liverpool.

…………………………………………………………………
Manchán Magan: “I just knew that I wanted to take people out of the norm, which is what theatre does. But I didn’t want all the conventions and trappings of theatre, of a three-act play. I imagined creating this little sanctuary on stage in which flour from Irish fields and water from Irish rivers could be transformed into a potent metaphor for our connecting to language, landscape and life.”

…………………………………………………………………
Creative Team
Written and performed by Manchán Magan
Presented and Produced by Once Off Productions
Generously supported by Culture Ireland
Design – Tom de Paor
Producers – Sadhbh Barrett Coakley and Maura O’Keeffe
Producing Assistant – Morgan Steele
Construction – Barry Rogerson
Costume – Hazel McCague
Funded by Culture Ireland and The Arts Council of Ireland
Originally produced in collaboration with the Abbey Theatre and with funding from Foras na Gaeilge.

Adieu suggests a temporary ‘so long’, but migration often is not…

Taking their cue from the North American farewell wakes, held across Ireland in the 1800s, the George Ferguson Dance School and Melody Makers perform a specially curated evening of song and dance which references leaving. 
This engaging 2-hour programme features over 50 musicians and dancers from across Merseyside. The performance takes place in one of Liverpool’s most emerald spaces: the ever magnificent Sefton Park Palm House.
Not to be missed!

This is a 2-hour show, with the addition of an interval. Though it may sound obvious, standing seats will not be provided with chairs. Please bear this in mind when making your ticket choice. It is anticipated these tickets will be used by the guardians/transporters of performers. We have standing seats in order to enable low cost tickets, whilst working within the fire limitations of the building. If you are there to enjoy the show for all it’s creative beauty, we strongly recommend buying a seated ticket.

Seated tickets are sold at two prices: £15 and £12.

£12 tickets (concessions) are for anyone in receipt of benefits or for under 16s. People who are not in receipt of benefits, or are over 16, are asked to pay full price. All proceeds will be split equally between Sefton Park Palm House, Melody Makers, George Ferguson Dance School and the Festival.

Having partnered with Liverpool Irish Festival over many years, Bluecoat Display Centre hosts, for #LIF2024, a retrospective of previously showcased artisans, including more that are seen through their annual portfolio of creatives. ❤️??

With silver, ceramics, glass, paintings, textiles and more besides, there is something to suit every budding creative, interest and price point. Whether you’re just looking for the sheer fun of it or searching for a unique gift, this is an exceptional display of contemporary talent in one of the longest serving display centres in the country.

Be sure to pick up our article on Irish Makers, which will follow shortly.

Dispersed, Dislocated is a poetry book for dipping in and out of.

Flora Small first became known to the Festival as a member of our History Research Group, working behind the scenes on the Liverpool Irish Famine Trail. Sticking with us since 2021, Flora is a proud local woman, mother and poet.

Flora’s work on the Trail has shown her that legacy is important. What will be there in your place, when you are no longer around to ask? Thus, Flora has created a book of poems, available throughout the Festival and beyond. Called Dispersed, Dislocated it’s 58-pages (plus cover) and includes a number of illustrations by her son, Ben.

To get Flora’s special book rate of £8 (+£2 post and packaging), in the run up to and during the Festival, contact Flora directly on: flora59.small@gmail.com  Alternatively, grab a copy at News From Nowhere (Bold Street, Liverpool) or from Art Quarter in the MetQuarter (Whitechapel, Liverpool).

We’ll have Flora read a couple of poems at our Festival launch at the Liverpool Irish Centre (17 Oct 2024) and another at our Family Day on 26 Oct 2024 at Museum of Liverpool.

Here’s what Flora has to say about her book:
Dispersed, Dislocated
a collection of sensitively illustrated poems celebrating
what it is to be Liverpool Irish.  And the connection
over many hundreds of years, relating
to the foundation of the town in 1207, and before.
The mass migrational flood of the Great Irish Famine
and the subsequent waves that battered our shore,
creating the unique identity of this great town,
as it blended its many cultures, creating diversity, unity:
a river of  flow and change that we call our own.
Flora Small, 7 July 2024.

Written and performed by Manchán Magan and produced by Once Off Productions, Arán Agus Im (Bread and Butter) is supported by Culture Ireland.

…………………………………………………………………

We need to find a way of talking about the Irish language… About the sublime beauty and profound oddness of this ancient tongue (that has been spoken on the island for 2,500-3,000 years), which is now slipping slowly from our grasp.

What can the word for the lonesomeness of a cow bereft of her calf – diadhánach – teach us about our current methods of food production? Why does one need to orientate oneself to the sun to give directions in Irish? To what degree is the Otherworld embedded in words for cancer? What’s the word for the sound horses make when they meet after an absence?

Arán Agus Im (Bread and Butter) is a theatrical performance in which Manchán Magan bakes sourdough bread while offering insights into the wonders of the Irish language. During the show, he’ll explore potent words of landscape, terms of intuition and insight alongside phrases that bring the mysterious glory of our natural world to life.

The show is a celebration of language, land and local Irish food. It invites audiences to slice freshly-baked traditional sourdough bread and to spread it with butter they’ve churned from Irish cream.

Knowledge of Irish/Gaeilge is not required.

Please note: there is a 5.30pm and an 8pm showing, both on 18 Oct 2024. Ensure you select the correct ticket for the performance you want to attend.

The Liverpool Irish Festival would like to thank The Institute of Irish Studies at University of Liverpool for helping to bring this show to Liverpool.

…………………………………………………………………
Manchán Magan: “I just knew that I wanted to take people out of the norm, which is what theatre does. But I didn’t want all the conventions and trappings of theatre, of a three-act play. I imagined creating this little sanctuary on stage in which flour from Irish fields and water from Irish rivers could be transformed into a potent metaphor for our connecting to language, landscape and life.”

…………………………………………………………………
Creative Team
Written and performed by Manchán Magan
Presented and Produced by Once Off Productions
Generously supported by Culture Ireland
Design – Tom de Paor
Producers – Sadhbh Barrett Coakley and Maura O’Keeffe
Producing Assistant – Morgan Steele
Construction – Barry Rogerson
Costume – Hazel McCague
Funded by Culture Ireland and The Arts Council of Ireland
Originally produced in collaboration with the Abbey Theatre and with funding from Foras na Gaeilge.

Beckett: Unbound is a biennial festival, run at venues across Liverpool, celebrating the work of Samuel Beckett.

The festival is hosted by the University of Liverpool’s Institute of Irish Studies and the University of Notre Dame in association with Unreal Cities. Over four-days, a variety of events will explore this nobel-winning Irish writer’s work through theatre, music, film, dance, photography and discussion.

Whilst many of the events are free, you will need to book any you wish to attend. Keep an eye on The Institute’s website, as new events may be added.

Below is a selection of the upcoming events:
Sentient
Everyman Theatre, Hope Street, L1 9BH
7.30pm, 30 May-1 Jun 2024, £11-£21 from Everyman website.
La Dernière Bande (Krapp’s Last Tape)
Stanley Theatre, Liverpool Guild of Students, 160 Mount Pleasant L3 5TR
9pm, Thurs 30 May-Fri 31 May; 1pm, Sat 1 June 2024, £10 from Eventbrite.
All that Fall
Toxteth Reservoir, High Park Street, L8 8LU
2pm, Fri 31 May; 6pm, Sat 1 Jun; 4pm, Sun 2 June 2024, £10 from Eventbrite.
Pas moi (Not I)
Toxteth Reservoir, High Park Street, L8 8LU
4pm, Fri/Sat 31 May-1 Jun; 6pm, Sun 2 Jun 2024, £10 from Eventbrite.
Beckett: Unbound evening concert
The Tung Auditorium, Yoko Ono Lennon Centre, 60 Oxford St, Liverpool L7 3NY
8pm, Sun 2 Jun 2024, Free (booking required).

We are sharing these events on behalf of The Institute of Irish Studies. As partners and friends, we’re promoting Beckett: Unbound as a matter of goodwill and shared interest. Please make any questions you have to The Institute or particpating venues.

Image credit: matthew andrews – from SAMUEL beckett’s not i (detail).

As part of Liverpool Irish Festival 2024, the artist Michael Murphy will display his work at Bluecoat Display Centre.

Michael’s practice is rooted in the use of traditional tooling to produce modern and innovative forms in both furniture and sculpture. His current body of work aims to immortalise Ash trees in sculpture, exploring the limits of their form, having them drift into a liminal space between existence and non-existence, which is the state of their species. The works have a sense of ritual about them, the artist likes to think of himself as exhuming the tree, gathering up it’s limbs and allowing them to be reborn as tactile objects.

 

For many years, Liverpool Irish Festival has coordinated Merseyside’s contribution to #GlobalGreening for St Patrick’s Day. 2024 is no different.

Greening regional locations is an act of care; showing Irish diaspora communities that they are seen, recognised and cherished. Green is also the colour of enviornmetnalism, so another depiction of how we love our world and those in it.

Use these hashtags to learn more on social media: #GlobalGreening #StPatricksDay and #FeilePadraig.

In previous years, we have cut together a short flm of our images. This year, we’re presenting a gallery of our best images. For all the images taken at 2024 locations, please visit our Googledrive of archive images.

Environmentalism
In 2024, we’d like to give a significant focus on environmentalism. As a carbon literate organisation it is important to us that we are not wasting enegery. Lighting cultural buildings green, rather than their standard colour, takes no more energy that in any other colour, but will symbolise both Ireland and the environment. Lighting anything with LEDs costs between 50-70% less that old lighting systems. Can you swap out your old lightbulbs (when they blow) for LED ones?

This year, onlookers are asked to consider their carbon outputs. Can you make one change to your life that would help the planet?

Due to the carbon footprint of milk, our Artistic Director lowered her cow’s milk intake by seven/eighths and cheese intake to less than half of her previous consumption!  She also has meat free days and takes all her soft plastic to the recycling drop offs at the local superstore. What can you do? The Festival commits to ensuring all our print — newspapers, posters, printer paper, envelopes, books, postage packaging etc — are as responsibly sourced as possible.
Internationalism
#GlobalGreening was originally founded by Tourism Ireland in 2010. It gained international partners, with sites in Sydney, Venice, Milan, Hong Kong and Washington DC and many more. Each celebrates Irish communities across the world. Turning emerald honours the influence, assimilation and impact Ireland has had. It reminds us of the time, effort and labour Irish perople have invested in their ‘found homes’ and the friendships made within their host communities.

At a time when parts of the world are at war, being able to show our affection for a community — post-conflict — seems all the more pertinent. We hope for a time beyond war and for a time when peace and reconciliation can truly be found.
Who’s involved in Merseyside?
Each year, at dusk, we set off to capture images of our participating partners, going emerald in honour of St Patrick’s Day. One year, this involved a 90-mile round trip! This year sees the following locations (in no particular order) turning green…

The Port of Liverpool Building
St George’s Hall
Liverpool Town Hall
Lister Steps
Steve Prescott Bridge, St Helens
Greystone Bridge, Knowsley
Sefton Park Palm House
Liverpool Parish Church (Our Lady and St Nicholas)
The Liverpool Everyman
The Liverpool Playhouse
The Liverpool Empire
World Museum Liverpool
The Tung Auditorim, Unversity of Liverpool
Hamilton Square, Birkenhead.

Get involved
We invite you to visit as many locations as you can. Add your images to social media, using our handle @LivIrishFest and hashtag #GlobalGreening. We’ll photograph each particpating building/structure and share them on Mon 18 March 2024, accesible from our news page.  Keep an eye out on Facebook and Twitter, too, where we’ll try and post some of the images! We hope you will enjoy seeing these buildings and structures light up in honour of Ireland and its people.
2023 poem
For anyone interested, please see Cristina-Steliana Mihailovici’s 2023 St Patrick’s Day poem, here.
2023’s film

2022’s film

2021’s film
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmjyvJp-oKI&t=5s

In this limited-edition series of miniature works, Pamela takes the Festival’s Liver Harp to create a small gift for people to find.

Celebrating 21-years of the Liver Harp (because that’s how old we are), Pam’s Liver Harps will relate some of the anniversaries important to Liverpool and Ireland’s shared history. Each Liver Harp will boast a QR code (bringing them here), to register your Liver Harp find.

Anyone who finds a Liver Harp may keep it. We’ll record the QR code reports. Additionally, seekers/finders can take a photo, upload to social media and tag @LivIrishFest and hashtag #LIF2023.

The gifts offer a little knowledge and provide a lovely keepsake.
Register your Liver Harp find
Please, if you’ve found a Liver Harp, take a moment to register it here. This will help Pam understand just how far her work has travelled. It would be brilliant to know where all 40 of our Liver Harps are living!
What does your Liver Harp mean?
Pam has done a wild amount of research to get 40 stories together. Each Liver Harp is numbered and representes one of these stories.

Click here to download the information sheet, which tells you about all 40 Liver Harps.
The art of giving
Though diminutive in scale, the impact is monumental. These lost pieces imply abandonment and displacement, but when found are recognised for their purpose and highlight an important social memory. When you see one, think about it makes you feel; how it relates to the world and what you can do to protect it. You might consider the work’s isolation, vulnerability and endangered status. A Liver Harp represents our Liverpool-Irish connections, what does this mean to us today? How do these combined identities work together? What is your role in accepting people of mixed-heritage? Pamela’s work asks all these questions and many more besides, whilst also providing a fun and engaging activity.

Pamela has always preferred unusual venues. She has exhibited all over the northwest; in derelict buildings, empty spaces, empty shops, building sites. For #LIF2023 she’ll be hiding her Liver Harps in trees, under benches, on walls and across Liverpool’s town centre. Liver Harp seekers should think about points of relevance to the Festival and Liverpool Irish Famine Trail.

As we get closer to the Festival, we’ll reveal what the 40 Liver Harps commemorate and we’ll as people to register their finds.

To follow Pamela, visit Facebook @pamela.sullivan.547  or Instagram @pamelasullivanartist

♀️❤️??

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Imprinted in spirals; whorls, cup and ring markings; Bridie’s (St Brigid’s) connection with Liverpool is made clear.

Brigid’s imprint can also be found in footprints marked on the ancient Calderstones. These stones are believed to come from a passage grave, like New Grange in Ireland. See these images for more details: Calderstones image 1  | Calderstones image 2 | Calderstones image 3 | Calderstones image 4

Taking in Hope Street, join us as we walk with Judy Mazonowicz. Judy is a long-time St Brigid champion and author of The Transformations of Brigid. During the walk, we’ll discuss the different aspects of Bridie (also known as St Brigid and St Bridgitte) on a route bridging time and faith.

As has become tradition on Imbolc*, walkers are invited to join others at Bridie’s Well in St James’s Gardens at 1pm. Here, those congregated are invited to share poetry, songs and contributions that celebrate the first stirrings of spring.

* the cross-quarter Pagan festival

This is a significant year in the recognition of St Brigid, as Ireland celebrates its second public holiday in her name.  We are also quickly progressing to 1500 years since her death in 525.

People can come for either part of this event, or both. Those interested in going on the walk should meet outside the Liverpool Everyman at 11am. Ceremony visitors should meet at the well in St James’s Gardens (at the Anglican Cathedral, beneath Hope Street) at 1pm. We advise you to

wear weather appropriate clothing
bring sunscreen/umbrellas (as conditions dictate)
bring water to drink as needed on the walk
bring a canister to take water from the well.
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