GROWING UP WITH ST BRIGID : 2024
In March 2024 we were happy to collaborate with the Elders Group at the Luton Irish Centre .
LOOKING BACK ACROSS THE WATER 2022
We held a writing competition in 2021 where we asked Irish people living in England to submit monologues that told the stories of Irish people who had made their homes in the UK since 1921. These were recorded in the summer. of 2022.
The pieces in order are:
1. John Henry Clancy
2. Gold Doesn’t Rust
3. Alone on Victory Day
4. Euston 1954
5. What’s in a Name?
6. Oona
7. What the Feis?
8. The Sea Between
9. Bursting the Bubble
10. Dancing at Digbeth
11. Hurling in the Peak District
12. There’s a Harp on My Passport Too
13. Getting Home
Please click on this link to read more about the historical or social background to each of the pieces .
PIECES INSPIRED BY IRISH SONGS
Music has always been at the heart of Irish culture, carrying stories, memories and identity across generations. To honour this tradition, we invited members of the Irish diaspora to share what a chosen Irish song meant to them. The emotions it stirred, the places it evoked, and the personal histories it keeps alive.
‘Songs from The Heart’
Click on this link to be taken to the page where you can listen to:
‘Mheilte Cheann Dubhrann’ Margaret Felton
‘The Rose of Tralee’ Ethel Corduff
‘The Fields of Athenry’ Sinead Savage
‘Bi Thusa Mo Shuile’ Crystal Baigent
‘Bless This House’ Hugh
‘Danny Boy’ Daniel Kearney
‘Love Remembered’
For ‘Love Remembered’ we asked three writers to ‘imagine’ what might have inspired a song. These pieces :
The Galway Shawl- By Liz Newberry
The Mountains of Mourne- Maureen Alcorn
Red is the Rose- Anne Curtis
were performed by David Tarpey.
Writing Inspired by Irish Art
Paul Ryan’s piece was inspired by ‘All Ears’
by Jimmy Lawlor which evoked childhood memories of Ireland ‘almost qualifying’ for the 1982 World Cup. It was performed by Kevin Bohan and Derek Murphy. Click on the arrow below to listen.
Thanks to Jimmy Lawlor for allowing us to display this image.