Aughrim
NOTE: UPDATED TIMES
Afternoon Visit to Schools Composer Francis Heery & Curator Martina Finn, Aughrim Arts & Cultural Heritage Group, will visit St Catherine’s National School and The Glebe National School and present work on aspects of contemporary music composition and Aughrims Cultural Heritage.
Culture Night Opening
6.00pm: The Battle of Aughrim Interpretative Centre
Culture Night will be opened with a tribute to Martin Joyce. Curator of Aughrim’s unique School Museum and collection of local artefacts over 60 years, Martin Joyce was foremost in creating the rich cultural context Aughrim is renown for today. The distinguished local Historian and former School Principal, Martin Joyce was Aughrim’s first Curator of a Museum deemed unique to the country at the time. Martin Joyce’s dedication and work over the years gave rise to the establishment of the Battle of Aughrim Interpretative Centre and the Joyce Collection.
‘Aughrim and James Joyce’
6.15pm: The Battle of Aughrim Interpretative Centre
‘Aughrim and James Joyce’ is a lecture by Senior University lecturer Dr. Frank Shovlin. The lecture will examine the place that Aughrim and its legacy plays in James Joyce's literary imagination, focusing particularly on the reasons for his use of the song 'The Lass of Aughrim' in his greatest story 'The Dead' and going on to look at his more general fascination with the fall of Jacobite Ireland in 1691. The lecture will be accompanied by a live performance of the song’ The Lass of Aughrim’ by Galway singer, Sandra Murphy.
Dr Frank Shovlin is a senior lecturer of Irish literature at the Institute of Irish Studies, University of Liverpool. A native of the west of Ireland and a graduate of the National University of Ireland, Galway and the University of Oxford, his most recent book is titled 'Journey Westward: Joyce, Dubliners and the Literary Revival' (Liverpool University Press, 2012).
‘The Battle of Aughrim’
Performance
7.15pm: The Battle of Aughrim Interpretative Centre
A creative interpretation and performance of Richard Murphy’s 1968 poem ‘The Battle of Aughrim’ with a recital by members of the local community, Carmel Murray, Robin Newton, Martina Finn Cormac Jennings and Tomas Dolan and newly commissioned music and performance by Laurencetown Composer Francis Heery.
Francis Heery is a composer and improviser, originally from Laurencetown, Co. Galway. He writes for both electronic and instrumental media. His work has been performed or broadcast in Ireland, England, Germany, Lithuania, England, Sweden, Finland and the USA. He has an M.Phil in Music and Media Technologies and was awarded a PhD in Composition from University College Cork in 2011.
Richard Murphy’s work was originally broadcast by the BBC and recorded as an LP in 1968. The original readers were some of Irelands most notable actors of the day, Cyril Cusack, C. Day Lewis, Ted Hughes, Margaret Robertson and Niall Tobin. Music was composed by Sean O Riada and played by Ceoltoiri Chualann. Richard Murphy and the Barbican Writers Group also performed this work in Aughrim as part of the Tri centenary commemorations of the Battle of Aughrim in 1991.
‘Music by Still Sloping’
8.00pmThe Battle of Aughrim Interpretative Centre
Still Sloping, a group of local musicians and descendants of one of Ireland’s first ceili bands, The Aughrim Slopes Ceili Band. Still Sloping will showcase work from Aughrim’s musical legacy, including work from the Aughrim Slopes Ceili Band and compositions by local fiddle players and band members Paddy Fahy and Paddy Kelly, alongside music from their own recently recorded CD.
Performance by Cúil na Méaragán Céili Dancers The evening will also include a performance by the local youth members, under the tuition of Annette Hurley, from the Cúil na Méaragán Céili Dancers
Music & Drumming Event
8.30pm: Aughrim Heritage Park
for local youth and community by Cormac Jennings, Eoin Riddell and Guests.
