Event type: Comedy

Complementing our work on the annual Liverpool Irish Famine Memorial, this year’s Walk of the Bronze Shoes has created a new annual opportunity. ❤️??

For those who don’t know, members of our Festival team walked a pair of bronze shoes from Co Roscommon (northwest Ireland) to Dublin (east coast of Ireland); sailed them to Holyhead and took them from Seacombe to Mersey Ports, before walking them to Clarence Dock Gates and on to the Famine Memorial. Why?

The bronze shoes are a marker of the National Famine Way in Ireland and Liverpool’s pair — teamed with 15-pairs in North America — are the first to form the Global Irish Famine Way.

Clarence Dock is where 1.3+m Irish Famine poor came into Liverpool. The Liverpool Irish Famine Memorial (unveiled in 1998) at St Luke’s Bombed Out Church remembers the 300k+that stayed in Liverpool, the 1m+ that sailed over seas and the 2m+ that died. The journey between the two locations is indicative of the struggles of those sent here.

We’ll repeat the Clarence Dock to St Luke’s Bombed Out Church walk annually, with the shoes, until we find them a permanent home and we welcome you to join us. A vigil map and order of service will be given to those who join us. This in an outdoor walk in October; please be weather prepared, comfortable and hydrated.

Stewards will help people walk the way and maps and information will be provided at the site on the morning. A small ceremony will start the vigil, with walkers from the Walk of the Bronze Shoes, and we will be greeted at the memorial site by the Roscommon Solstice Choir (County Roscommon). We thank them for their support.

This activity has been made possible with funds from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. For more on the Liverpool Irish Famine Trail, use this link.
Meeting point
We ask people to join us from 10.15am. Please note the location provided for this is the destination, not the meeting place. Please congregate at Clarence Dock Gates, on the water side of Regent Road, facing the junction of Cotton Street.

Over the last couple of years, Liverpool Irish Festival has been working on revitalising the Liverpool Irish Famine Trail, which includes the Irish Famine Memorial. ❤️??

Today, the Liverpool Great Hunger Commemoration Committee, Conradh Na Gaeilge Learpholl and Liverpool Irish Centre, in partnership with the Festival, lead a Famine Memorial Service to mark the seven-years of An Gorta Mór (the Great Hunger) across Ireland, lasting 1845-1852. 

Along with speeches, and a minute’s silence, we’ll reveal a new song, The Ullaloo. commissioned especially for the Irish Famine Memorial and shared with the Liverpool Irish Centre choir, by local musicians Ian Cantwell and Marty Snape. 

Everyone is welcome. Nevertheless, please note that this is an outside event, and we may have difficulties with sound if it is rainy or windy. We recommend dressing for the weather and bringing seats or walking aids as needed. This is a standing service of roughly 30-minutes. We won’t have chairs available for everyone. People may gather in advance of the service.

These activities have been made possible with funds from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

For more on the Liverpool Irish Famine Trail, use this link.

Comhaltas and the Armagh Rhymers take it in turns playing (spooky) fun games and music, to dance and play along with, whilst the veil between our world and ‘the Other’ is at its thinnest. ❤️?

Bring the kids in their best creepy dress-up (or not) and adults are welcome to join in, too. 

With 50 free gift bags for the first 50 children — and scarily silly prizes for best Samhain costumes — we encourage eye patches and false teeth, skull masks and props (store bought or otherwise). Grab the face paint, some spider webs and last year’s glitter slime; practice your deepest, scariest ‘Wohooo’ and get your dancing feet ready for the silliest Monster’s Ball of the season!

Activities are mainly geared for children 4-12 years old, with supervision. Kids aged 13-113 years old are welcome but require child-supervision! Only pretend broken hips on this dance floor, please!

This event is held in partnership with Liverpool Irish Centre with support from Comhaltas’s musicians. 

NB. This is a busy event and gets very loud; this can be difficult for anyone with hearing impairments or types of neurodivergency. As a free event we do our best to cater for everyone, but there will be a finite amount of space and treats available. We do not offer catering, though the Centre’s shop does have a great range of snacks.

Honouring Indigenous Aid During Ireland’s Great Hunger
Professor Christine Kinealy of Quinnipiac University (Connecticut, USA) presents evidence on First Nations of North America contributions to the 1840s Great Hunger Relief fund, despite their own recent displacement following The Trail of Tears. ❤️??

One of the most remarkable aspects of the Great Hunger (1845-1852) was how news of the suffering in Ireland prompted an international relief effort, unprecedented in its geographic scope. People throughout the world, many without direct connections to Ireland, mobilised to provide money, food and clothing to the starving Irish. Aid came from all parts of the world and donors cut across traditional religious, social, economic and gender divides. Some of the most impressive donations were made by people who were themselves poor and marginalised.

This presentation will explore the origins and motivations behind a number of these philanthropic interventions. Additionally, it will share new examinations of recently discovered archival records, documenting the 1847 Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee First Nations’ contributions from Canada West (now Ontario), whilst offering a fresh perspective on the more widely commemorated Native American Choctaw and Cherokee donations.

This event is held in partnership with Irish Heritage Trust, National Famine Museum, Strokestown Park and Quinnipiac University. Dr Jason King (Irish Heritage Trust) and Professor Kinealy both completed Irish sections of the Walk of the Bronze Shoes, 2024.

A Festival-staple and family must-see; we invite you to pop-by — or indeed, spend the day with us — at the Museum of Liverpool (Pier Head). ❤️??

There, we’ve a veritable array of activity to entertain kids (and adults) of all ages.

The Armagh Rhymers return with their (exclusive to the Festival) Liver Bird story. We’ll introduce visitors to Little Globy, a carbon boffin-extraordinaire and a global ambassador for green action. The Bolger-Cunningham Dance School will give it their all in the morning, before the George Ferguson School for Irish Dance will produce junior and senior dance sets, whilst Melody Makers and Comhaltas will bring their intergenerational group to play in the space.

There’ll be craft workshops in education spaces and Irish Trails through the Museum’s collections, led by volunteers from the Liverpool Irish Famine Trail.

The day puts the Irish of Liverpool at the heart of everything; the programme, the Museum and the city. 

Atrium schedule (subject to change):

11-11.30am Bolger Cunningham Dance School
11.35-12.20pm Armagh Rhymers
12.20-1.05pm Melody Makers
1.05-1.15pm Little Globy poetry
1.30pm-2.15pm Armagh Rhymers
2.15pm-3pm TBC
3.15-3.45pm George Ferguson Dance School
4pm Little Globy poetry.

The Family Day is sponsored by Tourism Ireland and held in partnership with National Museums Liverpool. As part of the Family programme, you might also like the Samhain Céilí (Sun 27 Oct).

On this 2-hour walk you’ll discover Irish connections to many of the historic Hope Street and Rodney Street buildings, hearing from some of the colourful characters who populated them. ❤️??

Led by historian Greg Quiery, early booking is recommended to avoid disappointment.

Anyone interested in this may also like the in-person Scotland Road walk (see event listing and book early to avoid disappointment) or the self-guided Liverpool Irish Famine Trail, accompanied by the Festival’s book Liverpool Irish Famine Trail: Revive, available online.

This in an outdoor walk in October; please be weather prepared, comfortable and hydrated. 

My Truth and Yours is the fifth in The Suicide Chronicle series, a project led by artist Mark Storor which aims to develop a collective, creative language to share the infinitely complex experience of suicide. ❤️?

 “Acknowledging the truth
I meet my core.
Whose truth?
Mine”.

This film was made with 23 residents of Tallaght, Dublin, many of whom connected through NINA For Life, a suicide awareness support group.

Mothers, sisters, friends, fathers, uncles, neighbours, daughters and sons, impacted by suicide offer us a vivid view into their truths and give space for the truths of others. These may not always sit comfortably alongside one another, but they are undeniable in their honesty. 

A poetic visual journey without a clear beginning, middle, or end, it captures the personal experiences of a community, departing from over-simplified explanations to instead show tender, intimate, and sometimes deeply private moments.

We are invited to keep vigil with those on the screen, and to share in the experience with one another as an audience. Together we witness a series of actions that give voice to feelings and experiences often unseen or unheard. The film offers us a portal into another place, giving us a different sense of time and space for contemplation and reflection.
Mark Storor
Mark Storor is an award-winning artist with an international reputation and extensive experience of working collaboratively with a wide range of organisations and communities, including work in hospitals, prisons, schools and housing estates. Working in the unique space between live art and theatre, he has been described in the British press as: ‘a genuinely visionary theatre maker’, ‘an alchemist’ and ‘one of the most distinctive voices in British theatre’.
Access

My Truth and Yours references suicide, experiences of bereavement by suicide, and miscarriage. Includes swearing and nudity
This sharing will begin with an in-person, spoken introduction and we will hold space for conversation after the screening with those who have been a part of making it
Ground floor, step free access
Accessible toilets and baby changing facilities available on the ground floor
Disabled parking spaces close by on Wood Street and Bold Street and to the rear of the building
Nearest railway stations are Liverpool Central (a three-minute walk away) and Liverpool Lime Street (a 12-minute walk away).

If you have any access requirements, questions about My Truth and Yours or the screenings please do be in touch: emily@heartofglass.org.uk
Full credits
The Suicide Chronicles: Chronicle Five, My Truth and Yours (2023): Amanda Ellis, Annie, Carol, Daniel, Danny Haas, Fergal Feeney, Glynis, Jean Haas, Jenna, Jenny, Joan, Kelly, Linda Bridgeman, Lorraine Morris, Martin, Michele Donohoe, Noeleen Fulham, Pat, Patricia Cooke, Sami Corcoran, Sharon Doyle and Tracey with Mark Storor.

Cinematography by Chris Keenan
Music composed and performed by Jules Maxwell
Mise en scène by Tadashi Kato
Lighting by Ian Brown
Photography by Stephen King
Narration by Veronica Dyas
Poem written and voiced by Daniel
Foreground and background shadow by Christian.

Gratitude
Co-commissioned by Tallaght Community Arts and Heart of Glass. Supported by Creative Ireland and Arts Council England. Produced by Heart of Glass. With special thanks to NINA For Life, Kingswood Community Centre and Kingswood Community College. Filmed at Mill Studios.

Liverpool Irish Festival is proud to partner with Heart of Glass to present The Suicide Chronicles, Chronicle Five: My Truth and Yours.

The event will also to be run at 6pm, Wed 23 Oct at Lucem House Community Cinema (St Helens), Free (spaces limited), book online.

The Legacy of the Piper is a unique and in-depth feature-length documentary film. ❤️??

The focus and ethos of the film captures the growth of Irish traditional music from the mid-sixties to the present day.

The Legacy of the Piper explores the legacy of Willy Clancy via the growth of Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy/Willie Clancy Music Week in Miltown Malbay (Co.Clare, Ireland). Willie Clancy (1918-1973) Within the documentary we consider the festival’s impact on Irish traditional music, language and culture. The film is a valuable contribution in capturing the ethos of Irish Traditional Music in Ireland and internationally. Interwoven with a wide range  interviews, including family and friends of Willie Clancy, it involves some of the island’s most legendary traditional musicians, music and more!
 “This documentary is a fantastic initiative, [reflecting] more than 50 years of heritage and tradition. It’s a chance to tell the story of traditional music to other generations and to the world”, Pàraic Mac Donnchadha-Trad musician.
Yuvi Basanth — director, cinematographer and editor — of The Legacy of the Piper has been living in Ireland for the past twenty years. Originally born in South Africa, Yuvi has produced several documentaries on social and cultural issues with the vision of raising awareness using this visual medium. He’s active in community development in Ireland, especially in establishing and supporting diverse organisations.

The film is available for purchase on DVD (€20) or USB (€25). Please email: rrf67@proton.me to order or for more information.

Yuvi will be on hand for a post-screening interview. After, people are welcome to stay for a seisiún in the Centre. We encourage people to bring an instrument, ready for a tune.

This 2-hour walk through the former heartland of Liverpool’s Irish community considers schools, statues and graveyards. ❤️??

It explores what remains of the area’s rich heritage, rousing some old ghosts along the way.

Led by historian Greg Quiery, this walk explores the dense history of a world-famous district. Featuring stories of heroic men and women; footballers and rock stars; two hidden statues; a graveyard and the legends of ‘Dandy Pat’ and James Carling. The walk ends at St Anthony’s Church, a short bus ride from town.

Those interested in this walk, may also be interested in the in-person South Liverpool walk (see event listing and book early to avoid disappointment) or the self-guided Liverpool Irish Famine Trail, accompanied by the Festival’s book Liverpool Irish Famine Trail: Revive, available online.

This in an outdoor walk in October; please be weather prepared, comfortable and hydrated.

Ticket holders should join Greg outside Liverpool Central Library ready for the walk start time.

Cancellation announcement
We are sorry to announce this event will not be taking place in 2024. We hope to bring it back for #LIF2025. The Liverpool Irish Festival team are very sorry for any disappointment caused. The Armagh Rhymers will be involved in our Family Day and Samhain Céilí.

Original event text
The Armagh Rhymers will take you on ‘The Wren’s Journey’ to seek wisdom and aid from the Choctaw Eagle through poetry, theatre, music and song.

“Bear in mind these dead, I can find no plainer words I dare not risk using that loaded word remember”, John Hewitt. ️❤️??

A commemoration of those lost and those who gave themselves in friendship.

The Rhyming tradition is a celebration of the ‘theatre of the people’ and has inspired many poets such as Seamus Heaney, Brendan Kennelly, John Montague and John Hewitt. The Armagh Rhymers are one of the most celebrated theatre ensembles on the island of Ireland. Through storytelling, music, and incredible costume, they evoke a sense of tradition and history. They encapsulate the spirit of ‘The Wren Boys’ and the ancient house visiting traditions of Ireland, where the kitchen floor became the stage.

“Symbol of the mystic people is the wren, and this is the truth of the Wren Boys and we must pass it on in the carnival of darkness, singers of the Sun”, Gabriel Fitzmaurice.

You can also see The Armagh Rhymers at our Family Day at Museum of Liverpool,  26 Oct 2024. Those interested in the First nations story, might also be interested in our event on Mon 28 Oct: The Poor Helping the Poor.