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”
Half-hour slots are given to local musicians and performers to perform informal, acoustic seisiúns in this post-show, ‘relax and wind down’ hour.
Seisiún performers volunteered themselves in advance of the festival and have been selected for their ability, charm and capacity to share the stage with audiences, who are encouraged to sing along, bring instruments and generally take part in the activity
Social seisiún platlist PDF available.
Celebrate the Liverpool Irish Festival with family and friends in a day commemorating 100 years since the Easter Rising.
There will be dancing, music, talks and activities to join in with, across the day. Delivered in partnership with Comhaltas and National Museums Liverpool this is a true highlight of the festival, where sharing, enjoyment and conviviality are at the centre of all we do
This event took place at Museum of Liverpool. We understand that some early schedules billed this as Central Library. We are incredibly sorry for any change in information and offer our sincere apologies for anyone who made the trip and was unable to attend. We are truly sorry.
A lecture by historian Philip Orr and former Lord Mayor of Belfast, Tom Hartley on the nature of reconciliation and the work being done to unify the two communities in Northern Ireland.
The speakers will discuss the importance of the 1916 Easter Rising to Nationalist and Republican traditions and of the Battle of the Somme to Unionist communities.
Philip Orr is an author, teacher and community worker, based in Carrickfergus, County Antrim. He has written extensively on the Irish experience of the Great War and has been involved in the decade of Irish political centenaries, advocating discussion, personal encounter and theatre to navigate meaningful journeys through Ireland’s contested histories.
Tom Hartley is an historian, author, republican politician and former Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Belfast. Concerned with the conversation of histories, he works to highlight the importance of Belfast City Cemetery as a repository of political, social and economic history.
The talks will be followed by a question and answer session and a tour of the Museum’s poppy gallery and Liverpool 1916 display
Similar to the Friday and Saturday evening ‘relax and wind down’ seisiúns, these afternoon seisiúns are split in to half hour slots and given to musicians and performers who volunteered their services before the festival began.
Audiences are encouraged to bring instruments and play along with these informal, acoustic seisiúns, which are family friendly, fun and warm. Stay, have a spot to eat, browse the Irish materials library and talk with other festival guests in this truly convivial setting
Social seisiún platlist PDF available.
“There is a simple lucid clarity to Seán Keane’s singing voice, which – like a laser – cuts through the cacophonous clatter and bang of a noisy world.
“He is a storyteller, whose voice is the sound of everyman; as ancient history [simultaneously] as vital as a digital radio signal, winging its way across the heaven in search of new civilisations. Sometimes he can sound as lonely as an emigrant standing on the prow of a ship […] taking him away from his native homeland and more times he can sound like a cyber survivor, full of strength and valour that provides comfort to those who battle unequally with the hostile emotional landscape of the modern world. Seán Keane is a touchstone of great signing tradition. He is the past, the present and the future”, Shay Healy, songwriter, broadcaster and journalist
There is already a large contingent for whom an introduction to Seán Keane is unnecessary. Steeped in music, Seán has grown to musical maturity in an atmosphere where nothing is more important than playing a tune well and singing a song as it should be sung. Although heavily influenced by traditional styles and values, Seán will not be categorised as a traditional singer. Whether the songs are traditional, folk, country or blues, he applies a unique voice and individual style that you will never forget
£13 from St Michael’s Irish Centre or online (+booking fee)
This December, it’ll be 100 years since the publication of James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. As debuts go, it’s a fairly sensational one, but we almost didn’t get to read it. In a fit of fury, because no one would publish The Dubliners, he threw Portrait into the fire, it was saved by his family.
Our festival opens with a panel exploring Joyce and the novel; the role of Irish writing, of emerging writers and directors, as well as those who wrote a century ago.
A panel discussion on James Joyce’s celebrated novel with His Excellency, the Irish Ambassador to the UK, Dan Mulhall, Dr Maria-Daniella Dick (Lecturer in Irish and Scottish Literature, University of Glasgow), Professor Frank Shovlin (Institute of Irish Studies, University of Liverpool) and Professor Andrew Gibson (Royal Holloway, University of London).
Festival speeches will be given, marking the official opening of Liverpool Irish Festival 2016
Contrary to printed listings, Dr Katherine Mullin (Senior Lecturer, Leeds University) will no longer be appearing. We apologise for this change of notice.
How did Liverpool react to the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin? What do we know about the Liverpool people who took part? The researchers who devised this exhibition, together with archivist Helena Smart, will talk about their work and what they have discovered about this forgotten chapter of local history, providing a fascinating insight into the library itself, its resources, and local history.
Told through documents, photographs and articles in an exhibition of materials ordinarily held by the Liverpool Record Office and Central Library, with additional material from the Liverpool 1916 Commemoration Committee these stories are revealed.
exhibit takes place on the third Floor, Liverpool Central Library
Since The Divine Comedy’s inception in 1989, Neil Hannon has repeatedly proven himself to be one of the UK’s best and most original songwriters.
New album Foreverland exemplifies this, with references ranging from Catherine the Great to the French Foreign Legion. Neil says of the new record, ‘it’s about meeting your soul mate and living happily ever after… and then what comes after happily ever after. Get ready for the most historically inaccurate hit of the summer’.
While not releasing a record since 2010’s Bang Goes The Knighthood, Neil Hannon has certainly kept himself busy. He co-wrote a second album for acclaimed cricket-themed project The Duckworth Lewis Method; composed a choral work for the ,em>Royal Festival Hall’s newly renovated organ entitled To Our Fathers in Distress, and oversaw the transfer of his musical, Swallows and Amazons, to the West End stage. The support act is Lisa O’Neill
An original production, which aims to celebrate the little known story of the men and women from Liverpool who helped to change the course of Irish history, remembering their contribution to the formation of an independent Irish republic, through drama, dance and music.
The story begins in Liverpool in January 1916 and follows the exploits of a group of volunteers who travel to Dublin to take part in the Easter Rising in April 1916. Written by Peter King, descendent of the King Brothers, who themselves engaged in the Easter Rising making the crossing in support of the action
Tickets are £5 from St Michael’s Irish Centre or online (+booking fee)
