Clifden Arts Festival Programme 2015

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clifdenartsfestival.ie


ANNE UELTSCHI

BILL & DENISE WHELAN

JOHN SWEENEY EJ KING’S, CLIFDEN

TERRY SWEENEY

Joe and Joan McBreen

FORUM Connemara Ltd

PROVIDERS OF BROADBAND INTERNET TO THE FESTIVAL

GMT IRELAND

CLIFDEN GLEN

ACTON CONSTRUCTION

EDWARD AND MARY DOWNE

CLIFDEN BOOKSHOP

HELEN AND VINCENT FOLEY

ABBEYGLEN CASTLE HOTEL

MARGUERITE COURTADE

FOYLE'S HOTEL

CLIFDEN STATION HOUSE HOTEL

SUPERVALU, CLIFDEN

CLIFDEN LOTTERY FUND

BOBBY AND TRULY GILMORE

PADDY POWERS BOOKMAKERS

RONNIE AND FRANCOISE MILLAR

ALCOCK AND BROWN HOTEL

CATHAL AND JOAN WALSH

KATE AND NOEL NOONAN

JOHN AND FRANCES CORLESS

Táimid buíoch de na daoine seo a leanas a thug cabhair dúinn agus an Fhéile Ealaíon á eagrú. We would like to thank the Arts Council and other key funders, sponsors and friends for their continued and vital support. We would also like to thank you, the audience and look forward to seeing you in Clifden in September.


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VISUAL ARTS

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SCHOOLS PROGRAMME

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Festival Box Office The festival box office is located inside the old SuperValu building on Market Street. Opens from Monday 24 August. Please see front door for the opening hours. Telephone 087-3315009 / 091-442730 email boxoffice@clifdenartsfestival.ie The Arts Festival Caravan is a hive of information and will be open on Market Square from Wednesday 9 September. Tickets can be bought online at clifdenartsfestival.ie or in the Festival Box Office.

Full programme online visit clifdenartsfestival.ie

GENERAL PROGRAMME

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QUICKFIND INDEX

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MAP OF THE VENUES


Friday 18 | Clifden Arts Festival

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Clifden Arts Festival Friday 18

VISUAL ARTS CCLLI IFFDDEENN AARRTTSS FFEESSTTI IVVAALL 22001155

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Visual Arts / Clifden Arts Festival Seamus Heaney, in his introduction to Modern Art in Ireland (1997), compares the development of Irish art to the flowing of a river. The course of Irish art has gradually gathered width and depth, confidently widening to incorporate Modernist mainstream and then merging seamlessly with contemporary international art. Significantly, the flow of Irish art continues to reflect the epic and profound journey of discovery of the Irish people in finding a clear cultural identity. The perceptive awareness, sensitivity to locality, culture and political sources can also be viewed at the exhibition, also from this collection, on display at the AIB branch on the Galway Road, Clifden. The exhibitions are a collaboration between Clifden Arts Festival and Allied Irish Banks. The Festival wishes to express its gratitude to Allied Irish Banks and in particular to Maureen Porteous for her advice, encouragement and support in bringing this selection to Clifden Arts Festival.

Art In Being A selection of contemporary art from the AIB collection. This year The Festival Gallery will host a selection of works from the recent The Art of a Nation exhibition held at the Mall Galleries in London. Clifden Arts Festival is proud to stage a selection from the renowned Allied Irish Banks Collection. Astutely collected since the 1980s, the collection is regarded as one of the most important representations of Modern Irish Art. Certainly the range, quality and energy of the works displayed help to define Irish art and Irish artists. A series of phases associated with Irish art are portrayed in this exhibition. The awareness of locality in Letitia Hamilton’s work to dealing with conflict and bereavement in the works of Willie Doherty and Shane Blount (image right) to the sensitivity and gentleness of Hughie O’Donoghue’s and John Shinnors paintings and the originality and ferocious talent that is Dorothy Cross. 4 CLIFDEN ARTS FESTIVAL 2015

LAUNCH WEDNESDAY 16 SEPTEMBER, 6PM VENUE THE FESTIVAL GALLERY, OLD SUPER VALU BUILDING, MARKET STREET, CLIFDEN

AIB Art in Clifden A further selection of artworks also from the AIB Art Collection will be on display in Clifden branch during Clifden Arts Festival. Among the key works on show include George Campbell’s Back Road to Clifden and Near Roundstone, Connemara; Cecily Brennan’s Rhododendron SemiCircle; Louis leBrocquy’s Head of Seamus Heaney; Untitled from Head Series by Brian Bourke and Green Birds, a sculpture piece by John Behan. Thanks to Alice Black and Maureen Porteous. VENUE ALLIED IRISH BANK, GALWAY ROAD, CLIFDEN

Right: It’s a Blue Giraffe (2007) by Shane Blount.



Visual Arts / Clifden Arts Festival

Deborah Watkins Everything Moves

Norbert Stolze Pencil Massacre 3

Deborah Watkins studied ceramics at the National College of Art and Design. She moved to Connemara in the early 1990s and operated her own pottery studio in Clifden for several years. Deborah began painting full time in 2008. Her paintings are strongly influenced by the colours and textures of her potting career. Deborah’s work attempts to describe the drama and ever changing atmosphere of the landscape and coastline of Connemara.

Norbert Stolze was born in Wolfsburg/Germany in 1950 and has studied at the Staatliche Hochschule für bildende Künste in Hamburg, Klasse Prof. Rudolph Hausner. Dividing his time between family life, running a small studio for graphic design in Hannover and holding periodical exhibitions in Germany and Ireland, he has been working with pencil almost exclusively for a number of years.

VENUE CLIFDEN LIBRARY, MARKET STREET, CLIFDEN

Régis Feve Mandalandscapes A former teacher in primary school, Régis Feve studied mandala patterns from all over the world over the last 25 years. Always on the border between abstraction and figuration, his first mandalas were designed from human body shape, dissolved in symmetries and rotations. The figures then reemerge under a thin transparent layers of oil or acrylic. Since arriving in Connemara last year, his work is based on photographs he has taken of the stunning landscape that can be seen here. The previous painting technics have been adapted to digital art with multi-layer designed pictures that he calls “Mandalandscapes”. VENUE CONNEMARA FLORIST, MAIN STREET, CLIFDEN

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This will be the third instalment of Pencil Massacre, featuring a series of new works, some of which will be accompanied by texts, stories and anecdotes penned by acclaimed Clifden-based artist Joe Boske. VENUE UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS, MAIN STREET, CLIFDEN

Lisa O’Donnell & Maeve D’Arcy Trasatlantacha This exhibition brings together two artists from both sides of the Atlantic. Exploring their combined interests and experiences of Irish immigration and diaspora, Galway-born Lisa O’Donnell and native New Yorker Maeve D’Arcy’s work approaches the subject from two different artistic perspectives and geographical locations. This show has traveled from New York where it was exhibited at The New York Irish Arts Center during their Spring 2015 season. VENUE FORMERLY GIFTS BY GRACE, GALLERY BESIDE A.I.B. ATM MACHINE, GALWAY ROAD, CLIFDEN


Clifden Arts Festival / Visual Arts

The Last Of The Name When Charles McGlinchey (1861-1955) was in his eighties, local Clonmany school teacher Patrick Kavanagh wrote down the stories McGlinchey told him during his bi-weekly visits. The manuscript found its way to Brian Friel, who edited the oral history into its present form. In this book, filtered through a devoted schoolmaster and a master dramatist, is a voice that transports us to a period now beyond the grasp of living memory, an autobiography, a compendium of folklore and a vivid account of the life and times of a particular community in the north-west of Ireland. It captures a way of life which had not changed for hundreds of years – and Charlie the storyteller is invisible, the voice of the tribe. According to Seamus Heaney, who played a key role in its publication, it’s “a book full of emotional truth and the beauty of immediate, trusting speech, overbrimming with folklore of great imaginative richness.” Its themes ranging from the famine, emigration and landlords to poteen, poets, publicans and pilgrimages, while very local are also universal and connect to people around the world. The Last of the Name has been translated in to Irish and French, there is also an audio book featuring Donegal actor Sean McGinley. Excerps from the audio book are read in this audio visual presentation, a performance that is eloquent, poetic and dynamic – this should not to be missed. VENUE THE HAIR GALLERY, BRIDGE STREET, CLIFDEN

Eilis Crean From The Sheeffry Pass: Indomitable, Immediate, Remote Charcoal drawings by Eilis Crean, describing geological formations of the Mayo and Galway mountains; the Partry Mountains, Maumtrasna, Luga Kippen, Gowlan and Buidhe, Knocklaur, Devilsmother, Ben Gorm and Ben Creggan. Originally from Dublin, a graduate of NCAD and Georgia State University, Eilis Crean, Associate Professor of Art at University of West Georgia, USA, divides her studio time between Atlanta, GA and Mayo. VENUE 1 CLIFDEN COURT, BRIDGE STREET, CLIFDEN

Reingard Gahan & Beth Newman Maguire Born in Duisburg, Reingard Gahan studied graphic art and illustration at the Dusseldorf College of Design. Gahan’s watercolour and oils range from Connemara landscapes, to portraits, to paintings of animals. Beth Newman Maguire uses found and natural materials to portray frailty, separation and loss. She has received several major public art commissions. They include Baite at the Dublin Millennium Sculpture Symposium 1988, Sniomh for Meath Co. Council, Navan Fire Station 1990, Historic Seat, Temple Bar 1992 and Cormorant for Art in the Park Project, Belfast 2001. VENUE 2 CLIFDEN COURT, BRIDGE STREET, CLIFDEN CLIFDEN ARTS FESTIVAL 2015

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Visual Arts / Clifden Arts Festival Reaney explores the wonderful imagery of Yeats’s poetry through a stunning array of painting techniques, using oil, gesso, watercolour and charcoal. There is also a set of prints using drypoint on CDs, block prints, monoprints and carborundum.

Terry Monaghan Manual Homage Graphic and photographic waxed inkjet prints in honour and respect of hand tools. Terry Monaghan practiced graphic design for twenty five years in Dublin and divides his time between Mayo and the USA. VENUE 3 CLIFDEN COURT, BRIDGE STREET, CLIFDEN

Pádraic Reaney was born in Carraroe, Co. Galway in 1952. He studied Fine Art at Galway, Regional Technical College encouraged by the well-known sculptor Oisín Kelly and has been a full-time artist since leaving college. He painted for several years in Galway; later he built a studio in Moycullen, where he now lives and works. He has exhibited extensively in Ireland, Scotland and Wales and his work is in public and private collections in Ireland as well as in Europe, Canada, USA, Brazil, Japan, South Africa and Australia. His work is held in collections such as the Modern Irish Art Collection; Dublin Writers Museum, Ireland; Irish Embassy, London; Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum, Quinnipiac University, USA; Siena Art Institute, Italy; Urawa Wood-Cut Prints Association, Japan. He explores these histories and stories through painting, printmaking and sculpture. A founder member of Western Artists, Island Connection, Reaney was the first artist to have a web based exhibition at the Kenny Gallery, Galway. In 1996 he was elected to the Board of Directors of the Galway Arts Centre. He has exhibited extensively in Ireland and abroad in major festivals and group shows. His work is represented in numerous public and private collections in Ireland, Europe, Canada, the United States, Brazil, Japan, South Africa and Australia.

Pádraic Reaney Crazy Jane LAUNCH THURSDAY 17 SEPTEMBER, 7PM, BY DES LALLY

Clifden Arts Festival proudly presents a world premier, the complete, 53 works in all, of Crazy Jane, an exhibition of paintings and prints by Pádraic Reaney based on poems WB Yeats wrote in his later years based on an eccentric old woman, ‘Crazy Jane’. In the poems Jane’s chance for love is ruined by an interfering bishop, who conspired to keep her and her lover Jack apart – after Jack’s death Jane’s spindly figure is seen walking through dense woodlands, A landscape which the artist based on Coole Park.

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VENUE WEST COAST LEISURE CENTRE, CLIFDEN


Clifden Arts Festival / Visual Arts

Kenneth Webb & Sara McNeill Paintings of Connemara

LAUNCH SATURDAY 19 SEPTEMBER, 4PM VENUE ALCOCK AND BROWN HOTEL, THE SQUARE

Patricia has been painting floral and botanical art for the past twenty years, having had a love of all things “nature”, but particularly plants and trees. Patricia will offer short painting sessions at her exhibition. VENUE GUDANSKI GALLERY, MARKET STREET, CLIFDEN

Group Exhibition New Works Brendan O’Sullivan, Bernadette Dignam, Sandy Glynn, David Kane, Yvonne King, Reingard Gahan, Vanda Luddy, Anne Pears, Cathal O’Malley, Lol Hardiman, Dorothy Gilbert, Brian Kelly, Jason Fitzpatrick, Nancy Whelan, Kathleen O’Brien, Philomena Schofield, Augusta McCabe, arts students exhibition. VENUE CREDIT UNION OFFICES, THE SQUARE, CLIFDEN

Kieran Tobin West of Ireland Landscapes Kieran’s main interest is in the landscape, uncluttered, unspoiled countryside. He has always been a keen observer of nature. Living in the West of Ireland is an ideal base for a landscape artist with Connemara on the doorstep and he spends much of his time searching out the quiet places, off the beaten track, tranquil and peaceful. Working with oils and pastels, Kieran has had five highly succesful solo exhibitions at The Kenny Gallery, Galway. VENUE E. J. KINGS, 2ND FLOOR RESTAURANT AREA

Patricia Morrison A Floral Odyssey Patricia Morrison, founding member of Irish Society of Botanical Artists and a participant in their inaugural exhibition Aibitir, the Irish alphabet in botanical art, which opened in the National Botanic Gardens, and travelled to Belfast, Derry museum, Limerick, and is currently showing in Waterford. There are plans for expo to travel to the United States.

Bernard O’Scanaill

Scape

Clifden native Bernard O’Scanaill makes a welcome return from Australia to exhibit his most recent works. An original and very talented artist. Bernard’s work deals with real and imagined landscapes, the inner landscape that remains in place even when we sleep. Those familiar places we see when we close our eyes. Bernard has exhibitied in Ireland, France and Australia. His work is to be found in many corporate, public and private collections in the USA, Australia, France and Ireland. LAUNCH FRIDAY 18 SEPTEMBER, 6:30PM VENUE GLEANN AOIBHINN, BEACH ROAD, CLIFDEN GALLERY OPEN 1PM-6PM DAILY

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Broadside Launch The Mountain Ash Broadside

Kate Noonan Exhibition of original oil paintings of Connemara. VENUE ARDAGH HOTEL, BALLYCONNEELY ROAD

Nancy Whelan New Works

The Mountain Ash by poet Joan McBreen is set by hand in 18pt Caslon by Mary Plunkett of the Belgrave Private Press and letterpress printed on Farley proofing press. Accompanied by an original etching by artist Margaret West and printed on 280gsm BRK Rives paper. The special limited edition of 150 prints is signed by the poet and artist, dated and numbered. It is available framed in oiled ash frame by Westshore Gallery or in a cloth bound and embossed in a lined print folder. The broadside is commissioned by Joan McBreen and published by Artisan House, Connemara, www.artisanhouse.ie. The broadside will be launched by Des Kavanagh. LAUNCH SATURDAY 19 SEPTEMBER, 5PM VENUE FESTIVAL GALLERY, OLD SUPERVALU, MARKET ST

Visit www.clifdencastlearts.wordpress.com VENUE THE FISH SHOP, MAIN STREET, CLIFDEN

Brian Bourke Further Evidence Works From Ten Years Ago to Yesterday

Opening by Louis DePaor. An exhibition of recent and new works by internationally renowed artist Brian Bourke. Brian Bourke must be considered one of the most significant artists working in Ireland today. In a career spanning over fifty years, his output has been enormous. He has worked on a wide range of subject matter, mostly in painting and drawing. His works display a great affinity and sympathy for his subject matter, and above all, a wonderful sense of humour.

Lorraine Tuck Book Launch The Whistle Blowing is the collection of photographs from documentary photographer Lorraine Tuck – a culmination of almost ten years of work that follows the path of the old Galway-Clifden railway line. An exhibition of work will coincide with the book from the 17th to the 27th September. LAUNCH SATURDAY 19 SEPTEMBER, 6PM VENUE STATION HOUSE, OLD WHISTLESTOP SHOP,

LAUNCH THURSDAY 17 SEPTEMBER, 5:30PM VENUE IRISH ANTIQUES, STATION HOUSE COURTYARD 10 C L I F D E N A R T S F E S T I V A L 2 0 1 5

GALWAY ROAD, CLIFDEN


Clifden Arts Festival / Visual Arts

Cadden, Murphy & O’Boyle Ruth Cadden: “I treasure the impact of an image at first glance when all seems conventional but on closer inspection things are not as they seem, this reflects life to me. The intention of my work is to expose in the most reassuring way to society that ‘the emperor isn’t wearing any clothes!’ As an artist I feel that it’s my duty to present the viewer with themes and subjects that raise questions for or provide comfort from this strange, alluring and chaotic life that we’re living in.” Jay Murphy has exhibited extensively throughout Ireland and abroad. She has been a regular exhibitor with the Clifden Arts Festival over the past thirty years. Her solo exhibition HYDRO, in Norman Villa Gallery, Galway, shown as part of Galway Arts Festival 2011, was selected by Irish Times critic Aidan Dunne as one of the highlights of that year. Evanna O’Boyle has exhibited throughout Ireland including Clifden Arts Festival, Galway Arts Festival, Kilkenny Arts Festival, Claremorris Open. VENUE FOYER OF STATION HOUSE THEATRE

Andrea Rossi Horizon Andrea Rossi is a Brazilian artist and illustrator, who works through acrylic medium, with a love of all things Irish and nostalgic. In 1999 she graduated as a graphic designer and fine artist in Sao Paulo city where she grew up. Today that love can be seen in her work where she often references old Connemara and rural life in the West. She also draws inspiration from vintage children’s books and Brazilian naive/folk art. Her work is vibrant and uplifting. Andrea works in the Ceardlann Spiddal Craft Village and Café from her open studio overlooking the beautiful Galway Bay. “The winters in Ireland can be long and introspective, so my work is to emphasize Nature around us CLIFDEN ARTS FESTIVAL 2015

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Visual Arts / Clifden Arts Festival to remind people of the bliss that can be found in everyday life”. She had various group and solo exhibitions including Westport Art Festival, Traidphicnic and Feile na Ceardlainne to name a few. She offers art classes to children and welcomes commissions. VENUE STEAM CAFÉ, STATION HOUSE COURTYARD

Opera Factory Sessions HOT, a Swedish Circus on Merciful Inferno

Alannah Robins Spaces Inbetween Irish artist Alannah Robins is a graduate of the National College of Art and Design, Dublin. She was a founder member of the Atlantic Artists’ Association which ran a collective studio and gallery space on the West coast of Ireland for nine years. Alannah has won several commissions and awards for her artwork in Ireland and Sweden, including a public commission for the Waterford Institute of Technology, Tyresö Kulturstipendium and Helge Axeson stipend. In recent years she has exhibited in the Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin, London’s Dialogue Cultural Space and here in Stockholm, in Tegen2 and Detroit Stockholm. Alannah is a member of Detroit Stockholm’s Collective Studio, Tyresö Konstnärer, Visual Artists Ireland, Catalyst Arts Belfast, and Fylkingen. Drawing on familiar images, Alannah Robins explores our heritage of myth and memory. She has an instinctive, playlike, approach to the work, in which previously unrelated images conjoin to suggest deeper, unconscious layers of meaning. The resulting objects or images trace an interior landscape, and with it recurring themes of identity, sexuality and a man’s relationship with nature.

HOT, a Swedish Circus on Merciful Inferno is based on John Cage’s score Circus On. This score contains instructions on the translation of any given piece of literature into a musical work. The work has been developed collaboratively, in a creative space between art, music and literature. This process resonates with Strindberg’s alchemical experiments alluded to in ‘Inferno’. Opera Factory Sessions is a Stockholm based group of nine composers, musicians and visual artists collaborating in the cross over areas between the arts. The members are Alannah Robins, Ewert Ekros, Sören Runolf, Cecilia Josefsson, Jenny Soep, Girilal Baars, Louise Djurberg, Fredrik Johansson and Rose Marie Andersson. PERFORMANCE SATURDAY 19 SEPTEMBER, 4PM VENUE GALLERY BESIDE AIB, GALWAY ROAD, CLIFDEN

Ability West Exhibition Making a Mark An exhibition by service users of Criost Linn. VENUE TOURIST OFFICE, GALWAY ROAD, CLIFDEN

Valerie Joyce Handball Exhibition Outdoor event. Singles and Doubles with the Connaught and All Ireland Champions just back from Calgary World Championships 2015.

LAUNCH FRIDAY 18 SEPTEMBER, 6PM

DATE SATURDAY 19 SEPTEMBER, 2PM-4PM

VENUE GALLERY BESIDE A.I.B BANK, GALWAY ROAD

VENUE HANDBALL ALLEY, BEACH ROAD, CLIFDEN

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Clifden Arts Festival / Visual Arts Visit also the exhibition Connemara Works I by Yvonne King, Connemara National Park, Letterfrack, 7th to 25th September. More details on yvonnekingart.com. VENUE THE ATRIUM, THE INN TO THE WEST, WESTPORT RD

Anne Harkin - Petersen Ex Nihilo Harkin-­‐Petersen ‘Gathering Momentum’ The Oil body of work being shown here has been on Canvas Triptych 174x96cm 2011/2013 completed over a three year period and is inspired

by The Big Bang Theory – the accepted scientific theory of how the universe came into being. Harkin-Petersen’s work would be considered to belong to the Abstract Expressionist genre of art history typified by vibrant colour choice and expansive gestural mark making. However this body of work relies upon a very reduced palette. Research into subject matter, careful choice of titles, and the notion that the aesthetic impact of visual art can be an exciting adventure and cause for optimism greatly inform this artist’s practice. VENUE THE INN TO THE WEST, WESTPORT ROAD

Aaron Holton The Dual Originally from Cork, Aaron Holton attended the Crawford College of Art and Design focusing mainly on oil painting throughout his time in college. He graduated in 2012 with an honours degree in Fine Art through painting. Aaron is currently working primarily with pencil, water colour and pastel and has begun a new journey with his current body of work. Now living and working in Connemara, Aaron and his partner have also started teaching arts and crafts classes for children in the Clifden area. VENUE THE INN TO THE WEST, WESTPORT ROAD

Patrick Howard Spaced

Yvonne King Connemara Works II This exhibition for Clifden Arts Festival features recent work by Yvonne King inspired by the land, sea and bogs of Connemara. New paintings and also images from the ongoing Marconi Art Project which she began last year are included.

Take an informative stroll through our Solar System on a 1:2.7 billionth scale replica. Starting at the bottom of St. Anne’s road and continuing around the Race Course road loop. A mixed media public installation. Sponsored by Alan Shattock, The Gaillard Gallery, Westport Road, Clifden. VENUE ST. ANNE’S ROAD, WESTPORT ROAD, CLIFDEN

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LUXe Imramh na Gealaí - Sea Journey of the Moon An outdoor pop up gallery and fiery event. Art, performance, music and wine images by LUXe photographer Mark Loudon documenting LUXe’s most recent landscape incursion on Rannagh Strand, Árainn Mhór Island, Co. Donegal.

Marina Wild & Dagmar Drabent Metaphorica Too Three Strands This two-person, mostly drawing-based and smallscale exhibition explores the relationship between image and text from a variety of perspectives. The work consists firstly of illustrations where the image is congruent with the text; whereas other drawings are displaying a richness of figuratively presented information, which invites in turn interpretations, i.e. allows the viewer to compile an array of inherent storylines.

LUXe are a landscape spectacle company from Donegal making fine image based performance particularly in island landscapes from Eastern Iceland to Hong Kong and from Tory Island to Iona. LUXe have been described by Director Pawlu Portelli of Theatre Anon, Malta as “All weather, post modern, multi spiritual, mixed media, performance art.” By Director Ben Harrison of Grid Iron Theatre Company, Edinburgh as “fine art performance that made me question my own practice” and by Director Adrian Kelly, Glebe Gallery, National Gallery of Ireland as “expertly using elements of landscape to surprise, reveal and frame their magical images”. DATE FRIDAY 25 SEPTEMBER, DUSK (7PM-7:45PM ONLY) VENUE WILD ATLANTIC GALLERY, HANDBALL ALLEY, CLIFDEN HARBOUR

A third strand of work investigates in a playful, almost cartoonlike manner, the reliance between image, language and meaning. In an age where conceptual art and digital techniques are dominant, this project also wants to draw attention back to the potentiality of a special form, the marriage between language and sensual experience.

Elsewhere: Killary Harbour LUXe will make a new and one off ceremonial landscape performance on the ancient processional road at the mouth of nearby Killary Harbour where the land the sea and the sky meet. DATE THURSDAY 24 SEPTEMBER, DUSK (7PM-8PM)

VENUE FORMERLY GANNON SPORTS, BESIDE TOURIST

VENUE ROSROE-KILLARY

OFFICE, GALWAY ROAD, CLIFDEN

Illuminated Procession DATE SATURDAY 26 SEPTEMBER, DUSK (7:30PM) VENUE CLIFDEN TOWN HALL

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Clifden Arts Festival / Visual Arts Ida Mitrani is a Turkish born French artist living in, Ireland since 1997. Mitrani’s practice is mainly based on drawing. The act of deconstruction, processing and construction is a key element in her work. It is also a process of excavation of the memory. She tries to develop a poetic vision of the world, where she gives existence to the subjective world of the unseen. Visit idamitrani.org. James Kirwan is currently on residency at Custom House Studios, Westport. Here, he mostly paints but also experiment with drawing, collages and digital work. Borrowing from found imagery either in old magazines, online or from photographs he takes himself, piecing elements together to create futuristic fictional worlds of his own. In the past, he has produced commercial work for events as well as companies like Absolut, Jameson and collaborated with friends. Visit jamesmakeart.blogspot.ie.

Residents of St. Anne’s Recollections Curated by Angie Williams. VENUE ST. ANNE’S C.N.H., ST. ANNE’S RD, WESTPORT RD

Friends of the Inn

Colm Mac Athaloich is an Irish artist, working primarily in illustration, painting and print. He works across many themes and influences such as landscape and architecture, people, music and colour – often letting the process determine the outcome and allowing subconscious patterns to emerge within existing abstractions of reality. Colm has been an exhibiting painter illustrator and printmaker since 2003, becoming a member of the Graphic Studio Printmakers in 2005. He has exhibited in Ireland and abroad, with works traveling as part of the OPW Collection. Visit macathlaoich.com. Ferdia Mac Lochlainn was born in Donegal, 1983. Graduated from the National College of Art and Design, 2005. His work uses drawing to examine the nature of photography, with much of the subject matter coming from photographic reproductions torn from the printed

A group show featuring young contemporary artist from all over Ireland, united by topics such as friendship, nature and the environment. Bennie Reilly, Michelle Considine, Ida Mitrani, Colm Mac Athloich, Erin McClure, James Kirwan and Ferdia McLoughlin.

press, as well as found, discarded photos. Visit ferdia.ie.

Bennie Reilly’s work illuminates the oddities and intricacies of the natural world while demonstrating the strange visual dialogue which can occur when our eyes meet the unfamiliar. Reilly has exhibited extensively in Ireland, her most recent solo exhibition, Rara Avis took place in the Royal Hibernian Academy. Visit benniereilly.com.

Artist-in-residence, Ida Mitrani, will spend 2/3 weeks exploring the flora of Clifden and its surroundings. Her work during her stay will focus on the various patterns and the geometry of plants, including the Fibonacci sequence found in Nature. The resulting drawings will be on display in the studio during the Art festival in Clifden.

Capturing the landscape in all its complexity is key to Michelle Considine’s work and, focusing on this topic, she looks at the unique and diverse forms found in nature and how both man-made, climate change and extraordinary natural occurrences affect the landscape around us. A fascination with the power of the environment, the continual movement and metamorphosis of the earth, land and sky, and the consequences of these are all recurring themes throughout her work. Visit michelleconsidine.com.

VENUE THE INN TO THE WEST, WESTPORT ROAD

Open Studio Day

DATE SATURDAY 19 SEPTEMBER VENUE THE INN TO THE WEST, WESTPORT ROAD

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Visual Arts / Clifden Arts Festival

The Twelve Bens Brian Coldrick is an illustrator and artist originally from Dublin, Ireland, now based in the UK. Commercial work ranges from illustrations for beer mats to creature designs for Doctor Who. He has illustrated a series of illustrations based on the Twelve Bens – reimagining each peak as a colourful character. His work is full of fun and humour. This series will be on show for the duration of the festival. Visit briancoldrick.com. VENUE THE INN TO THE WEST, WESTPORT ROAD

Print Workshop Colm Mac Athaloich will be running a printmaking workshop, using non toxic etching methods. Cost: €30 for a full day workshop including materials. Optional drawing field trip available on Friday 25th, for those interested, at no extra charge (weather permitting).

piecing elements together to create futuristic fictional worlds of his own. In the past, he has produced commercial work for events as well as companies like Absolut, Jameson and collaborated with friends. VENUE THE INN TO THE WEST, WESTPORT ROAD

Carriages Carriages create experimental off-filter folk and electronic songs. With a brilliant and engaging live set. They have set out to capture a living environment in their music, by using recordings from parks, museums, concert halls and coastlines while their lyrics draw influence from the changing seasons, loves won and lost, and the journeys we make each day. Visit carriages. bandcamp.com. VENUE THE INN TO THE WEST, WESTPORT ROAD

DATE SATURDAY 26 SEPTEMBER VENUE THE INN TO THE WEST, WESTPORT ROAD

Street Artist James Earley Street Artist James Earley will be painting a permanent large scale mural. Come along and see a work in progress. Earley has been a practicing graffiti painter since 1997. James began painting his signature stained glass style in 2009. The style celebrates and pays homage to his family’s rich artistic heritage in ecclesiastical artwork. His family ran Earley Studios, a firm specialising in stained glass artworks (1864-1975). His works often feature animals that are predominantly native to Ireland. His iconic work can be seen in many European cities, including the critically acclaimed Blooms Hotel in Dublin. Visit jamesearleyart.com. Working alongside him will be another street artist, James Kirwan. Kirwan is currently on residency at Custom House Studios, Westport. Here, he mostly paints but also experiments with drawing, collages and digital work. Borrowing from found imagery either in old magazines, online or from photographs he takes himself, 16 C L I F D E N A R T S F E S T I V A L 2 0 1 5

Studio Launch

Fionnghlas Thiar Gallery, Artist Studio, Gallery and Workshops, Tooreen, Moyard

Mark N Thomas Mark N Thomas’s Underwater Connemara is a photographic exhibition of the wonderful and varied life forms that inhabit the sea around the Connemara coast. Mark will be contactable to answer enquiries during the exhibition. VENUE SWEENEY’S STRAND BAR, CLADDAGHDUFF


Clifden Arts Festival / Visual Arts

Rosemarie O’Toole

Mark Joyce

Exhibition of hand painted stamps at Joyce’s Craft Shop and Art Gallery, Recess.

Rosemarie O’Toole’s work on paper and porcelain on display daily from 10am to 6pm.

Bernie Dignam

VENUE ROUNDSTONE CERAMICS,

Exhibition of New Work at Fionnghlas Thiar Gallery, Artist Studio, Gallery and Workshops, Tooreen, Moyard.

MICHAEL KILLEEN PARK, ROUNDSTONE

Ben Crow Connemara Land, Sea and Sky Exhibition of fused glass by Ben Crow, The Pink House, The Square, Clifden. The Lavelle Art Gallery

A collection of works by local, national and international artists. The Lavelle Art Gallery is located on Main Street, Clifden.

The Clifden Art Gallery

Exhibition of paintings by various gallery artists, Main Street, Clifden.

The Whitethorn Gallery

A collection of paintings by local, national and international artists, Main Street, Clifden.

Alan Shattock

Exhibition of ceramics and stoneware, The Gaillard Gallery, Letternoosh, Westport Road, Clifden.

Rosie Mcgurran

Open studio located in Roundstone Village, presenting the works of Rosie McGurran R.U.A. Demonstrations of the artist at work an ongoing feature by appointment only, please call 095 35811 / mobile: 0876799559.

The Art Trail

Celebrating its 10th year Shop Window Exhibition of work by artists who reside in, are inspired by and visit the area. A map of the Art Trail can be found in the What’s On Connemara tourism guide.

Please Note Exhibition details correct at time of going to press. Exhibitions and venues may be subject to change.

Acknowledgements Thanks to the following for their support: Allied Irish Banks, Maureen Porteous A.I.B., Alice Black A.I.B. (Clifden), Brendan O’Sullivan, Lol Hardiman, Bernie Dignam, Michael Keane, John Sweeney, Wayne and Orla at Upstairs Downstairs, Alan and Claire at Steam, Cashel Credit Union, Noel Mannion and Catherine Lavoie, Paula Bann, West Coast Leisure Centre, Mary Ruddy and Vincent Murphy, Joe Lynch and Kavanaghs SuperValu, Alcock and Brown Hotel, Mary Joyce, Michael Delahunty, David Delahunty and Lucy Jackson, The Inn to the West, Des Lally, Brendan Flynn, Danny Vaughan, Zsuzsanna Balogh, James O’Sullivan, Bernard O’Scanaill, and finally to all the artists, businesses and general public who support the Art Trail and exhibitions.

CLIFDEN ARTS FESTIVAL 2015

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The school events are of course confined to our students. Events will also be taking place in all our local schools. The event dates are flexible (in tune with the school day workings!) and guests may appear on days other than those to which they may have first been assigned. At this time we would like to thank sincerely all the teachers of all the schools for their unfailing help and courtesy over the Festival period, most especially and significantly the organisers in each of the schools. This week is when we showcase the talents of all our students, both past and present. Remember too that our writers, artists, musicians and performers will also be visiting the local schools! During the school week there will be a visit from the Jean Vilar College of Angres in France to exchange with the Community School students (Jazz and songs from France and Ireland). A very special thanks to Anne Ueltschi for her magnificent support for and generous sponsorship of, not only of the schools’ events, but of the Festival as a whole.

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SCHOOLS PROGRAMME CLIFDEN ARTS FESTIVAL 2015

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Clifden Arts Festival / Schools Programme - September 8-25 Tuesday 8 Foraging talk by Will Williams in Clifden Community School.

Friday 18 Judging of schools photo foraging competition in Clifden Community School.

Saturday 19 Display of the foraging (thanks to Gary Brow) competition-winning displays in Christ Church, Clifden

Monday 21 Marie Sheridan begins her singing workshops. With her will be musician Shona O’Flaherty. Stilt-walking workshops with Belfast Circus begin and continue all week. (Thanks to Jim). Colm Keegan author, dramatist, performance artist and poet conducts a writing workshop returning to the Festival by popular demand. Special welcome back for Joanne McGrath. Joanne McGrath is an English teacher, writer, and longtime friend of Clifden Arts Festival from White Plains, NY. She has taught students from grades 5 through 12, and especially loves turning reluctant readers on to the joy of finding just the right book. Sean Halpenny begins his bodhrán workshops. Andrea Rossi, Brazilian artist now living in Spiddal conducts her painting workshops. Tony Curtis poet begins his week with an introductory workshop for the 1st years. Musician John Durning begins his guitar workshop. 20 C L I F D E N A R T S F E S T I V A L 2 0 1 5

Kate O’Callaghan and Seamus Devenny begin their music and song workshops. Fidget Feet begins their workshops in preparation for the Grand Parade on Saturday. Film Festival Films this year include films on the current Schools’ Film Study programme. Check the notice board for details. (Thanks to Carmel). Music today is with local group the Slyne Heads. Sean-Nos champion dancer and past student John Joyce (Oireachtas winner) returns for a dancing workshop. Past-student Megan Vine gives her drama workshop. Special School Event Unpacking an exhibition-an exploration of the curator’s concerns. Helen O’Donoghue of IMMA will discuss with the Community School Leaving Cert. Art students how an exhibition is realised from concept to realisation. 2pm, The Old Supervalu Gallery, Clifden.

Tuesday 22 Film Studies Festival continues. Follow on notice board. Lorraine Barry conducts her art workshop. John Durning continues with his guitar workshop. Joanne McGlynn returns to talk to the classes. The Art of making a Breadbasket: Ciaran Hogan continues with his workshops.

Marie Sheridan concludes her singing workshop (thanks to Shona). Fidget Feet continue their preparations. Kate and Seamus proceed with their song and music classes. Fidget Feet continue preparations. The Dramlink Experience. The Festival is delighted to announce Michael O’Sullivan (Humourfit!) as our official writerin-residence. Humourfit returns with an extended programme of dramas and workshops. Michael has named this new programme Dramlink as the students can write, act and self-direct short scenes on social issues leading to a performance at the end of the week. This is a brand new departure and marks Humourfit’s 22nd year with us under the direction of Michael. Our students have benefited hugely from these experiences over the years. Swedish-born Ann Henning Jocelyn reads for the students. Among her nine books to date are the best-selling Connemara Whirlwind Trilogy and Keylines for Living, which have been published all over the world. Lately, her stage plays Doonregan and Only Our Own have been performed widely in Ireland and the UK, including London’s West End. Art workshop with the Brazilian artist Andrea Rossi continues Music today with the Michael Carey Band. Poet and playwright Terry McDonagh reads for the students. His latest book is entitled Truth in Mustard.


Schools Programme - September 8-25 / Clifden Arts Festival Poet Tony Curtis visits the schools to conduct his readings and workshops with the students. Crochet workshop with Peggy Mannion. Peggy returns after her successful debut. Eleanor Mannion talks to the students. Originally from the Sky Road and a past-student of Clifden Community School, Eleanor works as a Television News Co-ordinator with RTÉ News working across flagship bulletins such as the SixOne News and various news and current affairs programmes. She is currently working on her Masters degree in Dublin.

Wednesday 23 The music and song workshops continue with Seamus and Kate. The Archaeology of the Holy Land. Acclaimed archaeologist and author Michael Gibbons talks to the students. The internationally renowned artist Dorothy Cross talks to the Art students. Celtic Art and Ancient Treasures. Ned Kelly talks to the students. Ned is retired Keeper of Irish Antiquities Division, National Museum of Ireland. Norbert Stolz returns with his special kind of magic! Fibin Performing Arts Theatre visits the schools. Talk by local businessman and past-student Graham Roberts, the man behind the world famous Connemara Smokehouse. Past-student Barry Ryan film-making and directing.

Poet Tony Curtis continues his poetry workshops.

Film Studies Festival continues, please see the noticeboard.

Film Studies Festival proceeds.

Gerard King, Chief Fire Officer, talks to the students.

Talk: Connemara On The Eve Of The Rising by author and historian Kathleen Villiers-Tuthill.

The Art of the Beekeeper with specialist Billy Gilmore.

My Travels in Mongolia - a talk by Fearghus Foyle.

Poet, editor and musician Gabriel Fitzmaurice returns to the schools.

Music today is by the acclaimed Yule and McQ.

Pat Mullan, poet and acclaimed thriller writer (his latest A Deadly Gamble has just been published) talks about his work.

Humourfit continue with the Dramlink Experience. Eba Coneys, currently studying at NUI Maynooth, talks about life as a third-level student. Poet, editor and musician Gabriel Fitzmaurice returns to the schools. The music of Turlough O’Carolan. Lynn Saoirse – Irish Harp.

Thursday 24 Guitar workshops near their completion. Thanks to John. Humourfit continue with their work with the students. Kate and Seamus near the end of their workshops. Fidget Feet near the end of their preparations for the parade. Peter Crann returns with his percussion workshops. Sean O’Laoire and his puppet theatre entertain the students. Sean-Nos All-Ireland dance champion Emma O’Sullivan visits the schools.

Karin Joyce returns with her knitting workshop. Music today with John Durning and Lol Hardiman. Rosalyn Coneys conducts her weaving workshop. The Curlew Theatre company visit the schools.

Friday 25 Today’s main event will be a grand finale end-of-week concert showcasing the talent that has been so carefully nurtured during the early part of the week. Sit back and enjoy the myriad talents on show today. Special thanks to all involved in the preparation. Kate, Seamus, John, Michael, Marie, Lol, John, Shona, and all the staff who participated. Take a bow!! School Film festival concludes. The Curlew Theatre Company perform for the schools. Fidget Feet finish their preparations for the parade.

Norbert Stolz visits the schools. CLIFDEN ARTS FESTIVAL 2015

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Clifden Arts Festival acknowledges and thanks the great contribution to the Arts Festival of all our great local musicians. Some of these musicians include; Eugene Barry, Marie Walsh, John Gerard Walsh, Liz and Yvonne Kane, Michael Roche, Mirella Murray, Peter Carey, Peter Carey Jnr, Michael Carey, Liam Aspell, Martin Conroy, Adam Conroy, Sean Halpenny, Kevin Barry, Michael McNamara (Clifden), Michael McNamara (Roundstone), Colin Hannon, Wesley Pollington, Feichin Mitchell, Adam Conroy, Aidan Curran, Kieran Coyne, Frank Coyne, PJ McInerney, Pat Flaherty, Pat Keaney, Phil Coyne, Gerry Hannon, Simon Kearns, Tom Scullion, David Slevin, Danny Scullion, Nicholas Timothy, Ryan Murtagh, Tom Mullen, Paddy Newman, Richie Newman, Eamon McLoughlin, Tom Wallace, Liam Aspell, John Durning, Jarlath Hession, Paul Mulligan, Pat O’Toole, James Mullen, Michael Connolly, Martin Sullivan, Eileen O’Malley, Seanie Vaughan, Shane Flaherty and Kenneth Coyne . Clifden Arts Festival acknowledges the support of and wishes success to all our local sports clubs in the coming year. Best of luck to all the Galway teams competing in the All-Ireland finals. Clifden Arts Festival thanks the Clifden Town Hall Committee. Thanks to Bridie O’Neill, Mary Carey and Ivor Duane. Thanks to Mary McDonagh and Percy Hyland for running the Festival Box Office and for their enormous help with administration. Thanks to Bernhard Sanders for his digital archiving expertise. Thanks to Jamie Howard and Paddy Howard for the use of their photos. The Arts Festival remembers Adam McElderry, Eithne Carr, Francis Harvey, Phelim Donlon and Aidan Ward.

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Clifden Arts Festival / Thursday 17

GENERAL PROGRAMME CLIFDEN ARTS FESTIVAL 2015

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Thursday 17 / Clifden Arts Festival

Louis de Paor Poetry reading with Dr. Louis de Paor. Louis has been involved with the contemporary renaissance of poetry in Irish since 1980 when he was first published in the poetry journal Innti. SPECIAL ARTS FESTIVAL EVENT

A drama group of people with different abilities, presents a sensory exploration through music, mime and poetry drawing on themes of friendship and community. Devised and directed by Ros Coyne. Many thanks to Jean Mullan.

He is a four-time winner of the Oireachtas prize for the best collection of poems in Irish. He lived, worked and published in Australia from 1987 to 1996. Ag greadadh bas sa reilig / Clapping In The Cemetery was published in 2005. His most recent collection The Brindled Cat And The Nightingale’s Tongue was published by Bloodaxe Press. He is the director of the Centre for Irish Studies in NUIG.

Sponsored by Paving the Way.

Sponsored by John Stanley.

DATE 17 SEPTEMBER, 1PM

DATE 17 SEPTEMBER, 4PM

VENUE STATION HOUSE THEATRE TICKETS €5

VENUE CLIFDEN LIBRARY TICKETS €5

True North

Official Festival Opening

Clifden Arts Festival welcomes back from Seattle, Bruce ‘Lefty’ Batten, Gareth ‘Doc’ Tabor, Dennis ‘Dusty’ Walsh, Toni ‘Tumbleweed’ London, Janet ‘Calamity’ Tabor and Ben ‘Blind Boy’ Cockman for their 10th Clifden Arts Festival. Bringing you the sound of America’s western saloons, barn dances, front porches and parlors with their traditional and original new tunes — now let’s Rodeo!

The 38th Festival opening by Chair of the Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon Sheila Pratschke. Join us with the award-winning West Coast Grupai Cheoils and Ceili Bands, Clifden Comhaltas. Led by their teacher Marie Walsh, expect a lively arrangement of the traditional Irish music, song and dance from this group of young performers! Sponsored by Anne Ueltschi.

DATE 17 SEPTEMBER, 12PM

DATE 17 SEPTEMBER, 7PM

VENUE ST. ANNE’S NURSING HOME OTHER APPEARANCES SEE QUICKFIND INDEX PAGE 65

VENUE WEST CONNEMARA LEISURE CENTRE DURATION 90MINS

MoonMagic

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Clifden Arts Festival / Thursday 17

Mick Flannery

WITH SPECIAL GUEST CASEY BLACK

At the end of the day and the heel of the hunt, you’re left with the songs. Everything else comes and goes – the shows and the tours and the applause and the acclaim, which goes with them, the prattle and the palaver which accompany an album release. Everything else fades out of view. Everything else doesn’t matter in the long run. But the songs remain. The songs you write on your own stick around. They’re going to be here for many years to come so they deserve to be treated with due care and utmost respect in the creation process. Mick Flannery realised this a long time ago. He also realised that songwriting was the best part of this strange job of being a jobbing-giggingtalking-singing musician. Sponsored by AIB. DATE 17 SEPTEMBER, 9PM VENUE STATION HOUSE THEATRE TICKETS €15 AVAILABLE ONLINE

My Fellow Sponges Galway city based My Fellow Sponges have been slowly winning over fans with their onstage theatrics and often unpredictable, but seamless movement between musical styles and moods. They first starting raising eyebrows with their brilliantly kaleidoscopic video for This Dream Song. Their debut album, Bonne Nuit has been described as “a display of the band’s determination not to be typecast.” Last year saw the release of the Something Like Light EP which reveals a more reflective side of the band.

“Mick Flannery is a singing and songwriting force to be reckoned with.” Siobhán Long, Irish Times

“My Fellow Sponges are as bizarre as they are brilliant in their peculiar sonic way — that on any given song can include ukulele, glockenspiel, harmonium, banjo, flute, drums. On stage, this progfolk Arcade Fireon-acid sound can extend to include a brass band playing, as well as mime artists, dancers and actors in excelsis”. Barry Egan, independent.ie

Their live shows make pleasing leaps from jangly folk to hip-swinging bossa to eerie minimalism refreshingly instilling each of these styles with their own personalities.

DATE 17 SEPTEMBER, 10:30PM VENUE MULLARKEY’S BAR TICKETS €5

CLIFDEN ARTS FESTIVAL 2015

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Friday 18 / Clifden Arts Festival

Lecture - Living Soulfully Lecture by psychotherapist Benig Mauger. Jungian psychotherapist, writer, lecturer and pioneer in human consciousness. Concerned with the ways in which technology and modern living has resulted in “loss of soul”, she combines her training and experience in Jungian depth psychology, pre- and perinatal psychology and spiritual awareness to look at ways of restoring soul to human life. Benig is a profound and engaging speaker as well as transformational teacher, healer and workshop leader.

Talk by John Fanning

The title of today’s lecture is Living Soulfully: Spiritual Well-Being In Everyday Life.

A Century Since the Rising: Out with the Formorians; Bring on the Tuatha De Dannan. John has a longstanding commitment to the arts, and has served on the boards of the Abbey Theatre and Rough Magic Theatre company and is a member of the Arts Council. He recently completed a PhD in the English Department in UCD on the cultural connections between Thomas Kinsella, Sean Ó Riada and T.K. Whitaker in the 1950s and 1960s.

DATE 18 SEPTEMBER, 10AM

DATE 18 SEPTEMBER, 12NOON

VENUE FOYLE’S HOTEL TICKETS €5

VENUE STATION HOUSE THEATRE TICKETS €5

Reading with Poets Gaston and Hanberry

Walking With History Field trip exploration of the Renvyle Peninsula and Kylemore Valley led by acclaimed archaeologist Michael Gibbons. Bring a light lunch. Boots and outdoor gear needed. Booking in advance is essential to 095-21379. “For Gibbons, history is only a squint away; tag along on one of his treks and you’ll never look at a peat bog the same way again.” Michael Dolan, Outdoor Magazine.

Elaine Gaston was awarded the No Alibi’s Prize at the Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry, Queen’s University and she currently holds an ACE Award for poetry from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. Her latest collection is The Lie of the Land (Doire Press 2015). Gerard Hanberry is an award-winning Irish poet, writer and teacher. His most recent poetry collection is What Our Shoes Say About Us and was published by Salmon Poetry in July 2014 and follows At Grattan Road (Salmon Poetry 2009). Sponsored by Connemara Florist.

DATE 18 SEPTEMBER, 11AM - RETURNING 4PM

DATE 18 SEPTEMBER, 1PM

VENUE MEETING POINT AT MARKET SQUARE, CLIFDEN

VENUE CLIFDEN LIBRARY

COST €30PP INCLUDES TRANSPORTATION

TICKETS €5

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Clifden Arts Festival / Friday 18

Reading with Paul Durcan Clifden Arts Festival welcomes back Paul Durcan. Dublin-born Paul Durcan writings are funny, subversive narratives and self-mocking poems of underachievement, poems celebrating love and sex or the lives of famous writers and artists as well as tender, poignant verses commemorating the dead. His books include The Art of Life; The Laughter of Mothers; Life is a Dream; and Praise in Which I Live and Move and Have My Being.

Elizabeth Cooney (violin) and Finghin Collins (piano)

His latest collection, published this year, The Days of Surprise, is full of surprises! Throughout his long career, Durcan has continued to create passionate and moving poetry out of his own and his country’s misfortunes. He is by turns a surrealist, a mystic, an Irish comedian with perfect comic timing and an angry champion of the oppressed. Elizabeth Cooney and Finghin Collins come together again as a violin and piano duo to perform Schubert’s Grand Duo, Szymanowski’s Greek inspired Mythes (recorded with Szymanowski on violin and Bartok on piano in 1921) and two miniatures by the same composer Notturno and Tarantella Op.28. The concert will also feature Elgar’s only work for violin and piano, which he described as ‘full of golden sounds’. Finghin Collins enjoys a flourishing career that embraces Ireland, Europe, the United States and Asia, and is one of the most important musicians to emerge from Ireland in recent times. Elizabeth is one of the most talented violinists to have emerged from Ireland and performs internationally as soloist, chamber musician and orchestral leader.

“To have heard Paul Durcan read adds another pleasure to the reading of his work - but the voice speaks clearly on the page in poems of harrowing intimacy, politics and love.” Carol Ann Duffy

This evening’s programme will be: Schubert: Sonata for Violin & Piano in A major, “Grand Duo” Szymanowski: Mythes for Violin and Piano,Op.30 Elgar: Sonata for Violin and Piano in E minor, Op.82 Szymanowski: Notturno and Tarantella, Op.28 Thanks to Ann Fuller and the Dublin International Piano Competition. Classicallinks tour funded by an Arts Council Touring Award and supported by RTÉ Lyric fm. Thanks to Madeleine Flanagan.

Sponsored by the Clifden Book Shop.

Sponsored by Helen and Vincent Foley.

DATE 18 SEPTEMBER, 5PM

DATE 18 SEPTEMBER, 8PM

VENUE STATION HOUSE THEATRE TICKETS €10 AVAILABLE ONLINE

VENUE CHURCH OF IRELAND TICKETS €15 AVAILABLE ONLINE CLIFDEN ARTS FESTIVAL 2015

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Friday 18 / Clifden Arts Festival A MUSIC NETWORK EVENT

Kathleen MacInnes, Dermot Byrne, Brian Finnegan and Mike Vass If you haven’t caught award-winning singer Kathleen MacInnes live before, you’re in for a real treat. On stage the Hebridean songbird is a natural, sharing a joke one minute then breaking hearts the next with a soulful, earthy voice that lingers with the listener long after the last note has been sung. A regular performer at the prestigious Celtic Connections festival, in 2010 her singing reached audiences worldwide after being featured in Ridley Scott’s film Robin Hood. Her musical co-conspirators combine creativity and virtuosity in equal measure. Best known for his work with Altan, legendary box player Dermot Byrne has collaborated with everyone from The Chieftains and Sharon Shannon to The Stunning and Stéphane Grappelli. Founder member of ground-breaking acts Flook and Kan, flute and whistle player Brian Finnegan has also performed with such stellar artists as Cara Dillon, Kate Rusby and Russian group Aquarium, while Scottish guitar and fiddle maestro Mike Vass, a recipient of the prestigious ‘Composer of the Year’ at the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards, has toured extensively with leading Scots song band Malinky.

“Brian Finnegan is without doubt one of the world’s finest whistle players.” The Living Tradition

“Sublimely beautiful and lyrical...” - Americana UK (on Vass)

Kathleen MacInnes, voice Dermot Byrne, accordion Brian Finnegan, flute/whistle Mike Vass, guitar/fiddle

“A voice like peat smoke and good whiskey, as robust, sassy and soulful as it is supple and expressive.” The Guardian (on MacInnes) Sponsored by John and Frances Corless. Thanks to Sharon, Andreas, Niamh and all at Music Network. DATE 18 SEPTEMBER, 10PM VENUE STATION HOUSE THEATRE TICKETS €15 AVAILABLE ONLINE 28 C L I F D E N A R T S F E S T I V A L 2 0 1 5

“Displaying a delicate and sensitive touch Dermot Byrne has brought his accordion into new territory. Every note has a sweetness to it and every track glistens.” Trad Connect


Clifden Arts Festival / Friday 18 - Saturday 19

Writer’s Workshop

Traditional Irish Session John Joe Forde & Mike Fahey Celebrating Culture Night with John Joe Forde and Mike Fahey. Clifden Arts Festival welcomes back John Joe Forde and Mike Fahey for their annual traditional Irish music session in Vaughan’s Bar. Bringing the powerful tradition of East Galway music to Connemara in what promises to be yet another powerful night!

Writer’s workshop with poet Colm Keegan. Colm is a writer and performance artist from Dublin. Since 2005 he has been shortlisted four times for the Hennessy New Irish Writing Award for both poetry and fiction and won the All-Ireland Poetry Slam in 2010! In 2011 he was nominated for the Dublin Fringe’s ‘Little Gem’ award for the spoken word play he co-wrote with Stephen James Smith and Kalle Ryan, Three Men Talking About Things They Kinda Know About. His debut collection of poems, Don’t Go There was published by Salmon Press in 2012. Sponsored Sponsored by Eddie and Mary Foyle.

DATE 18 SEPTEMBER, 10PM

DATE 19 SEPTEMBER, 9AM

VENUE VAUGHAN’S BAR TICKETS FREE EVENT

VENUE FOYLE’S HOTEL TICKETS €10

ALBUM LAUNCH

Nicholas Timothy

Come and enjoy a lively night of original Blues, Folk and Soul music, as Nicholas launches his fourth album. No stranger to the spotlight Nicholas has been part of the Clifden Arts Festival for many years. Guaranteed to charm and soothe you with his original blend of music in the company of many local and well-loved musicians.

Guided Walk Through the years Connemara has boasted a number of famous and infamous residents, many of whom chose Christ Church graveyard as their final resting place. A tour of the graveyard with the knowledgeable historian, Kathleen Villiers-Tuthill, is a stroll through the history of the town from its foundation in 1812 to the present day. Duration of walk is 60 minutes.

DATE 18 SEPTEMBER, 10:30PM VENUE MULLARKEY’S BAR (FOYLE’S HOTEL) TICKETS €5

DATE 19 SEPTEMBER, 10:30AM VENUE MEET AT MARKET SQUARE, CLIFDEN TICKETS FREE EVENT CLIFDEN ARTS FESTIVAL 2015

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Saturday 19 / Clifden Arts Festival

CHILDREN’S EVENT

The Clifden Fairy Trail Last year, the fairy Jil flew over Clifden and was so impressed that she left a note for the Tidy Towns Group saying she had decided to stay for a while. She moved into the Library and told all her friends about the colourful town full of flowers and very nice people.

Talk: The Magic of Yeats A talk by internationally acclaimed poet and scholar Bernard O’Donoghue. Bernard O’Donoghue was born in Cullen, County Cork, in 1945, later moving to Manchester. He studied Medieval English at Oxford University, where he is a teacher and Fellow in English at Wadham College. He is a poet and literary critic, and author of Seamus Heaney and the Language of Poetry (1995). His poetry collections are Poaching Rights (1987); The Weakness (1991); Gunpowder (1995), winner of the 1995 Whitbread Poetry Award; Here Nor There (1999); and Outliving (2003). His work of verse translation, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, was published in 2006 and Selected Poems in 2008. Bernard O’Donoghue received a Cholmondeley Award in 2009. His most recent poetry collection is Farmers Cross (2011) and was shortlisted for the 2011 T. S. Eliot Prize.

Children left little notes for her and she was so happy that she decided to make Clifden her forever home. During the summer, her family and friends have been visiting and have decided to make Clifden their home too, but we are not sure where. We do know that fairies are very shy, but with your help we might find them, will you join us and find out? Please note children must be accompanied by an adult, fancy dress optional. DATE 19 SEPTEMBER, 11:30AM VENUE MEET AT THE CLIFDEN LIBRARY COST FAIRY MAP €2 IN AID OF THE CLIFDEN TIDY TOWNS

Trad Music Workshop with Marie Walsh

Sponsored by Ronnie and Francoise Millar.

Trad Music Workshop by All Ireland Champion Marie Walsh. Variety of instruments welcome. Participants must be able to play tunes. All welcome to come and listen.

DATE 19 SEPTEMBER, 11AM

DATE 19 SEPTEMBER, 12-2PM

VENUE STATION HOUSE THEATRE TICKETS €10

VENUE THE CENTRAL TICKETS FREE EVENT

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Clifden Arts Festival / Saturday 19

CHILDREN’S EVENT

Children’s Entertainment on the Square with Macnas

“simply one of the best folk duos on the planet” BBC

Concert: Zoë Conway and John McIntyre With an exciting blend of eclectic fiddle and guitar music, Zoë Conway and John McIntyre bring to the stage sympathetic arrangements of traditional Irish music, compositions and songs, old and new. The husband and wife folk duo possesses a rare facility to draw pieces into their repertoire from other genres such as classical, jazz and world music and express this material in way which not only displays the sheer range and knowledge of both instrumentalists but also exhibits the wonderful versatility of their instruments. The recent release of their critically acclaimed album entitled Go Mairir I Bhfad (Long Life To You) has brought international attention to the duo, and so they are increasingly in demand in Ireland and abroad. The album received a glorious five stars from national paper, The Irish Times.

Maya the Elephant and her troupe of sassy brassy musicians come to Clifden for the day to dance, to prance, to waltz and to entertain. This magical Macnas walkabout is a treat for families and all music lovers. Keep your eyes peeled for Maya who wiggles, giggles and wows, as she and her band put a pep in your step and a shizzle to your grizzle! This is a boutique Macnas show; a mini walkabout with a large lovely lassie who brings music, frivolity and wonder with her band of brassy maestros to the town.

“a sense of creativity lurking around corners, catching the audience unawares” The Irish Times DATE 19 SEPTEMBER, 2PM AND 4PM VENUE MARKET SQUARE TICKETS FREE EVENT

Clifden and Environs Garden Visits

Sponsored by Peter and Paula Vine.

Clifden and environs garden visits, (transport provided) to a commercial organic vegetable garden, an old walled garden, an old house seaside garden and a retirement garden. Clifden Arts Festival thanks to Dr. Gary Brow and Will Williams.

DATE 19 SEPTEMBER, 1PM

DATE 19 SEPTEMBER, 2-5PM

VENUE CHURCH OF IRELAND TICKETS €10

VENUE ST. JOSEPH’S CHURCH CAR PARK TICKETS FREE EVENT CLIFDEN ARTS FESTIVAL 2015

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Saturday 19 / Clifden Arts Festival

Clifden Writers’ Group Special Arts Festival reading with Clifden Writers’ Group. The annual festival get-together of the Clifden Writer’s Group, who will be reading a selection of poetry and prose from their members. Everyone welcome. DATE 19 SEPTEMBER, 2PM VENUE FOYLE’S HOTEL TICKETS FREE EVENT

Launch: Keats Lives by Moya Cannon Launch of Moya Cannon’s poetry collection by Tim Robinson. Keats Lives is Moya Cannon’s fifth collection of poetry. Her previous collection, Hands, (Carcanet Press, Manchester) was shortlisted for the 2012 Irish Times/Poetry Now award. Originally from County Donegal, she has spent most of her adult life in Galway and now lives in Dublin. Her poems reflect preoccupations with our visceral attachment to the beauty of the earth, with music, with language itself and with archaeology. The work sings of deep connections - the impulse to ritual and pattern that, across centuries, defines us a human, a web of interdependences that sustain the ‘gratuitous beauty’ of the planet. A winner of the Brendan Behan award and of the Lawrence O’Shaughnessy award, she has edited Poetry Ireland Review and was 2011 Heimbold Professor of Irish Studies at Villanova University. She is a member of Aosdána. Tim Robinson is a writer and cartographer and lives in Roundstone with his wife Máiréad. He is the author of several books which include his Connemara trilogy; Connemara: Listening to the Wind (Penguin 2006), Connemara: The Last Pool of Darkness (Penguin 2008) and Connemara: A Little Gaelic Kingdom (Penguin 2011).

Youth Trad Music Session

Youth Session led by Marie Walsh with participants from their earlier Trad Music Workshop, Clifden Youth Musicians and lots more young performers. All Welcome for an afternoon of music, song, dance and fun! DATE 19 SEPTEMBER, 3PM VENUE TOM KING’S TICKETS FREE EVENT

Trial by Jury Time to visit the attic and find your top hats and Victorian parasols etc.. You are invited to sing along with Gilbert and Sullivan’s Trial by Jury in the Victorian courthouse at 6pm and again at 9pm. Cantarai Chonamara are joined by members of the Galway Baroque singers and their legal teams. Victorian dress appreciated. The Peelers on the door will see to that and the judge will have his eye out for the best-dressed!

Music today is by harpist Kathleen Loughnane.

Sponsored by Noel and Kate Noonan. Thanks to Pat Conlon, Courts Service, Castlebar.

DATE 19 SEPTEMBER, 2:30PM

DATE 19 SEPTEMBER, 5PM AND 9PM

VENUE STATION HOUSE THEATRE TICKETS €5

VENUE CLIFDEN COURTHOUSE TICKETS €10

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Clifden Arts Festival / Saturday 19 BOOK LAUNCH

The Mountain Ash The Mountain Ash by poet Joan McBreen is set by hand in 18pt Caslon by Mary Plunkett of the Belgrave Private Press and letterpress printed on Farley proofing press. Accompanied by an original etching by artist Margaret West and printed on 280gsm BRK Rives paper. The special limited edition of 150 prints is signed by the poet and artist, dated and numbered. It is available framed in oiled ash frame by Westshore Gallery or in a cloth bound and embossed in a linen print folder. The broadside is commissioned by Joan McBreen and published by Artisan House, Connemara. www.artisanhouse.ie. The launch will be conducted by Des Kavanagh. Thanks to Mary and Vincent (Artisan House). DATE 19 SEPTEMBER, 5PM VENUE FESTIVAL GALLERY (OLD SUPERVALU BUILDING) TICKETS FREE EVENT

Gracenotes We are delighted to welcome back Gracenotes to Clifden having given us a highly acclaimed performance earlier this year. Established in 1999, Gracenotes is based in Ballyhaunis, County Mayo, with over 30 singers drawn from the locality and surrounding counties. This female-voice choir performs a varied repertoire, mostly a capella, ranging from early music to contemporary, and includes a selection of spirituals and folk music to add a lighter touch.The choir has won major awards

at festivals at Limerick, Navan, Sligo and at the Cork International Choral Festival. The choir also travels widely and has performed at concerts in Italy, Hungary, Czech Republic, Spain, Poland and most recently in France. The choir is conducted by Laura Brogan, one of its founding members. We are privileged to have a choir of such exceptional talent to perform for us at this years Clifden Arts Festival. DATE 19 SEPTEMBER, 6PM VENUE CHURCH OF IRELAND TICKETS €10

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Saturday 19 / Clifden Arts Festival LOCO AND RECKLESS PRODUCTIONS PRESENT

The Man in the Woman’s Shoes WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY MIKEL MURFI. DATE 19 SEPTEMBER, 8PM VENUE TOWN HALL THEATRE DURATION RUNNING TIME: 75 MINUTES TICKETS €15 AVAILABLE ONLINE

The Man In The Woman’s Shoes follows Pat as he walks the five miles from his white cottage to town and back again. He meets unforgettable characters along the way, including water diviner Huby Patterson, GAA enthusiast extraordinaire Kitsy Rainey, big-voiced Casimir Marshall, an array of farmers all named Gilmartin and Kemp, a man whose idea of a good time is to direct traffic wherever he may find it. Pat may be an ageing man but he has a boundless enthusiasm for life. “It’s half time, there’s a pipe band on the field and the smell of oranges all of a sudden – ah, this is the life!” Mikel Murfi (The Walworth Farce, Ballyturk) delivers an ingenious and imaginative performance in this hilariously funny, tender and at times downright daft play that will leave you uplifted and in love with life again. The Man In The Woman’s Shoes was developed with Sligo County Council Arts Service and Hawk’s Well Theatre, Sligo as part of Bealtaine 2012. Sponsored by Bill and Denise Whelan.

“Astonishing acting … A high-top performance” - The New York Times

“A physical comedian, blessed with plastic features, and with the vocal range of a ventriloquist, Murfi makes sheep, pigs, dogs, and even bees, come to life” - Irish Theatre Magazine

“I appeal to you to watch out for it … it’s an enchanting show … Hilarious … One of the most delightful theatrical experiences I’ve had in a long time” - Gay Byrne, RTE

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Clifden Arts Festival / Saturday 19

“These three mean business and achieve art. Bravo.” - Earle Hitchner. The Wall Street Journal A fantastic night of traditional music with Máirtín O’Connor (accordion), Seamie O’Dowd (guitars, vocals) and Cathal Hayden (fiddle, banjo). Máirtín O’Connor is one of the most respected and best loved musicians ever to emerge from Ireland. One of the main musical forces behind the now legendary Riverdance phenomenon, through his work with De Dannan, Midnight Well and Skylark and also as a solo artist he has quite simply gone where no Irish accordion player had gone before. Cathal Hayden needs no introduction to anyone even remotely familiar with traditional Irish music. A multiple All-Ireland Championship winner, he achieved world-wide recognition as one of the founder members of Four Men and a Dog. He is one of Ireland’s top fiddlers and his solo banjo performances are quite simply show-stopping.

TRADITIONAL CONCERT

The Máirtín O’Connor Trio DATE 19 SEPTEMBER, 10PM VENUE STATION HOUSE THEATRE TICKETS €15 AVAILABLE ONLINE

Seamie O’Dowd’s musical abilities have become increasingly familiar at international level in recent years. Rooted deeply in the traditional music of Sligo, he has played in many genres of acoustic and electric music. He toured the world for a number of years with Sligo trad legends Dervish and recently has played both home and abroad with Liam O’Flynn, Matt Molloy and Mary McPartlan.

Sponsored by John and Treena Sweeney. Thanks to Ronan, Mandy and all the staff at the Clifden Station House Hotel.

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Saturday 19 / Clifden Arts Festival

“…one of the best, robust listening experiences you’re likely to have all year.” - Rolling Stone Magazine

David Lyttle DATE 19 SEPTEMBER, 10PM VENUE MULLARKEY’S BAR TICKETS €10

David Lyttle returns to Clifden playing tracks from Faces featuring vocalists Rhea Lyttle and Anne Lyttle, rising star London-based rapper Zane, US jazz saxophonist Meilana Gillard, Derry keyboardist John Leighton and bassist Keith Duffy of The Corrs. Known as much for his eclectic studio projects as his jazz drumming, County Armagh musician, songwriter, producer, doctor of music and record label owner David Lyttle began performing professionally at the age of four in his family folk group The Lyttle Family and has gone on to tour in over fifteen countries. His recently-released third album Faces features his collaborations with hip-hop visionary Talib Kweli, jazz icon Joe Lovano, Irish music star Duke Special and family singers Rhea and Anne Lyttle. His media fans are just as diverse and include Rolling Stone magazine in the US, who hailed Faces as one of this year’s best listening experiences, Japanese radio giant JWave, RTE Radio 1’s John Creedon and BBC’s Lauren Laverne. The album’s first single, Lullaby For The Lost, topped the Jazz FM playlist in March and April. With major live dates at home and abroad, and Faces commanding international attention, 2015 is David’s biggest year to date.

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Clifden Arts Festival / Sunday 20

HERB WALK

TALK — SPECIAL ARTS FESTIVAL EVENT

Identify Local Herbs

Riverdance Revisited

Herb Walk. Local herbs. Identification. How to use. For what problems. Tasting, edibility, stories. Nicolas Kats is an USA-trained Naturopathic Doctor and a licensed acupuncturist.

On the 20th anniversary of the extraordinary phenomenon that is Riverdance, Bill Whelan reflects on the genesis and the life of Riverdance. Renowned composer, producer and arranger Bill Whelan has worked extensively in theatre, film and television. His Grammy winning album of music for Riverdance The Show is certified Platinum in the US, Ireland and Australia. His orchestral work, The Seville Suite was specially commissioned for Expo ’92. The Spirit Of Mayo, was first performed in 1993 by and 85-piece orchestra in Dublin’s National Concert Hall. As a producer he has worked with U2, Van Morrison, Kate Bush, Richard Harris, The Dubliners, Planxty, Andy Irvine, Patrick Street, Stockton’s Wing, Davy Spillane. His recently completed trilogy of pieces for chamber orchestra: Inishlacken, Carna and Errisbeg are included on his latest CD, The Connemara Suite.

DATE 20 SEPTEMBER, 10AM-11:15AM VENUE MEET AT THE CHURCH OF IRELAND FREE EVENT DONATIONS TO THE FESTIVAL WELCOME

Open Aerial Workshops Want to learn to fly? Now is your chance! In this workshop for beginners you will learn the basics of aerial cocoon work. Working in bare feet discover basic climbs, keys and short sequences. Make sure you are not wearing jewellery, and please have hair tied back. No shorts or belly-tops. Tight leggings or tracksuit bottoms only. To book contact Adam via email: adam@fidgetfeet.com or 0879887530 to reserve your place. 11.00–12.30 / Adult and Child (Children 4-7yrs) (one adult per child / 14 pair capacity) 13.00–14.30 / 8-10yrs / 21 person capacity 15.00–16.30 / 11-14yrs / 21 person capacity

DATE 20 SEPTEMBER, 1PM VENUE CHURCH OF IRELAND TICKETS €10

Coffee Morning Annual Arts Festival coffee morning in aid of the Mental Health Association with music and special guests.

Sponsored by Pobal.

DATE 20 SEPTEMBER, 11:30AM

DATE 20 SEPTEMBER, 11:30AM

VENUE CLADDAGHDUFF HALL (THANKS TO THE COMMITTEE) COST €5 PER CHILD

VENUE THE ELM TREE CENTRE FREE EVENT €5 CLIFDEN ARTS FESTIVAL 2015

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Sunday 20 / Clifden Arts Festival

Here to There — and Back

Mick Delap & Gerard Smyth

Talk with Robyn Rowland and Gary Banks with Carmel Macdonald Grahame. Robyn’s two new books explore themes from the landings and experiences at Gallipoli to the tensions of living in two countries. Line of Drift grows out of Connemara and Australia while This Intimate War Gallipoli/Çanakkale 1915 – İçlİ Dışlı Bİr Savaş: Gelİbolu/Çanakkale 1915 with Turkish translations by Mehmet Ali Celikel. She is joined by musician Gary and writer Carmel.

Reading with Poets Gerard Smyth and Mick Delap. Gerard has published eight collections of poetry, including, A Song of Elsewhere (Dedalus Press 2015), and The Fullness of Time: New and Selected Poems (Dedalus Press, 2010). He was the 2012 recipient of the O’Shaughnessy Poetry Award and is co-editor of If Ever You Go: A Map of Dublin in Poetry and Song (Dedalus Press) which was Dublin’s One City One Book in 2014. He is a member of Aosdána and is the Poetry Editor of The Irish Times. After retiring from the BBC World Service, Mick channelled his energies into poetry and sailing. In 2003 he bought his small gaff cutter North Star and published his first collection, River Turning Tidal (Lagan Poetry Press, Belfast). His new collection Opening Time (Arlen Press) follows him as he tacks round Ireland and through grandfatherhood, vividly portraying a sense of life richly lived and imaginatively examined.

DATE 20 SEPTEMBER, 3PM VENUE STATION HOUSE THEATRE TICKETS €10

Music with Lynn Saoirse on the Irish Harp.

Singing in the Bookies

Sponsored by Tom Mannion. DATE 20 SEPTEMBER, 5PM

Now in its sixth amazing year this entertainment gathers an audience in Paddy Power’s that exceeds attendances there for Derbies and Grand Nationals! Poems, songs and recitations about horses, ponies and greyhounds illuminate the evening in a presentation by local and national crowd-pleasers. Des Kavanagh and Orla Fisher, well-known Dublin comedienne, compere. Paddy Powers kindly sponsor cheese and wine. Sponsored by Matt O’Sullivan. DATE 20 SEPTEMBER, 6:15PM, DURATION 90MINS APPROX VENUE PADDY POWERS BOOKMAKERS TICKETS FREE EVENT 38 C L I F D E N A R T S F E S T I V A L 2 0 1 5

VENUE STATION HOUSE THEATRE TICKETS €10


Performing all of your favourites, Finbar Wright returns to the 38th Clifden Arts Festival. Accompanied by top-class musicians, Finbar is marking twenty-five years of making heart-warming music, not only on this legendary stage in Clifden, where he made his debut at the very beginning of his career, but, also, on stages all around the world. Ranked as one of the finest voices of modern times and Ireland’s best-loved tenor, this will be a night of beautiful songs, some laughter, lots of smiles, and, above all, excellent entertainment! Ever since he released his first album Because in 1990, Finbar Wright has been a household name in Ireland. Twenty five years on, his achievements have been impressive, surpassing even the high expectations of music gurus such as producers Mike Batt and Phil Coulter who both worked on some of his earliest albums and correctly predicted that he would be a world star. He has performed in all the major concert halls around the globe from the Albert Hall in London to Sydney Opera House; from the Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles to Carnegie Hall, New York. Working alongside some of the greatest orchestras in the world, he has sung with famous performers as diverse as Jerry Lee Lewis and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, and from Bryn Terfel of Wales to Montserrat Caballé of Spain.

CELEBRATING 25 YEARS — CONCERT WITH THE GREAT

Finbar Wright DATE 20 SEPTEMBER, 8PM

VENUE ST. JOSEPH’S CHURCH TICKETS €20 AVAILABLE ONLINE

Sponsored by Anne Ueltschi. Thanks to Canon James Ronayne. CLIFDEN ARTS FESTIVAL 2015

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Sunday 20 / Clifden Arts Festival

Ryan Murtagh 22 year old singer-songwriter Ryan Murtagh brings his unique new style to the word “Acoustic”. Raised in Clifden, it was there that he found his love for music. In 2013 he moved to Dublin to pursue a career in music and has since perfected the art of the loop pedal, bringing a whole new sound and art to the acoustic guitar. A homecoming show not to be missed! DATE 20 SEPTEMBER, 9PM VENUE O’MALLEY’S BAR TICKETS FREE EVENT

Sharon Murphy Sharon Murphy is not your typical singersongwriter. She has a unique and unforgettable voice and a warm and relaxed stage presence built up through years of experience. When Sharon performed on The Voice UK in January 2015, Britain sat up and took notice, especially when she brought Tom Jones to tears with her stunning version of Bob Dylan’s’ Forever Young. Seven-time Grammy Award winner Will-I-Am, a judge on the show, told Sharon “When you sing, it’s effortless, it comes from a magical place, it’s like medicine – you’re a Doctor of Music – You got it! The YouTube video of her performance has been seen by 1.5 million people worldwide.

Traditional concert with Dermot McLaughlin and Fintan Vallely. A concert of music, song and crack with an Ulster slant from two provincial exiles, Fintan Vallely (flute and vocals) and Dermot (fiddle). Dermot and Fintan have been around the world with their music and this concert sees them in a wonderful amalgam of regional and personal styles and slants.

She writes songs straight from the heart, personal songs that touch a universal chord in anybody who takes the time to listen. Her album of original songs, called Invisible Walls is available on iTunes, and a new album is in the planning stages. In concert, she is a bundle of contradictions. Serious one minute, laughing and joking the next, telling stories that turn into songs, putting everyday heartbreak under the microscope so that we can all see, and recognise ourselves in the mirror she holds before us. A treat in store tonight!

DATE 20 SEPTEMBER, 10PM

DATE 20 SEPTEMBER, 10:30PM

VENUE STATION HOUSE THEATRE TICKETS €10

VENUE MULLARKEY’S BAR TICKETS €5

Trad - McLaughlin & Vallely

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Clifden Arts Festival / Monday 21 ANÚ PICTURES PRESENT A DOCUMENTARY FILM BY DONAL O’CEILLEACHAIR.

Ó Chúil Aodha Go hOileán Í—From Coolea To Iona Lecture: The Man I Knew A lecture by Tom Kenny. Remembering the late, great author Walter Macken on the centenary of his birth.

Founded by legendary Irish composer Seán Ó Riada in 1963 - and continued after his death in 1971 to this day by his son Peadar - Cór Chúil Aodha (The Coolea Men’s Choir) occupies a legendary place in Irish music and embodies the spirit of an area that is historically rich in both poetry and Irish traditional music.

Walter Macken (1915-1967) was born in Galway. He was a writer of short stories, novels and plays. Originally an actor, principally with the An Taibhdhearc in Galway, and The Abbey Theatre, he played lead roles on Broadway in M. J. Molloy’s The King of Friday’s Men and his own play Home Is the Hero. He acted in films, most notably in Arthur Dreifuss’ adaptation of Brendan Behan’s The Quare Fellow. He is perhaps best known for his trilogy of Irish historical novels Seek the Fair Land, The Silent People and The Scorching Wind. Clifden Arts Festival thanks Tom Kenny for all his help and support over the years. DATE 21 SEPTEMBER, 12NOON VENUE STATION HOUSE THEATRE TICKETS €5

Unpacking An Exhibiton Unpacking an exhibition—an exploration of the curator’s concerns. Helen O’Donoghue of IMMA will discuss with the Community School Leaving Cert Art students how an exhibition is realised from concept to realisation.

With current members that include local farmers, carpenters, teachers, civil servants and businessmen, fathers, sons and grandchildren, the choir represents a vibrant cross-section of the community and a diversity of authentic contemporary voices. This intimate documentary follows the life of the choir over an 8-week period, charting its weekly trials and tribulations - under Peadar’s watchful direction - culminating in a historical visit to the renowned island of Iona with President Michael D. Higgins in the year of the choir’s 50th anniversary. This is the third film in Dónal’s ‘Irish Music Trilogy’ that includes 3-Triúr (2012) and Aisling Gheal (2013). As part of this event the poet Moya Cannon will also launch the DVD of the highly acclaimed film Dreamtime Revisited about the late great John Moriarty (Co-directed by Julius Ziz and Dónal). Sponsored by Gavin Lavelle.

DATE 21 SEPTEMBER, 2PM

DATE 21 SEPTEMBER, 1:30PM

VENUE THE FESTIVAL GALLERY (OLD SUPERVALU) TICKETS FREE EVENT

VENUE STATION HOUSE THEATRE TICKETS €5 CLIFDEN ARTS FESTIVAL 2015

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Monday 21 / Clifden Arts Festival

Reading: Poets Jane Clarke and Mary Turley-McGrath

O’Carolan and Beyond. Lynn Saoirse – Irish Harp

Mary Turley-McGrath grew up in Mount Talbot on the Galway/Roscommon border and now lives in Letterkenny. Her two collections of poetry are New Grass under Snow, (Summer Palace Press 2003) and Forget the Lake, (Arlen House 2014). Jane grew up on a farm in Roscommon and now lives near Glenmalure, County Wicklow. Her first collection The River has just been published by Bloodaxe Press. Sponsored by Poetry Ireland.

Lynn has many recordings to her credit; her highly regarded arrangements of both traditional and contemporary. Irish music include the work of Turlough O’Carolan (1670-1738), the blind harpist known as Ireland’s national composer. Her recording of Carolan’s music has been played on both BBC and Irish radio. The great songwriter Mike Scott of The Waterboys tweeted, ‘Listening to album of O’Carolan harp instrumentals by Lynn Saoirse called The Seas Are Deep. It’s exquisite.’

DATE 21 SEPTEMBER, 4:30PM

DATE 21 SEPTEMBER, 4:30PM

VENUE CLIFDEN LIBRARY

VENUE CONNEMARA SANDS HOTEL (BALLYCONNEELY)

TICKETS €5

TICKETS FREE EVENT

THE GALLERY PRESS READINGS

Gallery Goes… With special help from the Arts Council’s Touring Scheme Gallery Goes allows us to present readings by and discussions with poets at venues and festivals all around the country. Now it is our pleasure to bring Ciaran Carson, Tom French and Michelle O’Sullivan to Clifden. This promises to be a memorable evening of various voices, long-established and new. Michelle’s first collection, The Blue End of Stars, won the Strong Shine Poetry Award. Her latest collection is The Flower And The Frozen Sea. The Gallery Press has published Tom’s three collections: Touching The Bones, which won the Forward Prize for First Collection, The Fire Step and Midnightstown (2014). Ciaran is Professor of Poetry and Director of the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen’s University, Belfast. His awards include the Irish Times Award for Poetry, the inaugural T S Eliot Prize and the Forward Prize. Collected Poems appeared in 2008. His most recent collection is From Elsewhere (after Follain). Sponsored by Tom Mannion. Thanks to Peter Fallon for his help. DATE 21 SEPTEMBER, 8PM VENUE STATION HOUSE THEATRE TICKETS €10 42 C L I F D E N A R T S F E S T I V A L 2 0 1 5


Clifden Arts Festival / Monday 21

Grand Traditional Concert with Matt Cranitch, Jackie Daly, Conal Ó Gráda and special guest poet Bernard O’Donoghue. Jackie Daly and Matt Cranitch are acknowledged masters of the rich musical tradition of Sliabh Luachra in the southwest of Kerry. This region is renowned for its distinctive style of playing and for its unique repertoire. Jackie on accordion and Matt on fiddle will be joined by renowned flute player Conal Ó Gráda whose music brings an added dimension to the ensemble performances. An unique feature of the night will be the appearance of internationally acclaimed poet Bernard O’Donoghue to read some of his poetry. Bernard also a native of Sliabh Luachra shares with the others a deep love of this unique cultural area.

GRAND TRADITIONAL CONCERT

Matt Cranitch Jackie Daly and Conal Ó Gráda WITH SPECIAL GUEST POET BERNARD O’DONOGHUE DATE 21 SEPTEMBER, 10PM,

Sponsored by Walsh’s Bakery and Coffee Shop.

VENUE STATION HOUSE THEATRE TICKETS €15 AVAILABLE ONLINE

Matt and Jackie are the benchmark of the current generation of Sliabh Luachra musicians. – Sally Smith,

Irish Music Magazine

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Tuesday 22 / Clifden Arts Festival

Recital by David Whittle

Reading with Terry McDonagh Reading with poet Terry McDonagh. Terry’s first collection, The Road Out, was published in 1993, though his first publication was his drama I Wanted to bring you Flowers. He has spent a lot of time in Germany and was poet–in–residence in Melbourne in 2001. His latest collection The Truth In Mustard was published in January 2010.

DATE 22 SEPTEMBER, 12NOON VENUE CLIFDEN LIBRARY TICKETS €5

Ragtime Piano with Colm ‘Stride’ O’Brien Colm “Stride” O’Brien plays the works of Ragtime and Stride piano legends Scott Joplin, George Gershwin, and Fats Waller. Colm is Ireland’s leading exponent of Ragtime/Stride Piano and a great friend of the Festival. He has performed regularly in the UK and USA including the prestigious Scott Joplin Festival in Missouri. Tributes to the music of Hoagy Carmichael and The Beatles will be highlights of this concert. Sponsored by Ed and Mary Downe. DATE 22 SEPTEMBER, 3:30PM VENUE ABBEYGLEN CASTLE HOTEL TICKETS €5 44 C L I F D E N A R T S F E S T I V A L 2 0 1 5

David Whittle is Director of Music at Leicester Grammar School, UK. He started his musical education as a chorister at Peterborough Cathedral and went on to read Music at the University of Nottingham, where he later completed a doctorate. He is the author of a biography of the composer Bruce Montgomery who, as Edmund Crispin, also wrote successful detective fiction. David has contributed to publications such as the Oxford Companion to Crime and Mystery Writing, the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and Irish Musical Studies. As an organist he has given recitals across the UK and on the continent, and is currently almost halfway through his 5-year project to play the complete organ works of JS Bach. David is a regular visitor to Ireland and a keen student of Irish musical and literary culture. In July 2016 David will bring a large group of musicians from his school to give concerts in the Connemara area. Organ Music by JS Bach (1685-1750) Prelude and Fugue in E flat major, BWV 552 Wir glauben all’ an einen Gott, BWV 680 Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier, BWV 731 Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 645 Wo soll ich fliehen hin, BWV 646 Toccata and Fugue in D minor (Dorian), BVW 538 DATE 22 SEPTEMBER, 1PM VENUE CHURCH OF IRELAND TICKETS €10


Sticks and stones didn’t break Her bones, but words and pointing crushed Her. Is Beauty really only skin deep? Does Ugliness hide somewhere deeper? This stunning new play is a blackly comic, rich and vivid tale of a life lived in secret, a testament to the people who live on the fringes, under the nose of everyday life. It explores the surface, and what lies underneath. Sponsored by Ballynahinch Castle Hotel. Thanks to Patrick, Des and all the staff.

‘brilliant…striking…excellent…a masterpiece’ ★★★★ - The Irish Times

‘a charming and engaging ninety minutes…Kinevane is a virtuoso performer…a delightful experience.’ - Irish Independent

FISHAMBLE: THE NEW PLAY COMPANY PRESENTS

Underneath WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY PAT KINEVANE DIRECTED BY JIM CULLETON DATE 22 SEPTEMBER, 7PM VENUE TOWN HALL THEATRE TICKETS €15 AVAILABLE ONLINE

‘skillfully crafted...impeccable sound and lighting...visually exciting’ - Sunday Times

‘..beautifully presented and achingly sad...’ ★★★★ - Sunday Business Post

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CELEBRATING 30 YEARS

Cherish The Ladies LIVE IN CONCERT

Sponsored by Bill and Denise Whelan.

DATE 22 SEPTEMBER, 9PM VENUE WEST CONNEMARA LEISURE CENTRE TICKETS €15 AVAILABLE ONLINE

Under the leadership of the dynamic and irrepressible flute and whistle champion Joanie Madden, these ladies (including past student Mirella Murray) create an evening that includes a spectacular blend of virtuoso instrumental talents, beautiful vocals, captivating arrangements, and stunning step dancing. Their continued success as one of the top Celtic groups in the world is due to the ensemble’s ability to take the best of Irish traditional music and dance and put it forth in an immensely entertaining show. They’ve won recognition as the BBC’s Best Musical Group of the Year and named Top North American Celtic Group by both the Irish Music Awards and NPR’s Thistle and Shamrock – not to mention having a street named after them in the Bronx! They’ve collaborated with such notable musicians as The Boston Pops, The Clancy Brothers, The Chieftains, Vince Gill, Nanci Griffith, Pete Seeger, Don Henley, Arlo Guthrie and Maura O’Connell as well as being the featured soloist with over 250 nights of symphony orchestras. They are in constant demand worldwide as their reputation and admiration from both fans and critics alike continues to grow. The New York Times calls their music “passionate, tender, and rambunctious,” and the Washington Post praises their “astonishing array of virtuosity.” Their name may come from a traditional Irish jig but after thirty years, they’ve proven that the jig is still not up as the ladies blaze forward into another decade of music making! With special guests including the The Kane Sisters and more!

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Clifden Arts Festival / Tuesday 22

Reading with novelist Mary Costello

Kate O’Callaghan and Seamus Devenny

Reading with internationally acclaimed novelist Mary Costello. Mary’s stunning debut novel Academy Street was launched in Dublin on the same day it was shortlisted for the Bord Gais Energy Book Awards. The great South African novelist and Nobel prizewinner Andre Brink commented ‘with extraordinary devotion she brings to life a woman who would otherwise be forgotten’. ‘Not just graceful but heart-breakingly so…’. Sponsored by Pat Molloy. DATE 22 SEPTEMBER, 4:30PM VENUE STATION HOUSE THEATRE TICKETS €10 AVAILABLE ONLINE

Carmel Dempsey & Friends Carmel Dempsey made her first appearance at the festival in September 1983 and since then she has performed almost every year. Playing with Carmel in Lowry’s tonight are fiddle player and vocalist Brenda Curtin, and Mike Stewart on guitar and vocals. Brenda was a soloist in Michael Flatley’s show Lord of the Dance for 8 years. Mike Stewart is a well known balladeer from Tuam. Carmel, Brenda and Mike make up a lively trio and the Arts Festival welcomes them back.

Kate O’Callaghan is a singer/songwriter from Donegal and performs as a duo with her husband, Seamus Devenny. She combines evocative melodies with intelligent considered lyrics, covering a gamut of emotions from the sublime to the cathartic and blending together to create a totally original sound. To date, she has written and recorded an EP To You and debut album The Still Beyond, which received national and international radio play. “A lovely debut album..” - John Creedon, RTE Radio 1. “Subliminal, understated and simply glorious” - Fatea Magazine (UK). Having recently toured Ireland and the UK and performed at many national and international festivals they are gaining a steady reputation as a serious act to watch with - “Great stage presence” - Chordblossom and “Stunning vocals and deft guitar and violin interplay” - Folk & Tumble. “The pair have been wowing audiences around the country” - In Dublin Magazine and described as “Beautifully evocative, a treat for the senses” - GoldenPlec Magazine. Kate and Seamus will also be opening for Brendan Shine, 23rd September at the Station House Theatre.

DATE 22 SEPTEMBER, 10PM

DATE 22 SEPTEMBER, 10PM

VENUE LOWRY’S BAR TICKETS FREE EVENT

VENUE MULLARKEY’S BAR TICKETS €5 CLIFDEN ARTS FESTIVAL 2015

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Wednesday 23 / Clifden Arts Festival

Reading by author Padraig McCormack

Recital with Bernard O’Scanaill and Guests

Padraig will be reading from his book of short stories, It’s a Long Way to Cavan in a Morris Minor. Padraic McCormack is a retired politician having represented Galway West in the Dail for 23 years. Since retiring from public life in 2011 he has taken up writing as a hobby. This book of short stories is his second book. Some of the stories are folklore handed down from an earlier generation while others are from his own imagination.

Recital by Clifden native, musician and composer Bernard O’Scanaill. Clifden native Bernard O’Scanaill returns to the Festival with his distinctive self-taught musical style. Now living in Maleny, Queensland, Bernard is a composer, painter and music teacher. He will be playing piano and guitar and will be joined by some special musical guests on the day. DATE 23 SEPTEMBER, 3PM

DATE 23 SEPTEMBER, 12NOON

VENUE CHURCH OF IRELAND

VENUE CLIFDEN LIBRARY

TICKETS €5

TICKETS €5

Reading by one of Ireland’s great writers, Jennifer Johnston Jennifer’s great novels, published to great acclaim, include Captains and the Kings, How Many Miles To Babylon in the 70s to a Sixpenny Song in 2013. Clifden Arts Festival is proud to welcome her to the Festival. Her first novel, The Captains And The Kings (1972), was published to great acclaim and won the Robert Pitman Award and the Yorkshire Post Prize. Since then, Jennifer Johnston has written twelve novels, some of which have been adapted for TV. Shadows On Our Skin (1977) was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and The Old Jest won the Whitbread Award for the best novel of 1979. A selection of her plays was published in 2003 by New Island Books. Johnston’s most recent novels are Truth or Fiction (2009), Shadowstory (2011), Fathers and Son (2012) and A Sixpenny Song (2013). Jennifer Johnston was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Irish Book Awards in 2012 and is a member of Aosdána.

Dance: Two Years Later LOOKING FOR BEAUTY. BEING SCARED AND VULNERABLE. BECOMING.

Most recent work by Clifden based dance artist, shines a new light on searching for honesty and beauty. Video projection by Stephen Ward acts as a commentary to what is happening live on stage, becoming a unique documentary of the dancer’s creative process. Magdalena Hylak is a Clifden based dancer and choreographer. She danced with Fabulous Beast Dance Company (Michael Keegan-Dolan), Ciotóg (Ríonach Ní Néill) and Catherine Young Dance amongst others. Her dance productions were shown during Dublin Dance Festival, Galway Culture Night, Clifden Arts Festival and most recently in Italy, with support of Culture Ireland and Galway Dance Project.

DATE 23 SEPTEMBER, 4:30PM

Choreographer/ Dancer: Magdalena Hylak. Projection: Stephen Ward. Light design: Elena Giannotti. Music: Dead Voices on Air.

VENUE STATION HOUSE THEATRE TICKETS €10

DATE 23 SEPTEMBER, 6PM, DURATION APPROX 30MINS

Sponsored by Tim and Máiréad Robinson.

VENUE STATION HOUSE THEATRE TICKETS €5 EXTRA DATE SUNDAY 27, 3PM, SAME VENUE 48 C L I F D E N A R T S F E S T I V A L 2 0 1 5


Special performance with the RTÉ ConTempo Quartet, Galway Ensemble in Residence. Haydn – Emperor quartet op 76 no 3 Dvorak – Piano Quintet No 2 op 81 (with Ishay Shaer) Considered one of the leading Israeli pianists of his generation, Ishay Shaer has performed throughout the world winning both national and international prizes. His arrangement for piano trio of Beethoven’s The Tempest piano sonata has garnered praise and was described as “an immeasurably pleasing masterwork… sounded like one of Beethoven’s finest trios” by Haaretz newspaper. The RTE Contempo Quartet is currently Ireland’s National Television and Radio Broacaster’s Quartet in Residence and is also holding a residency on the West Coast of Ireland as Galway Ensemble in Residence. Praised as a “fabulous foursome” (Irish Independent) noted for performances which are “exceptional” (The Strad) and “full of imaginative daring” (The Irish Times).

GALWAY ENSEMBLE IN RESIDENCE

RTÉ ConTempo Quartet WITH SPECIAL GUEST PIANIST ISHAY SHAER

DATE 23 SEPTEMBER, 1PM VENUE CHURCH OF IRELAND TICKETS €10

The Quartet has forged a unique place in Irish musical life. The quartet has made numerous recordings including music for Steven Spielberg’s drama Band of Brothers; Universal with British clarinettist Emma Johnson; Quartz, music by Osvaldo Golijov; and Spiccato Junction featuring the Irish traditional musicians Máirtín O’Connor and Cathal Hayden. Sponsored by Bill and Denise Whelan. CLIFDEN ARTS FESTIVAL 2015

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Wednesday 23 / Clifden Arts Festival VERY SPECIAL EVENT

The legendary Brendan Shine in Concert Join us tonight in celebrating Brendan’s 50 years on the road! With over 50 albums and 45 hit singles in a glittering career he is a genuine Irish legend. He began by playing in his father’s country band while still at school, played in Kieran Kelly’s Ceili Band along with schoolfriend Johnny Dawson (who still performs with Shine in the Brendan Shine Super Band), originally making his name as an accordionist before taking up singing and becoming one of Ireland’s best-known and loved entertainers. Sponsored by the Connemara Chamber of Commerce. DATE 23 SEPTEMBER, 9PM VENUE STATION HOUSE THEATRE TICKETS €15 AVAILABLE ONLINE

8-PIECE BLUES AND MOTOWN REVIEW BAND

Yule and McQ Greg Yule is an exceptional musician, talented singersongwriter, band and session guitarist. Having made it through the musical mill of ‘80s groups, tours and record contracts he now lives in rural Ireland, allowing him the peace necessary for his creative work. However, he still loves playing real live music with a real live band! His 5th album entitled Sinner is due out later this year. ‘Mouse’ McHugh has played and toured for years with great bands such as, Too Much For The White Man, The Saw Doctors and many more.

Jazz with Les Follies Their numerous fans have been waiting for this night and the return of Gerard Siffert (trumpet), Jacques Silvert (clarinet), Francis Guero (trombone), Gilles Chevaucherie (banjo), Bernard Brimeur (double bass) and François Cotin (drums). This event is sponsored by the French partner of the festival in association with Slainte, Lens France. Many thanks to Brian, Paul and all the staff in Abbeyglen Castle Hotel and of course the energetic assistance of Didier Riez.

DATE 23 SEPTEMBER, 9PM, FREE EVENT

DATE 23 SEPTEMBER, 10:30PM, FREE EVENT

VENUE O’MALLEY’S BAR MULTIPLE PERFORMANCES SEE QUICKFIND INDEX P65

VENUE ABBEYGLEN CASTLE HOTEL MULTIPLE PERFORMANCES SEE QUICKFIND INDEX P65

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The Gallant John Joe is the soliloquy of a Cavan widower grappling with physical and mental infirmity. What keeps him on his feet is his capacity to tell stories, to make a story of anything that moves, using language as a crutch, ointment, talisman, intoxicant. In his stories he introduces us to the characters in his life: Bossman, his well-to-do patronising friend, The Hitmatist; The Chinee; John-Joe O’Reilly, captain of the conquering Cavan team of the late 1940’s, and Jacinta, his teenage daughter. His melodic ramblings are both instantly recognisable and marvellously strange. John-Joe may be broken, indomitable, silent, noisy and articulate, but stories, they say, only happen to those who are able to tell them.The Hickey/MacIntyre collaborations are a celebrated part of Irish theatrical history. Tom MacIntyre is one of Ireland’s most daring and excitingly original Irish writers. His work – whatever the genre – is marked by a willingness to experiment formally, focusing consistently on the rigours, excitement and elusive magic of the journey. In the creak of the door between our mundane world and “the other side” lies the note that haunts him. His other major works include The Great Hunger, Good Evening, Mr Collins; Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire and Cúirt An Mhean Oiche/The Midnight Court. Tom Hickey’s work is extensive, creating leading roles in new Irish drama written by the foremost Irish playwrights including Brian Friel, Tom Murphy, Marina Carr, Frank McGuinness, and as actor, collaborator and director with Tom MacIntyre. His films include: My Left Foot, Cal, Fools of Fortune, Circle of Friends, Butcher Boy and Ken Loach’s Raining Stones. This is a truly special theatrical event, and a rare chance to see one of the country’s best-loved actors in a searingly brilliant piece of theatre. This production has been supported by the Arts Council of Ireland and is working in collaboration with the Parkinson’s Association of Ireland to help raise awareness about the condition, visit www.parkinsons.ie. Sponsored by Bill and Denise Whelan.

TOM HICKEY PERFORMS

The Gallant John Joe BY TOM MCINTYRE DATE 23 SEPTEMBER, 7PM VENUE TOWN HALL THEATRE TICKETS €15 AVAILABLE ONLINE

Internationally revered and nationally treasured, Tom Hickey is one of Ireland’s most decorated actors, and the revival of his acclaimed role in Tom MacIntyre’s The Gallant John Joe, will bring the collaborative work of these two theatrical giants to you.

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Wednesday 23 / Clifden Arts Festival

“Lashings of pop nous” - Rolling Stone Magazine

“the perfect edition to your summer playlist” - Red Magazine

“Gig of the Week” - The Irish Times

CLIFDEN ARTS FESTIVAL WELCOMES

Mama Kin DATE 23 SEPTEMBER, 10:30PM VENUE MULLARKEY’S BAR TICKETS €10

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Part raconteur and all-out entertainer, Mama Kin has been nominated for ARIA and AIR awards in her native Australia. A renowned live performer Mama Kin has shared stages nationally and internationally with the likes of Ani di Franco, John Butler Trio, The Cat Empire and The Waifs. Mama Kin returns to Ireland following her successful tour last year which earned her Irish Times Gig of the Week and was captured in a short shot by Ambiguous Fiddle Media, entitled Irish Roads. This very special short includes an exclusive live performance of Jenny by Mama Kin and John Butler, at sold out Vicar Street show in Dublin. The Magician’s Daughter showcases an assuredness and potency that has come to define Mama Kin. As the youngest of six children, born into a family of Maltese extraction, her childhood was immersed in music. But it is her mother, an actual magician’s daughter, for whom her follow-up album is named. Mama Kin’s grandfather worked as a professional magician in post World War II Malta, and her mother, Iris, was one of his assistants. “She is the ultimate magician, the holder and weaver of the smoke and mirrors, but somehow the truest believer,” Mama Kin says. It is this mysticism, this intangible truth that underpins Mama Kin’s musical expression. For Mama Kin, this is what music is capable of conjuring: connection, release and human effect.


Clifden Arts Festival / Thursday 24

Celebrating Older Persons’ contribution to arts and culture in the community. Refreshments will be followed by dance and song with Peter Carey, Liam Aspell and friends. Many thanks again to Geraldine Kelly and Yvonne Keane.

PHOTO: AOIFE HERRIOT

Annual Celebration

Sponsored by Forum Connemara.

Noramollyannalivialucia

DATE 24 SEPTEMBER, 1PM

The Muse and Mister Joyce is a one-woman “play for voices”. Written by Eamon Grennan. In it Joyce’s wife Nora Barnacle Joyce, is living in Zurich. It is around 1950 so she is in her 60’s and is speaking about her life with Joyce. Interspersed in her memories are snatches from the works of her husband. Presented and performed by the Curlew Theatre Company (Sean Coyne, Tegolin Knowland and Eamon Grennan) who have been captivating audiences at the Clifden Art Festival for the past number of years. Sponsored by Tom King.

VENUE STATION HOUSE HOTEL TICKETS FREE EVENT

DATE 24 SEPTEMBER, 12NOON

Ireland’s Weather. A journey through time. Evelyn Cusack, is Deputy Head of Forecasting at Met Eireann and a well known voice and presence to us all. She discusses our astonishingly changeable weather and will help us to gain a better insight into the natural forces at play. Evelyn’s main role is communicating the expected weather with the Irish public which includes providing timely warnings of severe weather in order to help save lives and property both on land and at sea. However promoting The Scientific Method as applied to Meteorology is also her passion. Evelyn discusses the different climates and reveals to us how lucky we are to exist at all on this unique planet and in particular what a benign climate we have in Ireland.

PHOTO: PADDY HOWARD

A TALK BY RTE’S EVELYN CUSACK

VENUE STATION HOUSE THEATRE TICKETS €10

Boxwood: Album Launch

Sponsored by Alan and Mary Hobard.

Boxwood launches their debut album It’s The One With The Green Cover. An eclectic mix of Irish, Blues, Bluegrass and Jazz influences have inspired this group from the outset. Formed in 2014 the group comprising of Lol Hardiman, Shona O’Flaherty and John Durning have been playing regularly in the Connemara area both as individuals and as a collective. Everyone welcome to come and join in on the celebration.

DATE 24 SEPTEMBER, 2PM

DATE 24 SEPTEMBER, 3PM

VENUE STATION HOUSE THEATRE TICKETS €10

VENUE CHURCH OF IRELAND TICKETS FREE EVENT CLIFDEN ARTS FESTIVAL 2015

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Thursday 24 / Clifden Arts Festival

Reading by by acclaimed poet Rita Ann Higgins

LUXe: Series of Ceremonial Landscape Performances

Rita Ann Higgins was born in Galway. She has published ten collections of poetry, her most recent being Ireland is Changing Mother, (Bloodaxe 2011), a memoir in prose and poetry Hurting God (Salmon 2010). She is the author of six stage plays and one screen play. She has been awarded numerous prizes and awards, among others an honorary professorship. Her readings are legendary. Raucous, anarchic, witty and sympathetic, her poems chronicle the lives of the Irish dispossessed in ways that are both provocative and heart-warming. Her next collection Tongulish is due out in April 2016 from Bloodaxe. She is a member of Aosdána.

CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF PARTICIPATING IN THE CLIFDEN ARTS FESTIVAL

LUXe will make a series of new and once-off ceremonial landscape performances on the ancient processional road at the mouth of nearby Killary Harbour where the land the sea and the sky meet around dusk, and in the Clifden Ball Alley, Clifden Harbour and finally, the illuminated procession for the Grande Parade (see page 60). See details of times and venues below. DATE 24 SEPTEMBER, DUSK 7-8PM VENUE ROSROE, KILLARY DATE 25 SEPTEMBER, DUSK 7-8PM

Sponsored by Gannon Sports.

VENUE THE OLD HANDBALL ALLEY, CLIFDEN HARBOUR DATE 26 SEPTEMBER, DUSK 7:30PM

DATE 24 SEPTEMBER, 4:30PM

VENUE ILLUMINATED PROCESSION AS PART OF THE

VENUE STATION HOUSE THEATRE TICKETS €10

GRAND PARADE, TOWN HALL THEATRE TICKETS FREE OUTDOOR EVENTS

MUSIC PRESENTATION

Huellou—Le Bigot Pol Huellou (flute, sanza and vocals). From Britanny, Pol is a great friend of the Festival and has worked not only with musicians all over the world but also with acclaimed authors such as Kenneth White and Tahar Bekri. Tonight he is joined by Giles Le Bigot, on guitar one of the star performers of Celtic guitar. Famous also for his compositions he is to be heard on over thirty albums. They will be joined tonight by guest accordionist Jean Marc Lecoq. DATE 24 SEPTEMBER, 10PM VENUE MULLARKEY’S BAR TICKETS €8 54 C L I F D E N A R T S F E S T I V A L 2 0 1 5


Après Match are one of the top comedy acts in the country and for one night only they are here. Yes, the funniest satirical and sports comedy team in the country bar none – the guys off the RTE – bring their hilarious live show to Clifden. In all its glory watch the ritual dismantling of the pomp and ceremony that surrounds the pretension of Ireland’s self-appointed experts. From the elites of the sporting and media brigade to the political guardians of our nation, Après Match leaves no stone unturned in their savage send-up of the good and the great.

LATE NIGHT COMEDY

Après Match DATE 24 SEPTEMBER, 10PM VENUE STATION HOUSE THEATRE TICKETS €20

Join us on a journey to funny town with the full crew. Eamon Dunphy, George Hook, Paul Durcan, Joan Bergin, Mary O’Rourke, Alex Ferguson, Martin O Neill, Giovanni Trappatoni, Liam Brady, Gay Byrne, Johnny Giles, Gunther, Sky sports news, the inimitable John Delaney, the award-winning River Tenors and so much more. So, avoid the proverbial disappointment and book your place on what promises to be a night to remember. We can’t wait, can you? Après Match are Risteard Cooper, Barry Murphy and Gary Cooke. Sponsored by JJ Mitchell

CLIFDEN ARTS FESTIVAL 2015

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Friday 25 / Clifden Arts Festival

Talk: St.Teresa of Avila Introduced by Canon James Ronayne. Talk by Dr. Eamon McLoughlin on the 500th year since the birth of St.Teresa of Avila. St. Teresa of Avila lived well, prayed well and was as much at home in the kitchen as in the chapel. She knew how to make poetry, music and dance from her spiritual experiences. To celebrate the 500th hundred anniversary of her birth in Avila on March 28, 1515 Dr Eamon McLaughlin will give a lecture on her life entitled Knock Knock. Who’s There? God. God Who? Come Into Your Soul And See. Sponsored by Dr.Ciaran and Ann MacLoughlin. DATE 25 SEPTEMBER, 12NOON VENUE STATION HOUSE THEATRE TICKETS €5

OUTDOOR SPECTACLE

Free Friday Aerial Fidget Feet takes over for Free Friday Aerial. For one day we will be filling the showgrounds with world-class aerial acts, hundreds of students, and our singular sense of humour. Come and see local students perform alongside Fidget Feet, while also we will provide a special sneak-peak of the parade day performance. This is a very fun way for the family and friends to come and get up close and personal with these wonderful acts. DATE 25 SEPTEMBER, 1PM VENUE THE SHOWGROUNDS TICKETS FREE EVENT

BOOK LAUNCH

Des Kavanagh

Journey back in time and discover the rich and colourful history of Inishbofin on this exciting field trip to the island with acclaimed archaeologist Michael Gibbons. Meeting Point is at Cleggan Pier 11am sharp. Return ferry at 5pm. €40 per person (includes ferry). Lunch stop on island is not included. Boots and outdoor gear needed. Bookings in advance is essential, please call 095-21379. “For Gibbons, history is only a squint away; tag along on one of his treks and you’ll never look at a peat bog the same way again.” Michael Dolan, Outdoor Magazine.

The Last of the Name / An Fear Deireanach den tSloinneadh. Not a word of this volume was written by Charles McGlinchey. Rather it was spoken by him. Patrick Kavanagh, schoolmaster in their parish of Clonmany in Inishowen, recognized the value of his friend’s memories and wrote down in longhand what he had to say. Brian Friel years later edited his flowing speech into chapters and gathered those together to make this book. Their Irish translation has been edited by Nollaig MacConghail and included in this edition. ‘Full of emotional truth and the beauty of immediate trusting speech, brimming over with folklore of great imaginative richness’ Seamus Heaney. Launched by Michael Coady, poet and great friend of the Festival.

DATE 25 SEPTEMBER, 11AM SHARP - RETURNING 5PM

DATE 25 SEPTEMBER, 5PM

VENUE CLEGGAN PIER COST €40PP INCLUDES FERRY

VENUE STATION HOUSE THEATRE TICKETS €5

Walking With History

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The Great

Christy Moore LIVE IN CONCERT

It is thirty years since Christy Moore first performed at Clifden Arts Festival. He has returned many times since and has enthralled his audiences on every occasion. Christy Moore does not so much have an audience at his concerts but a gathering of friends. This is very true of his Clifden visits. Every year people ask “Is Christy back”? He must be one of the few people in Ireland who is instantly recognisable by his first name only. There is only ONE Christy! and Yes, he is back. Clifden Arts Festival welcome Christy to celebrate a thirty year friendship with the visitors and locals of Clifden and Connemara. RIDE ON CHRISTY! Sponsored by Terry Sweeney.

DATE 25 SEPTEMBER, 8PM VENUE WEST CONNEMARA LEISURE CENTRE TICKETS €40 AVAILABLE ONLINE

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PHOTO: JAMIE HOWARD

Friday 25 - Saturday 26 / Clifden Arts Festival

Walk the Line, The Johnny Cash Tribute Band Clifden Arts Festival welcomes back Ireland’s ultimate Johnny Cash experience. Front man ‘Joey Lee’ has toured and recorded in Memphis and Nashville over the last 5 years. His uncanny resemblance to the man in black takes us back to a time when Cash was in his prime. Joined tonight on stage by ‘June Carter Cash’ and the Tennessee Three be enthralled as the band recreate the unforgettable sound of that era.

Talk: Handbook of the Irish Revival Talk by Fiach MacConghail, Director of the Abbey Theatre, and P.J. Mathews, Department of History University College Dublin. Chaired by Des Lally. Handbook of the Irish Revival offers a fresh insight into the fascinating Irish Revival period. Showcasing texts that have never been readily available to the public before, this vibrant collection of materials allow readers to immerse themselves in a Revival which shaped a modern Ireland. Famous authors such as James Joyce, James Connolly and W.B. Yeats appear alongside eloquent but lesser-known contemporaries like Mary Colum, John Eglinton and Helena Molony. Editors Declan Kiberd and P.J. Mathews’ introductory essays offer context and trace a line of connection between the pressing issues of the time and the challenges faced by Ireland today. Published by Abbey Theatre Press in June 2015. “A frequently moving anthology…a great success” - Sunday Business Post

DATE 25 SEPTEMBER, 10PM

The event will be introduced by Mary Banotti.

VENUE STATION HOUSE HOTEL TICKETS €10

DATE 26 SEPTEMBER, 9AM PHOTO: JAMIE HOWARD

Sponsored by GMT, thanks to David and Oliver.

VENUE STATION HOUSE THEATRE TICKETS €10

Honouring Gearóid O’Tuathaigh CELEBRATION WITH DANCE AND MUSIC

Music with the legendary Rob Strong and Band Once again, back by massive demand, Clifden Arts Festival is delighted to welcome back the great Rob Strong and his Band. Going right back to the late 60s Rob personified the raw energy of rock and blues. His unique voice sings out wild and true!

Culture And Society In Ireland Since 1750, edited by John Cunningham and Niall O’Ciosain, published by Lilliput Press. Thanks to Anthony. Following the publication of essays in his honour we celebrate the life and work of the historian, writer, scholar and friend of the Festival Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh with contributions from friends and colleagues. Sponsored by Chris Shanahan.

DATE 25 SEPTEMBER, 11PM

DATE 26 SEPTEMBER, 11AM

VENUE MULLARKEY’S BAR TICKETS €8

VENUE STATION HOUSE THEATRE COST €10

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Clifden Arts Festival / Saturday 26

Concert with The Ducasse Trio THE DUCASSE TRIO ARE FIACHRA GARVEY, WILLIAM DUNCOMBE AND CHARLOTTE MACLET

Formed in 2011, the Ducasse Trio consists of awardwinning musicians who began working together after they met at the Paris Conservatoire and Southbank Sinfonia. They made their Wigmore Hall debut this year as Worshipful Company of Musicians artists and future engagements include Bridgewater Hall, Manchester. The trio’s programme features fun-filled works by Milhaud, Poulenc, Schoenfield and the astonishing Bartók Contrasts written for the jazz clarinettist Benny Goodman. The trio are passionate about presenting the many neglected works for this ensemble to new audiences both at home and abroad. This concert features a superb selection of classical and jazzy works! This afternoon’s programme will be: Milhaud: Suite for clarinet, violin and piano op 157b. Schoenfield: Trio for clarinet, violin and piano. Poulenc: L’invitation au chateau. Bartók: Contrasts

CHILDREN’S EVENT

Fun on the Streets! All the way from Belfast and back by popular demand, live on the Streets of Clifden Streetwise proudly presents two of Ireland’s top street acts Jim Solo and Babcock and Bobbins. Come and share in 40 minutes of Jim Solo’s live, death defying entertainment—the blades are sharp, the fire is hot and the tension can be breath-taking! Babcock and Bobbins is a traditional circus show which incorporates a mix of slapstick comedy and circus skills including Fire Juggling, Giraffe Unicycle, Stilt Walking, and Fire Breathing. Guido Fanzini’s Impossible Circus: Pogo sticks? Check. Plot to steal thunder from brother? Check. Guido Fanzini has finally managed to demote his brother Ronaldo to a lowly circus roustabout so he can shine as the star of Guido Fanzini’s Impossible Circus. But Ronaldo may have other ideas! A circus tale of sibling rivalry, brotherly love and pogo sticks.

Sponsored by Joe and Joan McBreen. Thanks to Rev, Stan Evans, Christ Church.

Sponsored by Martin and Rita Acton.

DATE 26 SEPTEMBER, 1PM

DATE 26 SEPTEMBER, 2PM

VENUE CHURCH OF IRELAND TICKETS €10

VENUE ALL AROUND MARKET SQUARE TICKETS FREE EVENT CLIFDEN ARTS FESTIVAL 2015

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Saturday 26 / Clifden Arts Festival SPECIAL ANNUAL EVENT

No Faith without Justice. The John Moriarty Memorial Lecture. This year’s lecture is by Fr. Peter McVerry S.J. Born in Newry, Peter was ordained in 1975 and since that time has devoted his life to helping homeless young people in inner city Dublin, campaigning vigorously for them, latterly through the Peter McVerry Trust. Peter was granted freeman of the city of Dublin last year. Sponsored by Tom and Peggy McManus. DATE 26 SEPTEMBER, 2:30PM VENUE STATION HOUSE THEATRE TICKETS €10

“John’s poetry is imbued with an ever-insightful charm and youthful fascination, much like the man himself.” - Declan O’Rourke

BOOK LAUNCH

John Sheahan’s collection of poetry Fiddle Dreams John Sheahan is one of Ireland’s best known and loved musicians, the last surviving member of legendary band The Dubliners, and musical collaborator with players of all styles and genres. That he is also a poet of considerable accomplishment is something of an open secret. In recent years his poems have been read and performed at countless events where music and the spoken word take to the stage together. In Fiddle Dreams, his debut collection, his subjects range from childhood and family, through art and craft. But his main focus is the music that sustains him and the musicians who have played so significant a part along the way. Fiddle Dreams is that rare thing — a collection of heart-felt, light-footed verses, and a unique insight into the mind of a musician, for decades now at the heart of Irish cultural life. Fiddle Dreams is published by Dedalus Press. Followed by sean-nós singing with Johnny Mháirtín Learaí. Thanks to Pat Boran. Introduced by Tony Curtis, poet and great friend of the Clifden Arts Festival.

“John possesses as light a touch with the pen as he does with the bow. He writes with a sense of home and worldliness, at once a gypsy spirit and a pure Dubliner.” - Glen Hansard “Wise, witty, insightful – these poems will uplift you.” - Joe Duffy DATE 26 SEPTEMBER, 4PM VENUE STATION HOUSE THEATRE TICKETS €10 60 C L I F D E N A R T S F E S T I V A L 2 0 1 5


Beethoven’s Mass in C-Major The Donegal Abbey Singers – Under the direction of Eileen Carr were founded in 1992. They have performed in Prague, Zurich and in The Royal Albert Hall, London. They released their first CD in 2010 and have a wide following in south and west Donegal Bel Canto – An award-winning choir first established over 30 years ago, has its roots in The Ballyshannon Musical Society. They are directed by Angela Currid, and took the Irish Language prize at Kiltimagh Choral Competition earlier this year. The Conwal Singers are a chamber choir based in Letterkenny. With director Karen Patton they delight in performing both sacred and secular chamber music. They perform regularly with the Donegal Camerata, and have previously visited St. Jakob’s Church, Heiligenstadt, Vienna.

Clifden Arts Festival welcomes 3 distinct choirs from Donegal to Clifden.

The Donegal Voices Sponsored by Anne Ueltschi. DATE 26 SEPTEMBER, 6PM VENUE CHURCH OF IRELAND

Ian Mills – Concerto in A minor (i) BWV 593 – Vivaldi arr. J.S. Bach Donegal Voices The Heavens are Telling – Haydn, The Creation Ave Verum - Mozart Hallelujah Chorus - Handel, The Messiah Ian Mills – Strong Tower Postlude - Matthias Nagel Beethoven’s Messe in C-dur Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei Conductor Organist Soprano Mezzo-Soprano Tenor Baritone

Andrew Batchelor Ian Mills Deborah Cunningham Anne McNulty John Porter Paul Martin

TICKETS €10

Messe in C-dur

Beethoven wrote his Mass in C major, Op.86 to a commission from Prince Nikolaus Esterhazy II, to celebrate the name day of his wife. It was first performed in September 1807 at the Castle of Eisenstadt, near Vienna. It is thought that the Prince found it ‘too modern’, though it seems Beethoven himself was pleased with his work: ‘…I believe I have treated the text as it has seldom been treated’. The ‘Penguin Guide to Compact Discs’ (2004) calls the piece a ‘long under-rated masterpiece’.

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The Grand Parade

Sponsored by The Clifden Lotto

DATE 26 SEPTEMBER, 8PM VENUE ALL AROUND THE TOWN TICKETS FREE EVENT

A Grand Extravaganza, the culmination of work with local schools, teachers, parents and volunteers, with LUXe, Fidget Feet, Belfast Circus, the Fanzini Brothers and on the Rig, Walk the Line – the Johhny Cash Tribute Band. Featuring the children of the area in our grand final spectacle with special guests LUXe. Fidget Feet company. LUXe Grand Finale Parade IMRAMH. LUXe return in celebratory spirit for the 10th year at Clifden Arts Festival with a fully illuminated community procession, the culmination of work with local schools. LUXe are a Processional Spectacle Company based in Donegal, Ireland. They present work that ranges from the intimate, to large scale illuminated processions. Working always out of doors LUXe draw on a dedicated group of skilled international physical performers, dancers, musicians, artists and technical crew to bring alive their visual world. Before Germany, before Mexico, comes Clifden. Fidget Feet take to the skies to bring you aerial acts that soar above the rooftops before we take flight across the globe. Each year we bring fun, laughter and a sprinkle of beauty. This is always one of the highlights of the Clifden parade. Followed by a Fireworks Display. Thanks to Shay. Sponsored by Anne Ueltschi. After the parade, we welcome on to the Gig-Rig, back by popular demand the unique sound of Ireland’s ultimate Johnny Cash experience with Walk the Line, the Johnny Cash Tribute Band. Front man ‘Joey Lee’ has toured and recorded in Memphis and Nashville over the last 6 years. Thanks to Clifden Comhaltas for use of Gig-Rig. Thanks to Declan and Sharon Maher and staff for the use of the Alcock and Brown Hotel. Photos of parade courtesy of Paddy Howard. Photo of Walk the Line, courtesy of Jamie Howard.

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Clifden Arts Festival / Saturday 26 - Sunday 27

Round off the Festival with the Balkan Alien Sound Balkan Alien Sound bring melodic chaos in the style of Gypsy, Klezmer and Balkan songs and dances with energetic rhythms and fast paced melodies that regularly leave crowds riotous with dance. With experiences gained through travel and research of Balkan and Gypsy music, and culture, the group’s repertoire is influenced by the dances of Bulgaria, Turkey and Romania as well as from their own personal backgrounds in classical, jazz and Irish music. Although the music will be unfamiliar to many audience members their musical references to Irish Traditional music, and their ability to fuse these genres, will quickly put any audience at ease. The group’s Irish roots are a key element in the band’s chemistry; this becomes evident in their live performance displaying both the similarities and the differences in Balkan and Irish Music styling. DATE 26 SEPTEMBER, 10:30PM VENUE MULLARKEY’S BAR TICKETS €10

Clifden Arts Society UPCOMING EVENTS

October 12, 2015 Quatuor Zaïde Quartet Charlotte Juillard - violin Leslie Boulin-Raulet - violin Sarah Chenaf - viola Juliette Salmona - cello

November 16, 2015 Benjamin Appl and Gary Matthewman Benjamin Appl - baritone and Gary Matthewman - piano

One for The Road Our traditional final concert with, this year the legendary Mick Conneely, Mary Bergin and Tony Linnane. Come early for this goodbye concert! Sponsored by Michael and Toni Barrett. DATE 27 SEPTEMBER, 12:30PM VENUE MULLARKEY’S BAR TICKETS €5 CLIFDEN ARTS FESTIVAL 2015

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Gig Listings / Clifden Arts Festival

OTHER MUSICAL ENTERTAINMENT AROUND THE TOWN Clifden has a vibrant music scene during the Festival. There are many gigs and sessions taking place all around the town, far too numerous for us to include in our main programme, below is a summary. Apologies to anyone not included. Details correct at time of going to print.

Abbeyglen Castle Hotel

Mannion’s Bar

O’Malley’s Bar

Wed 23, 10pm –Jazz with Les Follies

Mon 21 & Wed 23, 6:30-8pm – John Gerard Walsh and Peter Carey Sun 20, Tues 22, Fri 25 & Sun 27 – Paddy Newman and Tom Mullen Thur 24 and Sat 26 – Peter Carey, Aiden Curran and Friends Fri 25, 1pm – Jazz with Les Follies Fri 25 & Sat 26, 8.:30-10pm – Marie Walsh and Friends

Sat 19, 7pm – Music with True North Mon 21 – Tom Mullen Tues 22– Feichin Mitchell Wed 23 – Tom Mullen Wed 23 – 9pm Greg Yule Thur 24 – Tom Mullen Fri 25 – Jazz with Les Follies Sat 26 – Tom Mullen Sun 20, 9pm – Ryan Murtagh

Tom King’s Bar

Humpty’s Bar

Fri 18, 10pm – Music with True North Sat 19, 3pm – Youth Trad Music Session Thur 24, 9pm – Jazz with Les Follies

Wednesdays and Saturdays, 6.30pm Music with Marie Walsh and friends Tuesday and Fridays – 6.30pm John G. Walsh and Micky Conneely

Mullarkey’s Bar Thurs 17 – My Fellow Sponges Fri 18 – Nicolas Timothy Sat 19 – David Lyttle Sun 20 – Sharon Murphy Tues 22 – O’Callaghan & Devenny Wed 23 – Mama Kin Thurs 24 – Pol Huellou from Brittany Fri 25 – Classic Rock: Rob Strong Sat 26 – Balkin Alien Sound

EJ King’s Bar Sat 19, 3pm – Jazz with The Follies Sat 19, 5pm – Paddy Buckley (banjo), David Kinsella (pipes), James Kinsella (accordion) Michael Bukley (fiddle) Sun 20 – Traditional Ballads Mon 21 - Fri 25 – Trad and Folk with Michael Carey and Johnny Gibson Fri 25, 4:30pm – Jazz with The Follies Fri 25, 8-10pm – Yule and McQ Sat 26, 3pm – Jazz with The Follies Sat 26, 10pm – Michael Carey Band

The Central Bar Sat 19 – Music with John Gerard Walsh, Kevin Barry and David Slevin Sun 20 – John G. Walsh & Kevin Barry Fri 25 and Sat 26 – Music with Michael Roche and David Slevin

Vaughan’s Bar Friday 18, 10pm – Session with John Joe Forde and Mike Fahey Sat 19 and Sun 20 – Music with Richard, Fionnuala and Friends Thur 24, 9pm – Yule and McQ Sat 26 – Knights of Columbanus Sun 27 – Music with Richard, Fionnuala and Friends

Lowry’s Bar Sat 19, 4:30pm – Trad music Sean Halpenny and friends. Mon 21 – Feichin and Mike Tue 22 – Carmel Dempsey, Breda Curtin and Frankie Colohan Wed 23 – Legend’s Peter and Liam Thur 24 – Lán Seol, blend of Irish & contemporary music with a Celtic twist Fri 25 – Richie, Liam and Friends – Irish music and ballads Sat 26 – Ciaran Bolger and Friends – traditional Irish music Sun 27 – Seán & Micheál – high energy mix of Irish contemporary music.

Griffin’s Bar

Guy’s Bar

Thur 17, 4pm – Music with True North

Mon-Sat, 8:30-10:30pm – Boxwood. Boxwood are an eclectic mix of traditional songs and tunes, Folk, Bluegrass and Blues. All musicians welcome.

Station House Bar

Sun, Mon, Tues and Thurs 7pm Trad Music With The Hernons Mondays, 9pm – Traditional Irish Music Session with Liam and Conor Tue–Sat, 9pm – Irish Music with The Slyne Heads Fridays 11pm –DJ Aidan Kenny Disco Saturdays and Sundays, 10:30Pm Disco With DJ Fiddler

Steam Café Wed, 3pm – Marie Walsh and Friends

Walsh’s Bakery & Coffee Shop Cluid Wed 23, 3pm – Mairtín Conroy and John Gerard Walsh. Music and Singa-long with the residents of Cluid. Thanks to Kathleen Mortimer. Thur 24, 2-3pm – Jazz with Les Follies

Music nightly with Mickie MacNamara, John G. Walsh & Tom Wallace Sat 26, 9pm – Jazz with the Follies.

Criost Linn

Keogh’s Bar (Ballyconneely)

Station House Hotel

Elm Tree Centre

Fri 18, 10pm – Music with Sean Halpenny and Friends

Music Nightly with the great Barry Ryan on Piano.

Fri 18, 11am – Music with True North

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Thur 17, 2pm – Music with True North


Clifden Arts Festival / QuickFind Index Thursday 17 September Music with True North.................................................St. Anne’s Nursing Home............................................. 12pm........................... p. 24 MoonMagic.....................................................................Station House Theatre................................................. 1pm............................. p. 24 Music with True North.................................................Criost Linn..................................................................... 2pm............................ p. 24 Louis de Paor..................................................................Clifden Library.............................................................. 4pm............................ p. 24 Music with True North.................................................Walsh’s Bakery & Coffee Shop..................................... 4pm............................ p. 24 Official Festival Opening..............................................West Connemara Leisure Centre............................... 7pm............................ p. 24 Mick Flannery.................................................................Station House Theatre................................................. 9pm.............................p. 25 My Fellow Sponges........................................................Mullarkey’s Bar.............................................................. 10:30pm......................p. 25

Friday 18 September Lecture - Living Soulfully.............................................Foyle’s Hotel................................................................... 10am.......................... p. 26 Walking With History...................................................Meet point: Market Square......................................... 11am........................... p. 26 Music with True North.................................................Elm Tree Centre............................................................ 11am........................... p. 24 Talk by John Fanning.....................................................Station House Theatre................................................. 12noon....................... p. 26 Poets Gaston & Hanberry.............................................Clifden Library.............................................................. 1pm............................. p. 26 Reading with Paul Durcan............................................Station House Theatre................................................. 5pm............................ p. 27 Elizabeth Cooney & Finghin Collins...........................Church of Ireland.......................................................... 8pm............................ p. 27 Music Network Event....................................................Station House Theatre................................................. 10pm.......................... p. 28 Music with True North.................................................Tom King’s Bar.............................................................. 10pm.......................... p. 24 John Joe Forde & Mike Fahey Session.........................Vaughan’s Bar................................................................. 10pm.......................... p. 29 Nicholas Timothy Album Launch...............................Mullarkey’s Bar.............................................................. 10:30pm..................... p. 29

Saturday 19 September Writer’s Workshop.........................................................Foyle’s Hotel................................................................... 9am............................ p. 29 Guided Walk...................................................................Meeting point: Market Square.................................... 10:30am..................... p. 29 Talk: The Magic of Yeats...............................................Station House Theatre................................................. 11am........................... p. 30 The Clifden Fairy Trail..................................................Meeting point: Clifden Library................................... 11:30am...................... p. 30 Trad Music Workshop...................................................The Central.................................................................... 12noon....................... p. 30 Zoë Conway & John McIntyre......................................Church of Ireland.......................................................... 1pm..............................p. 31 Macnas Children’s Entertainment..............................Market Square............................................................... 2pm & 4pm................p. 31 Clifden and Environs Garden Visits............................St. Joseph’s Church Car Park....................................... 2pm.............................p. 31 Clifden Writer’s Group..................................................Foyle’s Hotel................................................................... 2pm.............................p. 32 Keats Lives by Moya Cannon.......................................Station House Theatre................................................. 2:30pm........................p. 32 Youth Trad Music Session............................................Tom King’s..................................................................... 3pm.............................p. 32 Jazz with Les Follies.......................................................E.J.King’s Bar.................................................................. 3pm............................ p. 50 Trial by Jury.....................................................................Clifden Courthouse...................................................... 5pm & 9pm................p. 32 The Mountain Ash.........................................................Festival Gallery (Old Supervalu)................................. 5pm.............................p. 33 Gracenotes......................................................................Church of Ireland.......................................................... 6pm.............................p. 33 Music with True North.................................................O’Malley’s Bar................................................................ 7pm............................ p. 24 The Man in the Woman’s Shoes..................................Town Hall Theatre....................................................... 8pm............................ p. 34 The Máirtín O’Connor Trio.........................................Station House Theatre................................................. 10pm...........................p. 35 David Lyttle.....................................................................Mullarkey’s Bar.............................................................. 10pm.......................... p. 36

Sunday 20 September Identify Local Herbs......................................................Meeting point: Church of Ireland.............................. 10am...........................p. 37 Open Aerial Workshops................................................Claddaghduff Hall........................................................ 11:30am.......................p. 37 Coffee Morning..............................................................The Elm Tree Centre.................................................... 11:30am.......................p. 37 Riverdance Revisited.....................................................Church of Ireland.......................................................... 1pm..............................p. 37 Here to There – and Back.............................................Station House Theatre................................................. 3pm............................ p. 38 Mick Delap & Gerard Smyth........................................Station House Theatre................................................. 5pm............................ p. 38 Singing in the Bookies...................................................Paddy Powers Bookmakers.......................................... 6:15pm....................... p. 38 Concert with Finbar Wright.........................................St. Joseph’s Church....................................................... 8pm............................ p. 39 Ryan Murtagh.................................................................O’Malley’s Bar................................................................ 9pm............................p. 40 Trad - McLaughlin & Vallely........................................Station House Theatre................................................. 10pm..........................p. 40 Sharon Murphy..............................................................Mullarkey’s Bar.............................................................. 10:30pm.....................p. 40

Monday 21 September Lecture: The Man I Knew.............................................Station House Theatre................................................. 12noon........................p. 41 From Coolea To Iona.....................................................Station House Theatre................................................. 1:30pm........................p. 41 Unpacking An Exhibition.............................................Festival Gallery (Old Supervalu)................................. 2pm.............................p. 41 Lynn Saoirse, Irish Harp...............................................Connemara Sands Hotel.............................................. 4:30pm....................... p. 42 Poets Clarke & Turley-McGrath..................................Clifden Library.............................................................. 4:30pm....................... p. 42 Gallery Goes....................................................................Station House Theatre................................................. 8pm............................ p. 42 Trad: Cranitch, Daly & O’Grada..................................Station House Theatre................................................. 10pm.......................... p. 43 CLIFDEN ARTS FESTIVAL 2015

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QuickFind Index / Clifden Arts Festival Tuesday 22 September Reading with Terry McDonagh...................................Clifden Library.............................................................. 12noon.......................p. 44 Recital by David Whittle...............................................Church of Ireland.......................................................... 1pm.............................p. 44 Colm ‘Stride’ O’Brien.....................................................Abbeyglen Castle Hotel................................................ 3:30pm.......................p. 44 Reading with Mary Costello.........................................Station House Theatre................................................. 4:30pm....................... p. 47 Play: Underneath...........................................................Town Hall Theatre....................................................... 7pm............................ p. 45 Cherish The Ladies........................................................West Connemara Leisure Centre............................... 9pm............................p. 46 Carmel Dempsey & Friends..........................................Lowry’s Bar..................................................................... 10pm.......................... p. 47 Kate O’Callaghan & Seamus Devenny........................Mullarkey’s Bar.............................................................. 10pm.......................... p. 47

Wednesday 23 September Reading with Padraig McCormack.............................Clifden Library.............................................................. 12noon.......................p. 48 RTÉ ConTempo Quartet..............................................Church of Ireland.......................................................... 1pm.............................p. 49 Bernard O’Scanaill and Guests....................................Church of Ireland.......................................................... 3pm............................p. 48 Reading with Jennifer Johnston..................................Station House Theatre................................................. 4:30pm.......................p. 48 Dance: Two Years Later................................................Station House Theatre................................................. 6pm............................p. 48 The Gallant John Joe.....................................................Town Hall Theatre....................................................... 7pm.............................p. 51 Yule and McQ.................................................................O’Malley’s Bar................................................................ 9pm............................ p. 50 Brendan Shine in Concert............................................Station House Theatre................................................. 9pm............................ p. 50 Jazz with Les Follies.......................................................Abbeyglen Castle Hotel................................................ 10:30pm..................... p. 50 Mama Kin........................................................................Mullarkey’s Bar.............................................................. 10:30pm......................p. 52

Thursday 24 September Noramollyannalivialucia...............................................Station House Theatre................................................. 12noon........................p. 53 Annual Celebration.......................................................Station House Hotel..................................................... 1pm..............................p. 53 Talk: Ireland’s Weather.................................................Station House Theatre................................................. 2pm.............................p. 53 Jazz with Les Follies.......................................................Cluid................................................................................ 2-3pm......................... p. 50 Boxwood: Album Launch.............................................Church of Ireland.......................................................... 3pm.............................p. 53 Reading: Poet Rita Ann Higgins..................................Station House Theatre................................................. 4:30pm....................... p. 54 LUXe................................................................................Rosroe, Killary............................................................... 7-8pm........................ p. 54 Jazz with Les Follies.......................................................Tom King’s Bar.............................................................. 9pm............................ p. 50 Music with Yule and McQ............................................Vaughan’s Bar................................................................. 9pm............................ p. 50 Huellou – Le Bigot.........................................................Mullarkey’s Bar.............................................................. 10pm.......................... p. 54 Après Match....................................................................Station House Theatre................................................. 10pm...........................p. 55

Friday 25 September Talk: St. Teresa of Avila.................................................Station House Theatre................................................. 12noon....................... p. 56 Walking With History...................................................Meeting point: Cleggan Pier....................................... 11am sharp................ p. 56 Free Friday Aerial...........................................................The Showgrounds......................................................... 1pm............................. p. 56 Jazz with Les Follies.......................................................Mannion’s Bar................................................................ 1pm............................. p. 50 Jazz with Les Follies.......................................................E.J.King’s Bar.................................................................. 4:30pm....................... p. 50 Des Kavanagh.................................................................Station House Theatre................................................. 5pm............................ p. 56 LUXe................................................................................The Old Handball Alley............................................... 7-8pm........................ p. 54 The Great Christy Moore.............................................West Connemara Leisure Centre............................... 8pm............................ p. 57 Music with Yule and McQ............................................E.J.King’s Bar.................................................................. 8-10pm...................... p. 50 The Johnny Cash Tribute Band...................................Station House Hotel..................................................... 10pm.......................... p. 58 Rob Strong and Band....................................................Mullarkey’s Bar.............................................................. 11pm........................... p. 58

Saturday 26 September Talk: Handbook of the Irish Revival...........................Station House Theatre................................................. 9am............................ p. 58 Honouring Gearóid O’Tuathaigh................................Station House Theatre................................................. 11am........................... p. 58 Concert with The Ducasse Trio..................................Church of Ireland.......................................................... 1pm............................. p. 59 Fun on the Streets..........................................................All around Market Square........................................... 2pm............................ p. 59 John Moriarty Memorial Lecture................................Station House Theatre................................................. 2:30pm.......................p. 60 Jazz with Les Follies.......................................................E.J.King’s Bar.................................................................. 3pm............................ p. 50 John Sheahan’s Book Launch.......................................Station House Theatre................................................. 4pm............................p. 60 The Donegal Voices.......................................................Church of Ireland.......................................................... 6pm.............................p. 61 LUXe Illuminated Procession......................................Town Hall Theatre....................................................... 7:30pm....................... p. 54 The Grand Parade..........................................................All around the town...................................................... 8pm............................ p. 62 Jazz with Les Follies.......................................................Station House Bar......................................................... 9pm............................ p. 50 The Balkan Alien Sound...............................................Mullarkey’s Bar.............................................................. 10:30pm..................... p. 63

Sunday 27 September One for the Road............................................................Mullarkey’s Bar.............................................................. 12:30pm..................... p. 63 Dance: Two Years Later................................................Station House Theatre................................................. 3pm............................p. 48 66 C L I F D E N A R T S F E S T I V A L 2 0 1 5


Clifden Arts Festival / Map of Venues 5

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venues 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22.

Abbeyglen Castle Hotel Alcock & Brown Hotel Central Bar Church of Ireland Claddaghduff Hall (via Westport Road 12.6km) Clifden Community School Clifden Library Clifden Station House Hotel Clúid Town Hall Theatre Criost Linn Centre E.J. King’s Bar Elm Tree Centre Festival Box Office Foyle’s Hotel Griffin’s Bar Guy’s Bar Humpty’s Bar Keogh’s, (via R341 Ballyconneely, 9km) Lowry’s Bar Mannion’s Bar Market Square

23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35.

Mullarkey’s Bar O’Malley’s Bar (Atlantic Coast) Paddy Power’s Bookies Office The Show Grounds St. Joseph’s Church Station House Theatre Steam Café Tom King’s Bar Vaughan’s Bar Walsh’s Bakery & Coffee Shop West Connemara Lesiure Centre (2km on left) Connemara Sands Hotel (Ballyconneely, 8.5km) Inn To The West (on right, follow signs)

The Art Trail listing of exhibition venues will be available in the Connemara tourism guide What’s On during the festival and will be available at the Arts Festival Caravan on Market Square.

CLIFDEN ARTS FESTIVAL 2015

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Friends of Clifden Arts Festival The staff and Board of Management, students and parents of Clifden Community School, Clifden; the staff of Scoil Mhuire NS, Clifden and all the primary schools who are involved in preparing for the Grand Parade - Aillebrack, Ballyconneely, Cashel, Claddaghduff, Cleggan and Roundstone. Éamon Ó Cuív T.D., Sean Kyne T.D., Brian Walsh T.D., Derek Nolan T.D., Noel Grealish T.D., Senator Fidelma Healy Eames, Senator Trevor O’Clochartaigh, Senator Hildegarde Naughton, Cllr. Eileen Mannion, Cllr. Thomas Welby, Cllr. Seamus Walsh, Cllr. Joe Folan, Cllr.Tom Healy, Cllr. Niamh Byrne, Cllr. Noel Thomas, Davide Terlingo (Head of Dance and Festivals), Regina O’Shea, Natalie Byrne, Bernie O’Leary - The Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon, Jane Queally, Frank Fahey, Padraic McCormack, Alcock and Brown Hotel, Martin and Rita Acton, Aquinas College - Michigan, Angler’s Return, Aisling House, Anne Beatty, Kathleen Aspel (Cluid Housing Association), Jim Avcone, Sr. Agnes, Charlie Bourke, Kevin Barry, Ben Baun House, Fr. Ronnie Boyle, Ben View House, Jonathan Broderick, Enda Broderick (Lightnet festival broadband), Mary Banotti, Tommy Burke, Orla and Wayne Baylis (Upstairs Downstairs Coffee House), Angela Bane (Bane Mullarkey), Dave Beecher, Lynda Burke, Louise Borre, Ayoma Bowe, Alice Black (Manager AIB, Clifden), Amanda Burke (All Things Connemara), Clifden Tourist Office (Barbara Ward and Jeanie Linnane), Johnny Coyne (CEO – FORUM Connemara), Marie and Joe Coyne, Charles Conneely (Digital Office), Martin Casey, Josie Conneely, Maureen Chambers, Paddy Collins, Laurance Conneely (Cleggan Claddaghduff Festival of the Sea and the Claddaghduff Hall Committee), Fergus Cahill, Packie Conneely, Seamus and Mary Cullen, Michael and Kathleen Conneely, Anne and Pat Casey, Joe Conaty (FORUM Connemara), Martin and Lourdes Conneely, Bernie Coyne and staff at the Fatima Hospital Clifden, Maggie Courtade, staff of the Clifden Day Care Centre, Castle Print, Clifden Fire Service Chief Gerard King and Clifden Fire Service members (Niall Gallery, Sean Heanue, Kenny Flaherty, Adam Conroy, Joseph Acton, Brendan Mullen, Michael Carey, Vinny Heffernan, Dave Bann, John Heffernan and David McNamara), Dr. John and Brenda Casey, John Crumlish (Galway Arts Festival), Connemara Community Radio (Grainne O’Malley, Colleen Curran and all the staff), Sean and Rosalind Coyne, Cregal Art, Clifden Gardaí, Jim Carney, John Conneely, Breeda Cunningham (Arts Office Galway County Council), Connemara West Plc, Oliver Coyne, Louise Coyne (Clifden Glen), John Costello, Cashel Credit Union, Paddy Joe and Pam Conroy, Dolphin Beach Country House, Michael Delahunty (The Inn to the West), David Delahunty (The Inn to the West), Design Platform, Josephine DeCourcey, Fr. John Dunleavy SMA, Philip and Mary Ryder Davies, Mary Donnelly, Michael Dolan (Elm Tree), Noreen D’Arcy (D’Arcy Marketing and PR), Tony Dawson, Veronica Downes, Marie Donoghue, Bernie Dignam, Áine Egan, Rev. Stan and Rosemary Evans, Keith Finnegan - Galway Bay FM, Pat Fallon, Dr. Sophie Faherty, Billy Foyle, Tom Feneran, Mark Foyle (Rosleague Manor), Fr. Raymond Flaherty, Stephen Foyle (Foyles’ Hotel), Veronica Folan, Vincent Fahy (ESB, Clifden), Mary Foyle and all the staff at Criost Linn Centre (Ability West), Anthony Farrell (Lilliput Press), Alan Farrell (Galway Co.Co.), Eddie Foyle, Paul Fahy (Galway Arts Festival), Michael Fitzsimons (Fáilte Ireland), Bronagh Flynn, Dearbhaile Flynn, Ronan Fahey and Mandy Gabriel and all the staff of the Clifden Station House Hotel and Theatre, Fidget Feet, Fearghus Foyle (Connemara Aerials), Jason Foyle (Mullarkeys Bar), Margaret Flannery (Arts Assistant, Galway & Roscommon Education and Training Board), Stuart and Margaret Freeman, Martin Farragher, Christine Folan (Clifden Glen), Tom Grealy, Sean Gavin, Galway Arts Centre, Carmel and Michael Gaughan, Claire Griffin (Steam Café), Aoife Granville and all the staff at E.J. Kings Bar, Pat Guy, David Griffin, John and Jeanette Glynn, Erin Gibbons, Hugh and Eileen Griffin, Bobby and Truly Gilmore, Niall Gibbons (CEO Tourism Ireland), Marilyn Gaughan (Galway Capital of Culture 2020), Stephen and Mary Gibbons, Helen and Lorcan Geoghegan, Laura Griffin (Claddaghduff NS), Eileen Halliday, Marion Hanrahan and staff at St. Anne’s, Paul Hughes, Lol Hardiman (Arts Festival window display), Brian Hughes, Mike Harding BBC Radio, Brian and Michele Hehir, James Harrold (Arts Officer Galway City Council), Padraic Heanue, Sean Heanue, Sr. Immaculae, Bernie Jefferies (Clifden Library), Neasa Joyce (President - Connemara Chamber of Commerce), Sean Joyce, Delia Joyce, Kevin Joyce, Aidan Joyce, Emer Joyce, Valerie Joyce, Damien Joyce, Mary Joyce, Lucy Johnson, Brendan Joyce, Joseph Joyce Auctioneers, Derval Joyce, Julian Jefferies, Peter Jefferies, Mary Kelly - Principal, Clifden Community School, Peter Keane (for broadband installation), Michael and Anita Keane, Yvonne Keane (FORUM Connemara), Alan King (Steam Café), Anna King, Helen King, Gerry King, Frank Kelly, Kingstown House, Maureen Kennelly (Poetry Ireland), Brendan Kelly, Malachy Kearns, Jackie and Carmel Kenny, Maureen Kelly, Tony Kiely (Connemara Journal), John and Margaret Kelly, Malachy King, Eamonn and Noreen King, Paul Keogh (Clifden Library), Jim Killcrest, Brendan Keogh (Keogh’s Ballyconneely), Tom and Des Kenny, Geraldine Kelly (FORUM Connemara), Bro. Kenneth, Mrs. Mary P. Kileen, Eamonn and Anne King, Noel and Madeline King, King’s Paper Shop, Micheal King (Dun Rí Guesthouse), Christina Kennedy, Cathy Keane (FORUM Connemara), Tom King, Mary Kirby (St. Joseph’s Parish Office), Padraic Lyden, Gavin Lavelle, Joe Lynch (SuperValu), LUXe, Kathleen Loughnane, Eilish Lowry, Patricia Jean Lacey, Kurt Lydon (Galway County Council), Lough Fadda Guesthouse, Dara McAleer (Scoil Mhuire, Clifden), Fergal McGrath and staff at the Town Hall Theatre, Galway, Vincent Murphy, Fiona Monaghan (Failte Ireland), Bernadette Mullarkey (Bane Mullarkey), Sean Mulkerrin (IT Support), Pat and Antoinette Murphy, Eamonn and Theresa McLoughlin, Michéal and Grace McDonagh, Úna McCarthy (Director Limerick City Gallery), Maurice Maloney, Tom and Peggy McManus, Feichin Mitchell, John McDonough, Fr. Francis Mitchell, Bro. James Mungovan, Mallmore House, Pat and Jean Mullan, Karen Mannion (FORUM Connemara), Tom McHugh, John McMenamin, J.J. and Kay Mitchell, Music Network (Deirdre, Sharon, Andreas, Niamh), Augusta McCabe, Joanne McGrath, Cailin and Teresa Mitchell, J.J. and Caitriona Mannion, Petria McDonnell, Ronnie Millar, Ellen McDonagh, Declan Moran, Noel Mannion (What’s On), Seamus Mannion, Francie Mannion, John Malone, Tony Mullen, Judy Murphy (Connacht Tribune), Martin V. Mannion, John McDonagh, Yvonne McGuire, Maureen Maloney, Aislin Meehan (Bill Whelan’s office), Johanne Mullan, Sharon and Declan Maher, Valerie Mahon, Neil McLoughlin, Mary McNamara, Niall Malone Couriers, Robert Mitchell, Sean Nee, Michael Nee, Kate and Noel Noonan, Mrs. Nolan, Patrick O’Flaherty (Ballynahinch Castle Hotel), Ciara O’Mahony (Fáilte Ireland), Mairtin O’Cathain (Connacht Tribune and Galway Bay FM), Bro. Oswald, Martin O’Connor, Dr. Gearóid Ó’Tuathaigh, Colm O’Brien, Brendan O’Sullivan, Rory O’Toole, Aine O’Neill, Sheila and Peter O’Toole, Sean O’Farrell, Michael O’Neill, Henry O’Toole, O’Dowd’s Restaurant, Aidan and Máire O’Halloran, Dave and Mary O’Shaughnessy, Claire O’Shaughnessy, Fionnula O’Shaughnessy, Emer O’Shaughnessy, Brian O’Malley, Padraic O’Sullivan, Jane O’Hanlon, Mary O’Donoughue, Maeve O’Toole, Bridie O’Neill (ARC Clifden Town Hall), Helen O’Donoghue - IMMA, Aoife O’Dhallaigh (Connemara Journal), Keith O’Connor, Gerry and Betty O’Malley, Breandan O’Scanaill, Rory O’Connell - Findhorn, Rory O’Toole, Jonty O’Dallaigh, Jim O’Malley, Tina and Donal O’Scanaill, Tommy O’Sullivan (Galway County Council), Anthony and Christina Previté, Paddy Pryce, Mike and Sharon Prendergast, Patrycja Pietraszewska, Jonathan Powell (All Things Connemara), Niamh Philbin and the Connemara Pony Breeders Society, Brian Quinn (Failte Ireland), Lorna Roberts, Máiréad and Tim Robinson, Ciarán Ryan (Piano Tuner), Julie Ann Relihan (D’Arcy Marketing and PR), Tom Reapy and staff at the Clifden Post Office, Paddy Roe, Aidan Reade (Sound), Brendan and Virginia Ridge, Barry Ryan (Festival videographer – Limelight Productions), Canon James Ronayne, Bernhard Sanders (festival archivist), James Sullivan, John Stanley, Lorna Siggins, Shamrock Dry Cleaners, Raymond Schley, John and Triona Sweeney, Mary Smyth, Michael and Iris Taylor, Terry Sweeney, Georgie Thompson, Brian Thornburgh, Vassar College, Mr. and Mrs. Vanderlee, Sean Vaughan, Kathleen-Villiers Tuthill, Vaughan’s Hotel, Danny Vaughan, Pat and Margaret Walsh, Mary Claire Walsh, Michael Walsh, Melissa Wallace (FORUM Connemara), Tim Warbout, Marie Walsh, Walsh’s Bakery and Coffee Shop, Joe Woods, Joe Young. 68 C L I F D E N A R T S F E S T I V A L 2 0 1 5


We are very

grateful to our generous sponsors

Atlantic Coast Hotel – John Varley, Alcock and Brown Hotel, Michael and Toni Barrett, John Corless, Cullen’s Bistro & Coffee House, Celtic Crafts The Central Bar, Stephen and Celia Cullinane, Clifden Supply Centre, Rosemary Carr, Clifden Lotto, Edward R. Jr. and Mary Downe, Faul Guest House, Ann Fuller, Helen and Vincent Foley, Gannon Sports, GMT Ltd (Oliver Joyce and David McNamara), Alan and Mary Hobart, Tom Healy, Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO), Kavanagh’s Super Valu, Des and Mary Kavanagh, Dr. Ronan Kavanagh, Tom King’s Bar, Lavelle Art Gallery, Lowry’s Bar, Ronnie and Francoise Millar, Des Moran Butchers, Dr. Ciarán and Ann MacLoughlin, Eamonn McLoughlin, Declan Mannion Mannion’s Bar, Pat Molloy, Tom Mannion, Tom and Peggy McManus, Mitchells Restaurant, Kate and Noel Noonan, Michael Nee Bus Hire, Matt O’Sullivan Auctioneers, Shane O’Grady (Guy’s Bar), O’Dallaigh Jewelers, Cathriona and Patrick O’Toole – Buttermilk Lodge, Poetry Ireland, Paula and Peter Vine, Quay House, Tim and Mairead Robinson, Paul and Anne Summerville, Steam Café, Chris Shanahan - TOPAZ (Westport Road), Stanley’s, Vassar College, Sean Vaughan Vaughan’s Bar & Restaurant, Cathal and Joan Walsh - Walsh’s Bakery and Coffee Shop. And last, but by no means least a BIG thank you to the legion of voluntary helpers without whom it would be impossible to stage the Clifden Arts Festival, “Thank You!”.

Clifden Arts Festival Committee Artistic Director Brendan Flynn Chairman Des Lally Secretary Karen Mannion Treasurer Percy Hyland Programme Coordinator Eunan Gill Health and Safety Officer Gerard King Primary School Coordinator Eily O’Grady Visual Arts Curator John Durning Operations/Staging Manager Danny Vaughan Breandan O’Scanaill, Ursula Flynn, Catherine Lowry, Mary Ruddy, Marie Mannion, Carol Ann Joyce, Carmel Hanley, Caitriona O’Broin, Gerry Claffey, Nicola Snow, Keith Roache and Mary Keating, Mary McDonagh (box office), Julie Ann Relihan (Social Media). Special thanks to the staff of the Clifden Community School and primary schools for their kind cooperation and involvement over the years. Programme and Website Design Noel Mannion - noelmannion.com 2015 Festival Poster Jimmy Lawlor and Desmond Downes.

Disclaimer: While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this programme, the organisers of Clifden Arts Festival can accept no responsibility for errors, omissions or inaccuracies - neither can they be held liable for any loss or damage arising from reliance upon the contents of this programme. Details are correct at the time of going to print - updates can be found on clifdenartsfestival.ie/events.


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