Two great Liverpool based acts – Conleath McGeary and headliners The Jesse Janes – set up what is sure to be a great night of Irish folk, bluegrass, skiffle and rock and roll. Expect a party atmosphere and lots of dancing!
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; but while Beltane was a summer festival for the living, Samhain “was essentially a festival for the dead”.
NOTICE: In a change to listings, the first performance of Song of Love will actually take place at 1pm, not 12pm. We apologise for any inconvenience.
Artists Sheena Graham-George (Orkney, Scotland) and Angelica Kroeger (Ullapool, Scotland) have created a soundscape woven from the sounds of Mount Brandon (Dingle, Co.Kerry), the voices of Bríd Ní Mhóráin, Muiris Ó Muircheartaigh and the vocals of Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh and Breandán Ó Beaglaoich.
Song of Love was inspired by Muiris Muircheartaigh, a local farmer whose family has farmed the slopes of Mount Brandon for centuries. Intimate knowledge of the land was passed down from one generation to the next, through walking the land and maintaining oral traditions. Each field, wall, stream and cliff of Muiris’s land is named and mapped as conscientiously as any urban street map.
This soundscape celebrates our ability to commune with nature; its heavenly effects on our souls, bodies and voice and our love and connectivity with and for the land. The acoustics and reflective properties of the Chapel should provide clarity for sound, mindfulness and solitude, just as nature can.
Song of Love takes place in the Crypt’s Chapel, accessed from Brownlow Hill. Please allow yourself time to find the access point ahead of the on-the-hour showings.
Artists Sheena Graham-George (Orkney, Scotland) and Angelica Kroeger (Ullapool, Scotland) have created a soundscape woven from the sounds of Mount Brandon (Dingle, Co.Kerry), the voices of Bríd Ní Mhóráin, Muiris Ó Muircheartaigh and the vocals of Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh and Breandán Ó Beaglaoich.
Song of Love was inspired by Muiris Muircheartaigh, a local farmer whose family has farmed the slopes of Mount Brandon for centuries. Intimate knowledge of the land was passed down from one generation to the next, through walking the land and maintaining oral traditions. Each field, wall, stream and cliff of Muiris’s land is named and mapped as conscientiously as any urban street map.
This soundscape celebrates our ability to commune with nature; its heavenly effects on our souls, bodies and voice and our love and connectivity with and for the land. The acoustics and reflective properties of the Chapel should provide clarity for sound, mindfulness and solitude, just as nature can.
Song of Love takes place in the Crypt’s Chapel, accessed from Brownlow Hill. Please allow yourself time to find the access point ahead of the on-the-hour showings.
Professor Mary Hickman* chairs a Votes for Irish Citizens Abroad panel in the morning.
The Irish government has announced that it intends to hold a referendum about allowing Irish citizens abroad to vote in Presidential elections in Ireland. The referendum is part of the government’s Diaspora policy and is a response to the anger of many young Irish emigrants that they lose their right to vote once they leave the country. In most European countries, including the UK, you do not.
This panel discussion will look at the issues behind the campaign for Votes for Irish Citizens Abroad (VICA); why it matters; and what the advantages are for Irish citizens living in Britain, especially with Brexit looming. There will be ample time for audience participation in the discussion.
Members of the panel: Patrick Morrison, Chair of Irish in Britain; Ciaran Doolin; Dean Duke and Shelagh O’Connor. The panel will be chaired by Professor Mary Hickman.
* Professor Mary Hickman is Professor Emeritus of Irish Studies and Sociology at London Metropolitan University having been a Professorial Research Fellow at the Centre for Irish Studies, at St Mary’s University, London between 2012-2016. Pivotal in establishing the Irish Studies Centre at London Metropolitan University in 1988; Mary was also Director for the Institute for the Study of European Transformations at London Met (2002-2012). Her research specialisms include Irish migration and diaspora. Her latest book is Women and Irish Diaspora Identities (edited with J. MacPherson, 2014). Mary has extensive experience of community involvement and being a trustee, currently holding trusteeships of the Liverpool Irish Festival and the London Irish Centre, being a member of the Mayor of London’s Community Advisory Committee for the St Patrick’s Day Festival and is Chair of the campaign Votes for Irish Citizens Abroad (VICA).
Script Shop are a local group of writers and performers, who have developed two plays linking Liverpool and Ireland.
Settled Score (written by Graham Scott) considers the position of a nurse accused of murdering of a former British soldier whilst serving in Derry, whist Aftermath (by Alex May) explores James Larkin’s (formerly of Liverpool) role in the 1913 Dublin Lock Out. Telling a story of resistance in the face of great odds, Aftermath won the Most Original Play Award at the Leverhulme Drama Festival.
Each play will also be performed at the Museum of Liverpool as art of the Family Day on Sat 28 Oct 2017. Please see full event listing for updates and schedules closer to the time.
The Liverpool Irish Festival are pleased to support Script Shop.
Join the resident musicians from Liverpool Branch of Comhaltas – and friends – to start the celebrations that mark the sixtieth anniversary of the founding of Comhaltas in Liverpool.
All musicians and singers welcome. @Comhaltas.Liverpool
This event is organised by Liverpool Comhaltas and the Liverpool Irish Centre in partnership with the Liverpool Irish Festival and forms part of a wider family weekend, which includes the Family Day at the Museum and a Family Céilí. Please see individual event listings for details.
Anita Rochford (box) and Mikey Kenney (fiddle and member of The Saltcutters and Hop the Sea) are both powerful players from the Liverpool Céilí Band.
In this special performance the pair come together for a duet of bouncy and intricate dance tunes from the West and South of Ireland.
A time to unwind, be with friends and family and celebrate the breadth of Irish culture in this afternoon of music, song, dance, food and drink. A perfect time to reconnect with your loved ones, your (or another) culture and plan your next trip to the Island of Ireland!
The Family Céilí is one of the most popular family events at the Liverpool Irish Festival and this year returns, at a new location which welcomes families to join Liverpool Comhaltas in 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 a 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.
This event also celebrates 60 years since the establishment of the Liverpool Branch of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann. For those in our readership who don’t know, Comhaltas is a cultural movement concerned with the promotion and preservation of the music, dance and language of Ireland. As the world grows more complex, it is more important than ever to take a strong stand in maintaining a living folk tradition. Thus, celebrating 60 years of the Liverpool Branch, which has been instrumental in maintaining the tradition of Irish music teaching, playing and appreciation here and away from the city, is incredibly important and we welcome you to join in.
To find out more about Liverpool Comhaltas and its bunreacht (constitution) visit its Facebook page @Comhaltas.Liverpool
This event is organised by Liverpool Comhaltas and the Liverpool Irish Centre in partnership with the Liverpool Irish Festival and forms part of a wider family weekend, which includes the Family Day at the Museum.
Kelly’s Dispensary is a home-from-home for many Irish people now living in Liverpool.
Involved in the community, sponsoring local Gaelic Athletic Association teams, the trad session has been a great addition to Kelly’s (and the festival), where performers receive free food and drink.
Following its festival success in 2014, Stephen Smith’s Committed is back in full force with Falling Doors Theatre.
Set in 1993 in a Catholic ghetto in Belfast, Dan McCrory (Republican ex-prisoner) has been sent to organise the people against a plague of petty crime. Where the police are not welcome, the “Concerned Resident’s Committee” become be judge and jury. However, as Dan finds – to his cost – justice must wield a double-edged sword. Playwright Stephen Smith is a published poet and was a political activist and teacher around the time of the troubles in Ireland.
Committed was written in Liverpool, following Smith’s experiences as a concerned Belfast resident, during the aftermath of the ceasefire. Directed by Sarah Van Parys, a LJMU and Young Everyman Playhouse Director’s Course graduate, this is a compelling and intense play, fraught with the difficulties of the Troubles @fallingdoorstheatre
