Ye Vagabonds are brothers Brían and Diarmuid Mac Gloinn, who grew up playing music together around their hometown of Carlow, a small town in the southeast of Ireland. After moving to Dublin in 2012, they quickly became a staple of the live music and session scene in Ireland, playing their own original songs as well as folk songs from Ireland, Scotland, England and America.
Since the release of the debut EP Rose & Briar in 2015, Ye Vagabonds have been busy touring Ireland, the UK and Europe, opening for acts such as Villagers, Roy Harper and Lisa Hannigan and playing sold out headline shows in Ireland, Paris, Geneva, and Solothurn, Switzerland.
Buoyed by the success of their EP, Ye Vagabonds released their highly anticipated self-titled debut album on their own label, Inglenook Records.
Expect harmony rich folk music, influenced by Irish traditional music, Appalachian singing and the 1960’s folk revival. Ye Vagabonds’ songs are comprised of mellow sounds weaved with thoughtful lyrics, thickly layered with strings and droning harmonium.
Presented by the Liverpool Philharmonic for #LIF2018
Ever felt like you should be better at feminism? The comedy podcast comes to Liverpool to be recorded in front of a live audience.
Each episode Deborah Frances-White and her guests discuss their noble goals as 21st century feminists and the paradoxes and insecurities which undermine them. The podcast has been a huge success with over 30,000,000 downloads since 2016.
Deborah Frances-White is a stand-up comedian whose BBC Radio 4 series Deborah Frances-White Rolls The Dice won The Writers Guild Award for Best Radio Comedy. Also host of diversity based comedy panel show podcast Global Pillage, Deborah has toured the UK three times with her solo stand-up comedy shows.
Presented as part of the Liverpool Irish Festival’s In:Visible Women programme. In:Visible Women is a concept and platform within the Liverpool Irish Festival, generated by conversations with artists, academics, activists, audiences and communities about the role of women in Irish society and creativity – today and historically.
Please note: As Deborah Frances-White’s film ‘Say My Name’ has been included in the Cardiff Film Festival (on the same day as the Guilty Feminist recording in Liverpool) she will not be able to attend the Liverpool event. Deborah has arranged two hugely popular regular co-hosts to take the reins for her – Ireland’s Alison Spittle (“such a good-spirited nature that it’s nothing short of infectious”) and from Texas Kemah Bob (“filled with such confidence and overwhelming power”). They will be presenting a Guilty Feminist episode with all of the heart, humour and thought-provoking issues that you have come to expect. We know the audience will give them all their feminist support as well as supporting Deborah in her first feature film. Deborah has promised to come back to Liverpool very soon!
A production from The Spontaneity Shop
Presented by the Liverpool Irish Festival and funded by Liverpool City Council’s Festival Enhancement
A céilí is a time to unwind, be with friends and family and celebrate the breadth of Irish culture in an afternoon of music, song, dance, food and drink.
A perfect time to reconnect with your loved ones, your (or another) culture and plan a first or next trip to Ireland!
The Family Céilí is one of the most popular family events at the Liverpool Irish Festival and returns this year to the spiritual home of the Irish community on Merseyside, the Liverpool Irish Centre (6 Boundary Lane, Liverpool L6 5JG). Bring family, friends and your dancing feet to join the fun and have a go at learning some Irish céilí dances, complete with live music from Liverpool Comhaltas. No previous experience is necessary as full instructions will be given, from a great dance caller.
£5/£2.
To find about more about the Liverpool Irish Centre, do visit their website and for details about Liverpool Comhaltas, click here.
This event is organised by Liverpool Irish Centre in partnership with the Liverpool Irish Festival and forms part of a wider family weekend, which includes a free to enter Family Day at the Museum of Liverpool.
Hot off the screens from the recent IndieCork Festival, the world of Irish short cinema unreels with exciting new productions.
This event, held in partnership with IndieCork and PictureHouse is a must for contemporary filmmakers, film lovers and those interested in the Irish zeitgeist.
Important
Please note: this event starts at 8.40pm NOT 6.30pm as printed in some listings.
Thousands of films are sent to IndieCork Festival each year, not least those by, for and about women.
See some of the most compelling new productions all selected for their links to this year’s In:visble Women strand, in a programme curated just for the Liverpool Irish Festival.
Screened in partnership with IndieCork and PictureHouse.
An Béal Bocht/The Poor Mouth was released as a short book in 1941, by Irish writer Flann O’Brien, also known as Miles Na gCopaleen. This is Deirdre’s reflection of that book.
Set in the fictitious Corca Dorcha, it is suspected this name is a play on the words Corca Dhuibhne meaning ‘Dingle Peninsula’, thus our bringing it to the Florrie, in the Dingle. Its strapline – “a bad story about the hard life” – is reflected on in both text and printed image, re-imagined by Irish artist Deirdre McKenna (Dingle, Co.Kerry). Highlighting some of the more farcical scenes from book – such as fishermen catching pigs in their nets; the man who went off to live with the seals and the shock a ray of sunshine brings in the midst of all the rain, this exhibit is an exercise in both printmaking and Irish language.
An Béal Bocht/The Poor Mouth was released as a short book in 1941, by Irish writer Flann O’Brien, also known as Miles Na gCopaleen. This is Deirdre’s reflection of that book.
Set in the fictitious Corca Dorcha, it is suspected this name is a play on the words Corca Dhuibhne meaning ‘Dingle Peninsula’, thus our bringing it to the Florrie, in the Dingle. Its strapline – “a bad story about the hard life” – is reflected on in both text and printed image, re-imagined by Irish artist Deirdre McKenna (Dingle, Co.Kerry). Highlighting some of the more farcical scenes from book – such as fishermen catching pigs in their nets; the man who went off to live with the seals and the shock a ray of sunshine brings in the midst of all the rain, this exhibit is an exercise in both printmaking and Irish language.
This event allows audiences to meet with and speak to Deirdre directly in the presence of her work. There will also be a small arts brochure to take away and festival faces to speak with and meet. Families are welcome and we encourage you to bring friends. Watch our for other possilbe readings and events, which will be added as and when they are confirmed.
Ken Grant was showing his photographs to a community group in Dublin in the early 1990s.
A woman became convinced that she knew the people in the picture as close relatives. She was wrong. The picture was made in Liverpool, but it started a conversation about shared cultures, family connections and the cultural histories shared between Liverpool and Ireland. In this illustrated presentation, Ken discusses his experiences on both sides of the Irish Sea, exploring the rich and deep traits in photography and culture shared by Liverpool, Belfast and wider Ireland.
Ken Grant has photographed Liverpool since the 1980s, with his pictures of the city widely published and exhibited. Whilst better known for books The Close Season and No pain whatsoever, he has also worked and taught widely in Ireland and for more than a decade ran the Documentary Photography Course in Newport, Wales. He now works in Belfast, running the MFA Photography Course at the School of Art. In this illustrated presentation, he discusses his experiences of photography in Liverpool and Ireland, and explores the new wave of contemporary photography and the rich and deep connections emerging in Belfast and wider Ireland.
This strand of work between the Liverpool Irish Festival and the Institute of Irish Studies, features two high profile Irish women, speaking about reconciliation and living peacefully in conflict.
Linked with In:Visible Women, these women represent monumental shifts In social positioning, and progressive reform. The discussion will be chaired by Professor Pete Shirlow, Director, The Institute of Irish Studies, University of Liverpool.
Dawn Purvis (left) and Elisha McCallion
Elisha McCallion was the first Mayor of the new Derry City and Strabane District Council, on its formation in 2015. She brought together statutory and community agencies in Derry to advance proposals for Crisis Intervention Services, to address the gap that exists for those feeling isolated and in crisis due to mental health issues. Elisha was elected to the Northern Island Assembly in March 2017, holding the seat previously held by the late Martin McGuinness. In June 2017 Elisha made history by winning the Foyle seat in the Westminster election, from the SDLP who had held it since 1983.
Dawn Purvis was a Member of the NI Assembly from March 2007-May 2011, representing East Belfast. She was appointed as head of the Progressive Unionist Party in 2007. In 2011, Dawn left politics and became NI Programme Director with Marie Stopes International (MSI), opening the first integrated sexual and reproductive healthcare centre in Belfast. She is currently CEO of a housing charity.
* * *
Free entry, booking required. Spaces are limited. Please RSVP to Dorothy Lynch (Institute of Irish Studies, University of Liverpool) using dorothy@liv.ac.uk or +44(0) 151 794 3837. Remaining seats will allocated on a first-come first served basis.
Documentary; Cert PG, 75 mins
Daisy Asquith’s (BBC 4 documentary maker and Goldsmith’s Senior Lecturer) documentary follows her mother’s story of adoption, tracing her genealogical line back to Kilkee (Co Clare) in rural Ireland. At a time when pregnancy out of wedlock could result in social reprisal, familial rejection and potential death, Daisy’s film shows her mother finding identity through unknown relatives and demonstrates the impact entrenched views can have on communities and the bravery required today to unravel the transformational decisions of yesteryear. Pertinent to this year’s In:Visible Women strand, the film inevitably considers social and sexual morality, Catholicism and institutional processes
