Thursday 27 April 2017

Come Together Now! at Clare County Library to celebrate the annual Bealtaine Festival this May

The Bealtaine Festival is Ireland's national celebration of creativity as we age. During May, all over the country Bealtaine events are running in arts centres, theatres, libraries, galleries, community centres, local halls, care settings, cultural spaces and even out in the open air! The theme for 2017 is All Together Now! Collectivism, civic engagement and protest!, which continues Bealtaine’s three-year exploration of Nationhood and Citizenship. Age and Opportunity states that this theme aims "to explore the concept of ‘people power’, the collective, civic engagement (and yes protest!), as well as the empathy that accompanies these human activities". Bealtaine, established in Ireland in 1996, is an Age and Opportunity initiative part-funded by the Arts Council and delivered by hundreds of organisations around the country with over 120,000 people now taking part, making it one of Ireland’s biggest arts festivals. From dance to cinema, painting to theatre, Bealtaine showcases the talents and creativity of both first-time and professional older artists.

Once again Clare County Library will participate in the Bealtaine Festival with a varied and widespread programme of events throughout the month of May in library branches throughout the county. All events are free of charge and everyone is welcome. Events will include talks, craft displays, workshops and movie screenings as part of the Bealtaine Film Tour which is presented by access>CINEMA in partnership with the Irish Film Institute.

This year’s chosen films for the Bealtaine Film Tour are Dare to be Wild (2016) starring Emma Greenwell, Tom Hughes, Don Wycherly and Carrie Crowley, Pride (2014) starring Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton, Andrew Scott, Paddy Considine and Dominic West and 12 Angry Men (1957) starring Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, E.G. Marshall, Jack Warden and Jack Klugman. Screenings begin on Tuesday 2nd May in Ennis and will take place throughout the month in library branches in Ennis, Ennistymon, Kilkee, Kilrush, Scariff and Shannon where the libraries will be transformed into a cinema with a difference for your viewing pleasure. You can contact your local library for screening times or visit www.clarelibrary.ie. Killaloe Public Library will also host a film screening of A Date for Mad Mary (2016) starring Seána Kerslake, Tara Lee, Charleigh Bailey and Denise McCormack on Friday, 26th May at 7.30pm. Movie screenings for adults take place monthly at Killaloe and Scariff libraries. Details are available on the Library’s website.

On Saturday 13th May at 11am in the Dr. Patrick J. Hillery Library in Miltown Malbay Cora O’Grady will hold a workshop on the art of Decoupage. Participants will learn how to transform everyday objects into works of art by pasting cut-out images on to an object and then covering the object with several coats of varnish or lacquer. Cora will first give a demonstration followed by a workshop with audience participation. People are advised to bring a small sturdy cardboard box to decorate, e.g. a jewellery box. Everyone is welcome, no booking required.

On Tuesday, 23rd May at 12pm Carmen Cullen presents her show Hello Delia Murphy, a tribute to her aunt, the singer Delia Murphy, in the De Valera Library in Ennis. Delia Murphy, from Hollymount, Co. Mayo, was one of Ireland's best known recording stars of the 30s and 40s in Ireland. A revered figure in Irish music Delia is thought of today as being one of the major figures of Irish song. She was a mould-breaker and pioneer in her field and created a role for herself as an Irish female popular singer that, some would say, hasn't been equalled yet. Having established ballad singing as an acceptable song form, she was known for such songs as The Spinning Wheel, If I were a Blackbird and Three Lovely Lassies from Bannion. Along with musician Gerry Anderson, Carmen Cullen will give the audience a special opportunity to hear about Delia's life as well as listening to her songs. Carmen will also give a dramatised reading from her novel Two Sisters Singing, published by Liberties Press in 2013 and loosely based on Delia's life. Carmen says, "We are making a special effort to bring back memories of my aunt to people who recall her, as well as attracting new interest in her as a unique woman and artiste".

Also on Tuesday, 23rd May at 6.30pm Breda Stack, the Declutter Therapist, will host an event at the Seán Lemass Public Library in Shannon. Breda teaches her audience how to break free from being overwhelmed by clutter so you can enjoy a simpler, happier life. Breda is author of Declutter Therapy, founder of Ireland’s National Declutter Day and International Declutter Day, creator of The Declutter Academy for professional student training and a regular contributor to TV, radio and print media. Breda’s talk covers a variety of practical wardrobe and home decluttering information, tips and guidelines on personal style, organisation, storage and lifestyle as well as her uniquely specialised and essential area of decluttering mindset, challenges and benefits. Breda visited the library in Ennis in early April when her event attracted a huge audience so this is a great chance to catch the event if you missed it then.

On Thursday, 25th May at 11.30am Ennistymon Public Library will host Eamon Doyle, the Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark Geologist, with his talk entitled There’s Life in the Old Rocks of Clare. This is a fascinating insight into the variety of fossils found in the rocks of County Clare and the interesting stories they tell.

The Library continues to team up with Friends Ireland, a group that provides volunteers to teach basic computer/laptop/tablet/mobile phone classes on an ongoing basis. The classes are free and run in four week slots but places are limited and should be booked through the participating branches. These classes are currently running in the libraries in Ennis and Shannon. Full details are available on the Library’s website. For more information on Friends Ireland visit www.friendsireland.ie.

On Wednesday 31st May staff from Clare County Library will join Gavin Grace on Clare FM’s Morning Focus show to discuss a title chosen especially for the Bealtaine Festival as part of the monthly radio book club, which is a collaboration between the two organisations. Stay tuned to Clare FM for more details and/or see the Library’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/clarecountylibrary.

Membership of the Library is free and Clare County Library boasts 15 branches throughout the county. So, during the Bealtaine Festival, why not join your local branch? You’ll discover a whole world of books, CDs, DVDs, free online resources including e-books and e-magazines and so much more. You may even join one of the many clubs being run including book clubs, movie clubs and scrabble clubs. A whole new experience awaits you! For more information on the Bealtaine events and much more visit Clare County Library’s website at www.clarelibrary.ie or phone 065-6846350. Remember all events at the Library are free of charge! For information on Bealtaine events happening nationwide visit www.bealtaine.com.

Monday 24 April 2017

Diarmuid de Faoite to read at Ennistymon Library

Clare native Diarmuid de Faoite will visit Ennistymon Library at 6.30pm on Wednesday 26th April to read from his new translation of Pádraic Ó Conaire’s seminal collection of short stories, Seacht mBua an Éirí Amach/Seven Virtues of the Rising. Listed in The Irish Times/ Royal Irish Academy’s Modern Ireland in 100 Artworks and first published in 1918, Seacht mBua an Éirí Amach is considered the first literary response to the Rising in any language and is beautifully presented here as a dual language book with a fascinating and detailed introduction by Brendan McGowan of Galway City Museum.

The idea for this dual language publication was first mooted by Brendan and Diarmuid to bring the work of Pádraic Ó Conaire to a wider audience and is the result of a collaboration between Galway City Museum, publishers Arlen House and Cló Iar-Chonnacht, Galway City Council and the Ireland 2016 Centenary Programme. The book will be part of RTE’s Book-On-One throughout the month of April.

Seacht mBua an Éirí Amach secured Ó Conaire’s position as the foremost writer in modern Irish and, arguably, the only one of international standing. As to the stories themselves, Brendan McGowan points out they are not directly concerned with the actual events of the 1916 Rising (although there are several allusions to key figures and locations); instead they reflect “the seismic shift in public opinion in favour of those pursuing Irish independence rather than Home Rule, which culminated in the electoral success of Sinn Féin in 1918.”

Diarmuid adds that Ó Conaire himself played a role in de Valera’s own success in Co. Clare, having campaigned on his behalf. “Ó Conaire worked as an election agent for de Valera in East Clare, having first gotten to know him as a student in Blackrock College.”

Diarmuid maintains that Ó Conaire’s Clare connections have been severely overlooked in the past: “Pádraic had at least as many close relatives in Clare as he had in Galway. He spent a year in school between Rinneen and Miltown Malbay and it was these same relatives who arranged for his subsequent education. Ó Conaire would return to West Clare almost every year up until a few years before his death.” Diarmuid hopes to put the Clare connection to rights in this reading.

Born in Galway town and reared in Connemara and Co. Clare following the deaths of his parents, Pádraic Ó Conaire (Patrick Conroy) was the most innovative Irish-language writer to emerge from the Gaelic Revival, producing much of his best work between 1901 and 1915 while working as a civil servant in London. Having returned to Ireland in 1915, he wrote profusely but unprofitably. He died in poverty in Richmond Hospital, Dublin in 1928 and was buried in Bohermore Cemetery, Galway. In his relatively short lifetime, he published more than 400 short stories, six plays and one short novel, as well as some 200 journalistic essays on a variety of topics. A statue of Ó Conaire by master sculptor Albert Power, which was commissioned by the Gaelic League, was unveiled in Eyre Square by Éamon de Valera in June 1935.

Diarmuid de Faoite’s translation is available in libraries, instore and online from www.Kennys.ie, www.cic.ie, The Ennis Bookshop, An Siopa Leabhair (Harcourt St, Dublin), Kennys, Charlie Byrne’s and Dubrays in Galway. His reading at Ennistymon Library on Wednesday 26th April at 6.30pm is free entry and all are welcome.

2017 International DUBLIN Literary Award

10 novels have been shortlisted for the 2017 International DUBLIN Literary Award (formerly the IMPAC award), sponsored by Dublin City Council and managed by Dublin City Libraries. The list includes The Green Road by Irish author, Anne Enright, six novels in translation from Angola, Austria, Denmark/Norway, Mexico, Mozambique and Turkey, and novels from Nigeria, Vietnam and the USA.

The International DUBLIN Literary Award is worth €100,000 to the winner and is the world’s most valuable annual literary award for a single work of fiction published in English. If the winning book is an English translation, €75,000 is awarded to the author and €25,000 to the translator. Books are nominated for the award by invited public libraries in cities throughout the world. The winner will be announced on June 21st.

The shortlisted titles are:
1. A General Theory of Oblivion by José Eduardo Agualusa (Angolan)
2. Confession of the Lioness by Mia Couto (Mozambican)
3. The Green Road by Anne Enright (Irish)
4. The Prophets of Eternal Fjord by Kim Leine (Danish/Norwegian)
5. The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli (Mexican)
6. The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen (Vietnamese/American) First novel.
7. Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta (Nigerian-American) First novel.
8. A Strangeness in My Mind by Orhan Pamuk (Turkish)
9. A Whole Life by Robert Seethaler (Austrian)
10. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (American)

Margaret Hayes, Dublin City Librarian said of the shortlist ‘Issues of conflict and communication are set against a myriad of cultural and family settings and in contemporary and historic time periods. For readers, these stories add new and absorbing characters to our circle of international literary acquaintances’.

Tuesday 11 April 2017

Cruinniú na Cásca at Clare Museum

Clare Museum will be holding two family oriented events for Cruinniú na Cásca on Easter Monday, 17th April.
At 2.30pm, Storyteller Ruth Marshall will tell about traditions and stories associated with the start of spring and Easter for children aged between 7-12 years.

The museum will also host a quiz and egg hunt based around the museum exhibition, beginning at 4pm.

While the museum will be open to the public for general visitors between 2pm and 6pm, booking for these events is essential. There is a maximum of 35 children and parents permitted for each event and parents are required to be present throughout. Bookings can be made by contacting John Rattigan at claremuseum@clarecoco.ie

Tuesday 4 April 2017

2017 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction shortlist announced

This year’s six shortlisted books include one previous winner of the prize and one debut novelist with books by well –renowned authors Margaret Atwood, Annie Proulx and Rose Tremain failing to make the shortlist.

The 6 shortlisted books are:
Stay With Me by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀̀ - a story of marriage and motherhood set against the social and political turbulence of 1980s Nigeria.

The Power by Naomi Alderman - a science fiction thriller imagining a world where women develop a power to hurt or kill men with a single touch.

The Dark Circle by previous prize winner Linda Grant - a story of East End London teenage twins suffering from tuberculosis, who are sent to a sanatorium in deepest Kent where they meet a very different world.

The Sport of Kings by C.E. Morgan - a story about race and horse racing following a father and daughter who try to mould a wilful thoroughbred into a champion.

First Love by Gwendoline Riley - draws the reader into the battleground of a marriage between a mid-30s author and her older husband.

Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien - the story of China's Cultural Revolution told through the interwoven lives of three Chinese musical prodigies.

The prize, worth £30,000 celebrates excellence, originality and accessibility in writing by women in English from throughout the world. The winner of the 2017 prize will be announced on 7 June 2017.

Monday 3 April 2017

Curtin Clan Gathering, April 21-23, 2017 at the Temple Gate Hotel in Ennis

“You can’t know where you are going until you know where you’ve been”, Old Irish Proverb

Ennis, County Clare, Temple Gate Hotel: The Curtin Clan will celebrate their 10th Gathering at the Temple Gate Hotel in Ennis on April 21-23, 2017. The Curtin Clan are a group of people with a connection to the Curtin surname that are curious about how generations before lived in Ireland. The Curtin surname is found in counties Clare, Cork, Kerry and Limerick. It involves an international community for genealogy, research and fellowship.

The Gathering will include speakers on the impact of the Penal Code on late 19th century Ireland, history of Curtins in Clare, Cork War of Independence, Clan DNA update, Rambling House, Gala Dinner, dancing, traditional music, Mass at the Franciscan Friary, and a tour of the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren.

For registration information, visit http://www.curtin.org