Body and Blood is a new play exploring a buried cultural history – arranged marriages in Ireland. Inspired by writer Lorraine Mullaney’s grandmother who had an arranged marriage, Body and Blood is a dark comedy that tackles a tough subject with humour and live music.
It’s 1956, and young Aileen comes to London looking for her sister, who fled Ireland to escape an arranged marriage to an elderly farmer “with a face like the Turin shroud”. Instead of finding her sister, Aileen finds a new life of freedom and possibilities. Will Aileen choose this new life or return to Ireland and make the sacrifices required to stay true to her roots? And will she discover why her Uncle Colm refuses to return home? Body and Blood explores the conflicts and culture clashes resulting from migration and the pull of traditional Irish values, highlighting how far Ireland has come since the 1950s.
THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT. WE APOLOGISE FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE.
A revealing history of the Irish in Liverpool, Greg’s book is written for the general reader covering the 1700s to 1960s via a variety of topics, including employment, education, revolutionaries, sectarianism, Irish Nationalism, the break-up of the Irish districts after the 1920s, a timeline and a hundred potted biographies. Linked to the festival’s heritage walks, this will be an informative event with a Q&A session. Books will be available for £10.
Organised by the Institute of Irish Studies, in partnership with the Liverpool Irish Festival, this event takes place in the Lesley Hearnshaw Theatre within the Eleanor Rathbone Building and will be followed by a reception in the foyer.
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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.
Take this walk though Liverpool’s historic Rodney and Hope Street areas, discovering colourful characters and long-lost histories. Who was the White Angel and where is she now? Who came for the weekend and stayed for 20 years? And, did a Bishop really get stoned?
Our first festival-in-a-festival, the Celtic Animation Film Festival showcases animated films from those submitted to this year’s inaugural competition.
At the time of writing, more than 250 international entries have been received. Resulting in an industry awards event, the aim is to encourage new and emerging Celtic and international animators to forge an ongoing global community to celebrate and share their practice, whilst telling or reflecting Celtic stories and concerns. Awards are to be given for Best Professional Short Film, Best International Short Film and Best Student Short Film, judged by panellists, including Matthew Gravelle (award winning animator and lecturer, University of South Wales) and Jared Taylor (Programme Director Animation, Director of Undergraduate Studies of the School of Design, Edinburgh College of Art) and festival directors Kate Corbin and Eleonora Asparuhova. @cafcompetition
Tickets are available via eventbrite.com
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The competition, day and venue have been organised by Kate Corbin and Eleonora Asparuhova, with support from and in partnership with the Liverpool Irish Festival.
The Everton Fans’ Forum will be hosting an evening as part of the Liverpool Irish Festival in October that will celebrate the history between Everton Football Club and Ireland, with guest speakers including former players and author, Michael Walker (deCoubertin, The Guardian).
The evening will also consist of quizzes and giveaways. Keep an eye on evertonfc.com/fansforum and @EFC_FansForum for more details.
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This event is held in partnership with the Everton Fans’ Forum and deCoubertin Books. It is a special collaboration developed as part of the Liverpool Irish Festival.
Liverpool Irish Festival are proud to announce their line up for Mersey River Festival 2017, where we will takeover the Liverpool International Music Stage on the Kaskelot (accessible via Albert Dock Gates, from the Strand).
Our line up runs the gamut from nautical tradition, through to lyrical, wistful, contemporary and fun.
12pm – The Rock Light Rollers (Gerry Smith + 5 friends)
1pm – Emma Lusby
2pm – Seafoam Green presented by Mellowtone (Dave O’Grady + support)
3pm – Mamatung (Jodie, Becky and Emma)
4pm – Tippin’ it Up (Chris Kelly and John Marshall).
For more information on the line-up, click here.
This event is free to enter and no tickets are required. It’s drop-in, drop-out and casual. We hope to see you there!
If you are interested in the history of shanty-singing – here’s a short history, as provided by Rock Light Roller’s band member, Professor Gerry Smith.
Christy Keeney (Donegal, ROI) is a glass and ceramics artist, selected for the Bluecoat Display Centre’s impressive and influential In The Window exhibition, a monthly exhibit celebrating 12 artists annually.
Having studied at the Royal College of Art, Christy has developed his artistry from painting through to glass and ceramics.
His figurative ceramics explore the human condition and his forms incorporate and morph sculpture and draughtsmanship. Now based in his native Donegal, his sculpted, slab-built heads and figures feature details drawn into the wet clay surface.
£5/£3 on the door, first come first served
Film screening with Q&A with the film’s Executive Producer, Roger Shannon (Professor of Film at Edge Hill University).
I Could Read the Sky, adapted from the Booker longlisted, photographic novel of the same name, explores identity, loss and exile. It is the moving story of an old man (Dermot Healy, in an acting role) living in a bedsit in London, remembering his life, growing up on the west coast of Ireland and his journey to London. Unravelling the strange, twisting drama of a working man’s life, the film moves from a decaying rural past to a vividly modern present, driven by a dynamic soundtrack drawing from both to deliver flowing, lyrical storytelling. It is the state of memory that the film evokes, not ‘memory as re-enactment’, but as texture, finding the essence of how we remember. Memory as fragments, as details and layers, memory that comes at you out of the dark. From behind closed eyes, with its abstractions of light and form and sudden moments of precise clarity, taking us on an inward, visually extraordinary labyrinthine journey to the film’s end
Directed by Nichola Bruce, the film stars the acclaimed Irish writer Dermot Healy and includes cameos from actors Maria Doyle Kennedy, Brendan Coyle and Stephen Rea, writer Pat McCabe (Butcher Boy) and the author Timothy O’Grady and photographer Steve Pyke.
Connected Irish is a network of businesses, services, academic and cultural representatives who collaborate to plan, welcome and provide access to other Irish linked businesses and resources in the city. The Liverpool Irish Festival is a serving committee member and as such is supporting this year’s St Patrick’s Day programme of events, including a Connected Irish led business breakfast at Liverpool Town Hall.
Business breakfast invitation, 8.30am, Fri 17 March 2017
As a member of Connected Irish, the Liverpool Irish Festival would like to invite you to attend the Connected irish Business Breakfast, which members are presenting at the Town Hall, with guest speaker and Liverpool Lord Mayor Councillor Roz Gladden. Download your official invite here.
Presenting and supporting members include the Institute for Irish Studies, Irish Community Care Merseyside, Liverpool Irish Centre, MSB Solicitors, Shenanigans (celebrating their 20th anniversary this year!), Agnes Fitzgerald, C&D Propoerties and Pall Mall Physio.
Book now using our Eventbrite link to ensure you receive your place as spaces are limited and we are operating first-come, first-served procedures.
City activities
Liverpool’s Irish connections cannot be underestimated and therefore St Patrick’s Day is a huge feature in the city’s cultural calendar. We have pulled out a few events being put on by close friends of Connected Irish, which we would recommend you considering.
Click here for our list.
A fun and inclusive class for all the family, including traditional ceílí dances with a bit of set dance and sean-nós (Irish ‘old style’ tap dance) thrown in.
Movema are a multi-award winning company specialising in dances from around the world and long-time collaborators with the festival. These weekly classes are led by Director Maria Malone, who regularly calls at ceílís around Merseyside
