The Private View (PV) will feature a few words from the artist Martin McCoy; The Williamson’s curator and the Festival, along with live music. This will be the first opportunity to see 20+ artworks responding to the Buile Suibhne/Sweeney story, which considers identity and landscape; mental health and fragility. Please see exhibition listing for more details.
Exhibition details
Sweeney’s Unquiet Islands is an exhibition of original prints made by Northern Irish Wirral-based artist Martin McCoy.
Origin
Taking their starting point from the medieval Irish story Buile Suibhne (bˠɪlʲə ˈhɪvʲnʲə or “Bwullya Hevna”), renamed Sweeney in modern texts, Martin uses the motif of landscapes -as described in the story- to create a contemplation on our relationship to place and the role of location in shaping identity.
To summarise, the story describes the cursed life of Suibhne (Sweeney), King of Dal Araidhe. Having fallen foul of the Christian Church, Sweeney is condemned. He is forced to spend his remaining years roaming Ireland and the Western Isles; at night, in all weathers, in a constant state of anxiety. Stripped of his human status -and bound by his physical and metaphorical hunger- he questions his identity.
Art
Martin’s etching series replies to the text. Manipulating known locations and layering them in ways that create ambiguous qualities, Martin mirrors Sweeney’s ravings. The images confuse and distort our understanding, helping us to question what we know about the images.
The exhibition will feature a show catalogue. The exhibit will feature additional works from Pamela Sullivan’s The Forgotten. Also on display will be information about Hot Bed Press, the local print studio in which exhibition was pressed.
The Liverpool Irish Festival proudly presents this exhibition in partnership with The Williamson Art Gallery (funded by Wirral Council).
[lif_events ids=”4406″ heading=”Related events and posts” post_type=” “]
The Forgotten is a work series by Pamela Sullivan that considers Ireland’s forgotten people and the abandoned homes they left behind.
Linked with her guerrilla exhibit (across Liverpool) and #LIF2022 gallery interventions, alson called The Forgotten, Pamela will run an ‘make-and-take’ adult workshop, in which participants make their own paper cottage, whilst reflecting on the history, times and stories that created such abandoned spaces.
Liverpool Irish Festival is proud to present you with an array of St Brigid’s Day activities.
Taking place across the country, and from our archive, we hope you find plenty to engage in. Whilst Omicron continues to run rife, we are keeping these online in 2022. We sincerely hope to meet for something in person in 2023. Below we list our headline event, Women’s Voices in Arts and Media, followed by some key work from the Festival’s St Brigid’s and In:Visible Women archives, followed by a short listing of other events on offer for St Brigid’s Day.
Women’s Voices in Arts and Media
Originally premiered online (now available below), 7pm, Tue 1 Feb 2022
Key to our offer this year, is our engagement in the Women’s Voices in Arts and Media discussion, led by the Consulates General of Ireland in Cardiff, Edinburgh and Manchester (bookable using the ‘Book now’ button) or using this Eventbrite link. The speakers will discuss the importance of female voices in today’s world, linking with empowerment and -from the Festival’s point-of-view- the work we do via In:Visible Women.
The online discussion will feature a distinguished panel of women from the worlds of arts and media. The event moderator will be Ellen Coyne, news correspondent and columnist with The Irish Independent, author of Are You There, God? It’s Me, Ellen. Joining Ellen will be Sorcha Carey, Bethan Kilfoil and -the Festival’s own- Emma Smith.
Sorcha Carey is Director of the Edinburgh Art Festival, Chair of Festivals Edinburgh and incoming director of Collective – Centre for Contemporary Art in Edinburgh. Bethan Kilfoil is a Programme Editor for RTÉ AND former BBC Wales correspondent. Emma Smith is Artistic Director and CEO of Liverpool Irish Festival and former Executive Director of LOOK Liverpool International Photography Festival (2015).
Watch now: stories of strength; creative storytelling
The Widow’s Friend (3min film + background notes) – A song commisison from Cathy Carter based on the story of Kitty Wilkinson, a Derry-Liverpudlian who helped save the city -and country- from cholera in the 1800s.
The Art of Living: The Life and Times of Miss Amy June Furlong (30min film + article) – A pictorial, narrated view of a life through quotes; this film documents Liverpool’s acclaimed life model, Amy June Furlong, who was painted by the greats, incluing Lennon, Freud and Bacon. June’s life is presented by oral-historians, filmmakers and archivists, The Sound Agents.
Darluchdagh’s Song (3min film + background notes/lyric sheet) – Ciara Ni É and Aoife Ní Mhórdha present a poem, set to music, about St Brigid’s closest friend, companion and confidant, Darluchdagh. The poem helps us to understand the world Brigid inhabited and the love she shared.
In:Visible Women 2021: Mother and Baby Homes – In 2021, following the release of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation Final Report, the Festival worked with National Univeristy of Ireland, Galway and the Tuam Oral History Project to learn more about the personal encounters and lasting effects of the Mother and Baby Homes. Enlightening, caring and generous, the series of six online presentations…
see and bear witness
hear and listen
locate and learn
interpret and express
reflect
hope
…on the experiences of those most affected. Before proceeding, we recommend reading In:Visisble Women: Today’s Care, an article we published to support the series. As anyone might expect, entering the world of the Mother and Baby Homes, can cause upset. Whilst we have been careful with our words, we ask you to be gentle with yourself and mindful that the topic is sensitive and emotive.
Enjoy for the day
29 Jan 2022: London Irish Centre St Brigid’s concert
30 Jan 2022: Hammersmith Cultural Centre Casey Sisters concert
31 Jan-14 Feb 2022: Look our for the Herstory lightshow (link) at sites across Dublin
1-28 Feb 2022: Irish Film London present a month-long programme of the best female-led short films
1 Feb 2022: If you are in Kildare, you may enjoy the activities of Solas Bhride.
You can also check on the To Be Irish website, for more Irish cultural activity listings, year-round.
To acknowledge our Gypsy, Romani and Traveller communities, the Liverpool Irish Festival has partnered with
Irish Community Care
National Museums Liverpool, and
Pride of Romani
…to build and show a digital exhibition, named Life, Love and Laments. Available to see, in the atrium of the Museum of Liverpool, the exhibition charts family lines through Gypsy, Romani and Traveller communities in the north west; sharing personal stories, terms and histories.
We would like to thank all the partners -and particularly Charmaine Smith- for the contributions made. A PDF of the slides can be viewed here.
You can also pick up on the Irish Trail running through the Museum (link for more info on that, here).
Give it a couple of moments to load, then hit the right-facing arrow to have it play. Trailer (c) Aaron Howell, music (c) Hannah M Donelon.
A Very Odd Birthday Party revels in the complexities of family, working-class identity and memory. It asks:
Can you ever really know someone? Or know too much? Are there parts of ourselves we must simply reconcile with in silence?
This is your invitation to Michael Moriarty’s birthday party.
Once there, you’ll join mother-to-be -Eveline- and her dad -Michael Moriarty- on a journey that penetrates the psyche, humour and trauma of first- and second-generation migrants in the UK.
Longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Playwriting, A Very Odd Birthday Party is a new play by Hannah Donelon featuring live, traditional music. Anna Berentzen (Headlong Origins 2022; Royal Exchange; North Wall Theatre) directs a talented cast of actor-musicians in a tale filled with humour, suffering, loss and hope. The play includes themes of dementia and displacement, with some sexual references (14+ age recommendation).
Hawkseed’s tour is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and by funding from the Consulate General of Ireland, Manchester. A Very Odd Birthday Party received development funding from The Production Exchange and is delivered in partnership with The Met and Liverpool Irish Festival.
Hawkseed Theatre support, celebrate and develop new writing for the stage; raising often under- or misrepresented voices on stage. Creative audio description will be embedded into the script, with expertise from Chloë Clarke.
For this performance, the theatre company are offering “pay what you decide” tickets. These tickets are available for those facing financial difficulty, so that you can still access Hawkseed‘s work. Please only select this option if you are facing financial difficulty. After the show, there will be an opportunity to pay whatever feels right for you.
The Liverpool Irish Festival is pleased to be working with Hawkseed and Liverpool Royal Court to present this production.
Other tour dates:
20 Oct 7.30pm The Met, Bury
21 Oct 7.30pm Interplay Theatre, Leeds
24 Oct 7.30pm Rotherham Civic Theatre, Rotherham
30 Oct 5pm King’s Head Theatre, London.
Director- Anna Berentzen
Writer- Hannah Donelon
Audio Description Consultant- Chloë Clarke
Set and Costume Designer- Ellie Light
Sound Designer- Charlotte Barber
Lighting Designer- Charly Dunford
Stage Manager- Sophie Rushworth
Producers- Sara Abanur and Lauren Cresswell
Musical Supervisor- Emma Sweeney
Photographer, Videographer and Marketing Support- Aaron Howell
Running time- 90 mins approx.
This performance contriutes to the Festival’s In:Visible Women, Family and Heritage work strands.
In the Window is an exceptional opportunity for a maker to show at one of Britain’s best loved display centres for an entire month.
Continuing our annual partnership, Bluecoat Display Centre, Design and Crafts Council of Ireland (DCCI) and Liverpool Irish Festival collaborated as a panel, to select a talented maker, to show throughout October, coinciding with the Festival.
This year, the winning artist is Lithuanian-Irish artist, Laura Matikaite, whose ceramic series juxtapose polychromatic collections with monochromatic versions. Consumed by one palette for a time, Laura grows to miss the other, switching between the two as her hunger demands.
This exhibition is run in partnership with Bluecoat Display Centre, with support from Design and Craft Council of Ireland.
Standby for an interesting article with Laura on the work she does, her process and what ‘hunger’ means to her.
For more now, visit the Bluecoat Display Centre’s site.
Festival work strands this sits within, include In:Visible Women and Family. ♀️❤️
A regular meeting of Irish and Northern Irish artists, and the organisations that commission Irish and Northern Irish work, this session will revisit CCEN’s culture calendar and theme tracker.
To submit your Irish cultural and creative events and themes please email Emma Smith (Liverpool Irish Festival Artistic Director and CEO) on emma@liverpoolirishfestival.com
Next meetings are 25 Jan, 8 Mar, 12 Apr and 24 May 2022.
Find out more about the network here.
The draft agenda for this session runs thus:
Tour of the Zoom room – intros and opportunities
Review CCEN cultural calendar and theme tracker
Review active collaborations within the network
Confirm agenda for Mar 2022 meeting.
Late addition to event listings
Taking in Liverpool’s waterfront in the way many migrants will have over centuries, this tour tells much about the formation of Liverpool’s waterways and those who had a hand in the developments.
Due to scheduled works on the waterways, we are unable to take visitors to Clarence Dock, where many Irish migrants entered the city, this time. Instead, passengers start their tour in the Royal Albert Dock, sailing to Canning Dock, Salthouse Dock, Duke’s Dock, Wapping Dock, Queens Dock, Coburg Dock and Brunswick Dock before returning to the mooring. Lasting almost an hour, passengers will hear about the birth of the docks, their history and the people that made them, transforming a sleepy fishing village in to a City of Empire.
Children must be supervised by those that bring them.
Bookings and timings
Tickets are extremely limited (no more than 12 per journey) so booking is essential. Please be mindful of the limited ticket numbers available and to return unwanted tickets in advance so that other people can take advantage of this free offer.
Tours will leave The Pride of Sefton mooring at 11am, 12.30pm, 2pm and 3.30pm on Sat 30 Oct 2021 only.
Please be sure to book for the tour time you want and note the departure time. You are asked to be at the mooring site 10mins before expected departure.
The boat will have to leave on time in order to return and depart for its next tour. It will leave without ticket holders if they are not present.
A regular meeting of Irish and Northern Irish artists, and the organisations that commission Irish and Northern Irish work, this session will reflect on the Cultural Connectedness Day and session that featured as part of the Fetsival in October. We will beging to hone creative plans for the year ahead, looking to St Brigid’s Day and St Patrick’s, as well as programmes across the country that artists may be able to tap in to.
Find out more about the network here.
Draft agenda for this session runs thus:
Tour of the Zoom room – intros and opportunities
Reflect on Festival and network connections
Review clash calendar of events for 2022 and think about common themes
Confirm next meetings for 2022.
Award-winning musicians -Colm and Laura Keegan- are hosting their annual Christmas concert, online. Despite the virtual setting, this year promises to be their biggest yet.
In partnership with Liverpool Irish Festival; sponsored by Culture Ireland and Creative Scotland, Colm and Laura will perform some festive favourites from Colm’s hometown, Dublin. The show lets viewers sit back and relax in the comfort of their own home whilst Colm and Laura perform alongside the Musical Director of the world-music hit show Celtic Thunder (in which Colm and Laura made their names)and the hauntingly stunning Habemus Chamber Choir.
For the special event, the team took a camera crew and sound engineer to record the concert at Colm’s school in Dublin, Gonzaga College, with the addition of special guest David Munro.
Join the duo for an evening of Christmas classics, as well as a view of just how stunning Dublin is at this time of year. Trust us, you won’t want to miss this one, folks.
StageIt is an online concert platform that allows people to engage witht he action in real time. To purchase a ticket and watch the show, you will need to make a user account. Then, you’ll need to log-in ready for the event.
Keep in touch
Newsletter
Sign up to keep up to date with what's on in the city and the region!
