Event type: Comedy

Taking inspiration from Brian Friel’s Dancing at Lughnasa, LJMU Masters student, Corey Harbinson, takes a modern approach presenting new text, music and songs he has written based on Friel’s story using hymn, folk and a capella styles

Showcasing Friel’s characters – five sisters- audiences witness the expectations placed on Irish women alongside the factors that influence and shape their circumstances, revealing the fight between family loyalty, tradition and the oppression of ‘modern’ life. Friel’s work suggests that for Ireland to progress it must modernise and become more like the UK. Harbinson likens this to Ireland within Brexit, though in 2018 perhaps Ireland’s passport and free movement gives them the upper hand?

£6.

Stephen James Smith is a Dublin poet and playwright central to the rise of the vibrant spoken word scene in Ireland today, with poetry videos amassing over 2.5 million views. He has been commissioned by national organisations (i.e, Ireland’s St Patrick’s Day Festival and Dublin stadium sponsor Aviva) to produce work and tours internationally. He also teaches and has had his work has been translated into multiple languages.

Stephen will be supported by Liverpool based, Irish poet and author, Ciarán Hodgers, for whom Stephen wrote the foreword to Cosmocartography, due for release in Oct 2018.

Presented in partnership with the Liverpool Philharmonic.

This event is the private view for the Repeal the Eighth exhibit. Pop in and have a look at a creative response to the biggest ever vote on body autonomy.

Exhibition by Sorcha Boyle

Open Thurs-Sun 12-5pm
Open til late October 18 for the opening of the Liverpool Irish Festival

In partnership with the 2018 Liverpool Irish Festival, OUTPUT has commissioned Liverpool-based artist Sorcha Boyle to respond to the successful repeal of The 8th Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland, which now allows the government to legislate for abortion and grants new body autonomy to people in Ireland. Boyle will present a new film, ‘Idir dhá uisce Between two waters.’ This piece has two elements, voices of women in response to the repeal of the 8th Amendment, set against a diptych filmed at Lough Foyle on the Derry/Donegal border. The title Idir dhá uisce translates from Irish as ‘between two waters’. This idea of a contested body of water can relate to the female body as contested space, subject to the governance of different states.

Because of the content around abortion, this exhibition may not be suitable for younger visitors.

The Eighth Amendment of the Constitution Act (1983) amended Ireland’s Constitution, giving an equal right to life to pregnant women and their unborn child. This led to conflicts in medical and social care, leading to loss of life and moral and legal arguments for and against body autonomy. It also drove women to seek abortions -sometimes unsafely- elsewhere. This created a divide between those who could afford to choose to travel and those who could not. It upheld the notion that foetal cells carry more importance than the mother carrying them and condemned women, pregnant as the result of rape, to full term pregnancy and motherhood, irrespective of choice. This year’s public referendum revoked the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution, permitting the government to legislate for abortion and grant new body autonomy for the people of Ireland.

In a brand new partnership, Liverpool Irish Festival and OUTPUT Gallery invited artists to show their response to this. This is the resulting exhibit.

Regular opening times = 12-5pm, Thurs-Sun. On opening day the gallery will stay open until 8pm.

This work has been supported by Arts Council England.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exhibition by Sorcha Boyle

Open Thurs-Sun 12-5pm
Open til late October 18 for the opening of the Liverpool Irish Festival

In partnership with the 2018 Liverpool Irish Festival, OUTPUT has commissioned Liverpool-based artist Sorcha Boyle to respond to the successful repeal of The 8th Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland, which now allows the government to legislate for abortion and grants new body autonomy to people in Ireland. Boyle will present a new film, ‘Idir dhá uisce Between two waters.’

This piece has two elements, voices of women in response to the repeal of the 8th Amendment, set against a diptych filmed at Lough Foyle on the Derry/Donegal border. The title Idir dhá uisce translates from Irish as ‘between two waters’. This idea of a contested body of water can relate to the female body as contested space, subject to the governance of different states.

Because of the content around abortion, this exhibition may not be suitable for younger visitors.

The Eighth Amendment of the Constitution Act (1983) amended Ireland’s Constitution, giving an equal right to life to pregnant women and their unborn child.

This led to conflicts in medical and social care, leading to loss of life and moral and legal arguments for and against body autonomy. It also drove women to seek abortions -sometimes unsafely- elsewhere. This created a divide between those who could afford to choose to travel and those who could not. It upheld the notion that foetal cells carry more importance than the mother carrying them and condemned women, pregnant as the result of rape, to full term pregnancy and motherhood, irrespective of choice. This year’s public referendum revoked the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution, permitting the government to legislate for abortion and grant new body autonomy for the people of Ireland.

In a brand new partnership, Liverpool Irish Festival and OUTPUT Gallery invited artists to show their response to this. This is the resulting exhibit.

Regular opening times = 12pm-5pm, Thurs-Sun.

This work has been supported by Arts Council England.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Celebrate the Liverpool Irish Festival – with family and friends – in a day incorporating music, talks and activities for everyone to enjoy, across the day.

Delivered in partnership with National Museums Liverpool, with contributions from Liverpool Comhaltas, various artists and organisations, this is a true highlight of the festival, where culture sharing, enjoyment and conviviality are at the centre of all we do.

With craft activities, plays, monologues, music and dance; tours of Irish artefacts; screenings, talks; storytelling and a raft of fun things to engage in across the Museum, the day is fun, entertaining and informative. With something for everyone, from niche to popular, this is a core event we hope you will share with us. Things to look our for:
10.15am – dancing from the George Fergusson Irish Dance School, followed by music from Liverpool Comhaltas and more dance from the Bolger Cunningham School for Irish Dance
11am – screening of Lomax in Éírinn, a TG 4 film about how Irish music was taken globally with an LP of Irish music in 1951 by Alex Lomax (more info here)
11am-1pm and 2pm-4pm – Ensign making workshops with Alison Little (more info will follow)
1pm – the UK premiere of Gaeil UK – a television programme giving an insight into the lives of Irish emigrants today in the main areas where they settled in Britain from festival partners and sponsors, Irish language television channel TG 4. We have also set this up as a seperate event. To find our more, click here
Times TBC -Illustrated story telling from Stiofan Randall
2.15pm – Melody Maker’s adult musicians play traditional Irish music
3pm – Migration Panel This is a key event, discussing the influence of Irish migration on Liverpool, Ireland and the world. Hear from migration experts Dr Johanne Devlin Trew, Dr Gillian O’Brien and Greg Quiery, chaired by Prof Mary Hickman (also see Mary’s essay on Migration in this year’s brochure. See more about this event, here
…and much more besides.
The Family Day forms part of a wider Family Days programme, including the Family Céilí at the Liverpool Irish Centre (28 Oct, see listing).

This event is held in partnership with National Museums Liverpool and sponsored by Tourism Ireland.

 

Could peace come after? After what? Who will we be?

Easter morning, 1916. Gunshots ring out in the Dublin streets. In her suburban sitting room Hannah prepares for revolution. While Frank walks through the crowds calling for peace, John walks through his nightmares of the trenches, sees a city soaked in blood. 18-year-old William fearfully reports to the barracks for duty, determined to serve the British army with honour. But can honour survive the chaos of conflict, and once unleashed can violence ever be contained?

Inspired by true events, this absorbing production weaves movement and live folk song in to a stirring tale of militarism, corruption and the power of rebellion.

£10-20.

Showing Thurs 25, Fri 26 and Sat 27 Oct, the latter with post-show Q&A session.

To Have to Shoot Irishmen is supported by Arts Council England, Oppenheim-John Downes Memorial Trust and Unity Theatre Trust.

A great band to spend the evening with, The Jesse Janes will wow you with powerful harmonies and sheer range of instruments!

The Jesse Janes -Helen Seymour, Kate McCusker, Mary Rose McCusker and Treva Goldup- are a Blues, Americana, Skiffle, Rock, Country, Bluegrass and Irish Trad band hailing from Omagh, Bristol and Liverpool.

They say of themselves:
This young 4-piece who started off singing Alison Krauss songs at the end of a Jack Daniels and Jeiger Bomb fuelled night on the tiles eventually developed into a harmonising outfit ready for the road! Their voices blend as if they are all sisters (when in actual fact only 2 of them are!). Their tuneful guitar and mandolin picking encapsulates a modern bluegrass tone with hints and splashes of folk, country, soft rock and POP! thrown in for good measure! The band has an ecclectic choice of influences from the likes of Alison Krauss, Dolly Parton, Burl Ives, The Everly Brothers, Johnny Cash, Fleetwood Mac and The Killers. Not only do they make their quirky choice of covers their own but they also write and perform their own music too.

Could peace come after? After what? Who will we be?

Easter morning, 1916. Gunshots ring out in the Dublin streets. In her suburban sitting room Hannah prepares for revolution. While Frank walks through the crowds calling for peace, John walks through his nightmares of the trenches, sees a city soaked in blood. 18-year-old William fearfully reports to the barracks for duty, determined to serve the British army with honour. But can honour survive the chaos of conflict, and once unleashed can violence ever be contained?

Inspired by true events, this absorbing production weaves movement and live folk song in to a stirring tale of militarism, corruption and the power of rebellion.

£10-20.

Showing Thurs 25, Fri 26 and Sat 27 Oct, the latter with post-show Q&A session.

To Have to Shoot Irishmen is supported by Arts Council England, Oppenheim-John Downes Memorial Trust and Unity Theatre Trust.

Fresh from his Irish tour in summer 2018, Conleth is a Kelly’s and LIF regular.

This year has seen some incredible success, with almost 600k views of his YouTube version of Grace.

According to Irish mythology, Samhain (like Beltane) was a time when the doorways to the otherworld opened, allowing supernatural beings and the souls of the dead to come into our world. Whilst Beltane was a summer festival for the living, Samhain exists as a festival for the dead.

Celebrate this Samhain with Conleth!

…and the votes for women campaign in Britain and Ireland
The first wave of the feminist movement was based on a single issue – securing votes for women. This may seem like a straightforward feminist campaign in modern times. However, this talk demonstrates that in Ireland this was a complex political issue tied to ideologies of nationalism and unionism. Tracing the story of Countess Markievicz, the first woman elected to both the House of Commons and Dail Eireann (government of Ireland), we will see the complex and intriguing connections between the suffrage movements in Ireland and England.

Sonja Tiernan is an Associate Professor of Modern History and the Head of History and Politics at Liverpool Hope University. She has published widely on the histories of gender and sexuality in Modern Ireland and Britain.

Delivered in partnership with National Museums Liverpool.

Image: Countess Markievitcz (c) Jim Fitzpatrick, (detail only).