Launch of Irish Historic Town Atlas No 25

“To put a city in a book, to put the world on one sheet of paper -- maps are the most condensed humanized spaces of all...They make the landscape fit indoors, make us masters of sights we can't see and spaces we can't cover.” 
― Robert Harbison, Eccentric Spaces

There was a  sense of 'centre meeting edge' at Ennis Buttermarket last Friday evening as historians, cartographers and academics  from the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin joined local councillors, business men, history buffs and local residents to celebrate the  launch of Irish Historic Town Atlas no 25 which condensed not only the dimensions of spaces but also the that of time in Ennis town onto an collection  of handsome A3 sized documents. County Librarian Helen Walsh  looking elegant  in emerald green opened the proceedings with words of welcome to the visitors and some background to the international dimension of the project . Secretary of the RIA , Tom Brazil spoke  about the institution dedicated unusually to the Renaissance ideal of excellence in scholarship of both arts and sciences . Howard Clarke, editor paid tribute to Brian O Dalaigh author of number 25, praising his enthusiasm, attention to detail and his pro-active engagement in the project before inviting the assembly to add a comparative dimenson in viewing some of the other atlas' in the the series on display that evening.

Author Brian O Dálaigh signs a copy for Fr. Tom Hogan .

O Dalaigh, son of the last cooper in Ennis spoke of his idyllic childhood growing up in Drumbiggle nd vividly recalled the characters and tradesmen he encountered in the market and streets of the Clare county town. Indeed as Walsh remarked , Brian has maybe a childhood memoir in him for  a future project

 The assembly was graced by not one but two mayors as mayor of Clare, Pat Daly added a few childhood reminiscences  of his own and made the point that the document would be much valued by the Clare diaspora. The atlas was officially launced by Mayor of Ennis , Peter Considine . The event went on for some time after as refreshments were served and the author continued to sign copies of the  opus for well over an hour.

Map 1787 by Henry Pelham

I met editors Colm Lennon and Jacinta Prunty  of the RIA team who were looking forward to returning to the West for no 26 which will feature  Galway. I spoke with Cartographic Editor, Sarah Gearty about the task of sourcing and selecting  the maps and photographs  All  the maps are included in digital form on a CD but the pleasure is in holding in your hand the tangible  printed form . Sarah and historian colleagues,  Angela Murphy and Jennifer Moore were busy manning the stand as demand was brisk for this splendid publication, a terrific addition to our local history resources.

RIA Editorial Team members
 Angela Murphy , Sarah Gearty and Jennifer Moore



Related article . More on the Irish Historic Town Atlas on Clare Library Blog here https://www.ria.ie/research/ihta.aspx

Excellent piece by Jessica Quinn in #Clare Champion on launch of Irish Historic Town Atlas #Ennis clarechampion.ie/index.php?opti… #cartography
— Cathy Desmond (@fidleir) August 25, 2012

More photos of the event here from Ennis Cathedral website http://www.ennisparish.com/gallery/?album=5&gallery=257&show=gallery&nggpage=2

Ennis Street Festival: Art Exhibition June 29th 2012

Juggling  on Ennis Streets Ana Colomer 

Driving past the cathedral on Friday evening, I noticed a flurry of activity in Tom Mannion's travel agency premises. Closer inspection revealed  a gathering of amateur artists of Ana Colomer’s and José Croft’s art groups and their supporters,  celebrating the end of year exhibition . The walls were adorned with the work of a dozen or so artists, most of them in attendance to receive compliments. I spoke to Mary McMahon whose beautiful botanical study of waterlillies owed something to Monet. Among the other paintings that caught my eye was Thea's painting of  fiddlle player, John Sheehan.  There was a splendid cake in the style of artists' easel and as I was leaving piper, Mick  Coyne had arrived with some pals hinting at more merriment to follow.  On the way out, I met councillor Johnny Flynn, not an exhibitor but  a supporter of Ennis Street Festival since its' inception seven years ago.  I can report that there was a great buzz at this evening celebrating an arena of Clare's artistic endeavour . Bravo! Let me know when the next showing is .

FlashMob Final Day Fun

This is an  abbreviated form of the post from one of my school blogs.  We had a lot of fun not to mention exercise yesterday with this finale to our Level 1 programme. A total 75 children in three classes took the programme and performed on the day.

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Flashmob Fun 1 Ms McMahons class at Cathedral

Well ! What an exciting and energetic day we had today as the beginners module of Swinging Strings programme came to a close for this year . There is nothing like live music so we took our newly acquired strings skills on to the streets of Ennis  to add to the soundscape  and the busking scene of the Clare county town today. 

Venue 1 Ms McMahon and class took up their positions outside the Cathedral . There was lots of room and we loved the square paving stones . Among the audience was Fiona Walsh of Ennis Gospel Choir  and her lovely little dog .

Cornet Player  A Going Home Fanfare 

Venue 2 The rain held off as Mr Blake and his class took up position in Barrack Street outside The Gourmet Store.The accoustics were very good here and Anne and David the proprietors gave us a warm welcome.

Venue 3 Finally, Mr Corry and his class made their way to the Temple Gate .  All the windows opened to hear our set as an American  tour group had just checked in . A serenade under their window was not quite what they were expecting!

Our programme 

Foxtrot 

Blues 

Twinkle 

Ireland's Call

Songs for a Summer Evening

I  expected a treat when the Lions Club of Ennis presented a very enjoyable song recital at Danlann an Chlár last night and got it. Featuring established operatic soloists Helen Houlihan and Owen Gilhooly, it featured a range of genres with  songs from opera, musical theatre and Irish  parlour songs . They were sympathetically accompanied at the piano by Adare based pianist, Irina Denova . 

The operatic meat of the programme was contained in the first half with arias and duets by Lehar, Bizet and Puccini . The programme opened with two  Novello duets demonstrating a charming sense of teamwork and rapport from the outset between the two, both of them convincingly assuming the roles contained within the repertoire.  Owen's solo number  from Merry Widow was suitably  insouciant following Helen's bravura rendition of Oscar Strauss's 'My Hero' .  Helen  looked every inch the star in no less than two glamorous outfits and this soprano featured in my highlights of 2011 

The Ennis Cathedral Choir more usually tucked away in the gallery looked and sounded splendid  with conductor Michael Hennessy. The Jenkins, Pie Jesu featuring  youngster Andrea Sheehan and soprano Veronica Belis was particularly effective and very moving . Tenor, Tony Murray made a further foray onto the platform when the baritone theatrically feigned to forget the words of a Percy French number adding to the general  good humour. 

Houlihan & Gilhooly

Although both singers  proved adept at adapting their style to deliver simpler folk songs effectively, the real surprise of the evening was Gilhooly's control and lightness of touch.  I had heard this artist several times this season, most recently in splendid form in Brahms Requiem at UCH.  and in Haydn's Thereseinmesse  Although well known on the Irish and international opera scene, his voice proved to be a supple instrument in the lighter musical theatre repertoire and there was a sense that he relished the repertoire. The sentimental  music hall number, Macushla was a high point in the first half and I swear he had a tear in his eye in the big number from Les Mis, 'Bring Him Home'.  With a busy season of operatic engagements ahead, he will be heard singing  roles by Sibelius and Rimsky Korsakov  in Buxton and nearer to home at Lismore Opera as Figaro in the Barber of Seville. 

Winners of Clare's Got Talent, all girl song and dance team, 12 +1 were utterly charming and Karoline O Sullivan added an aria from Bohemian Girl fitting in with the general nostalgic tenor of the evening.

The evening was conceived by Helen I understand as a fundraiser for Clarecastle Day Centre and Canteen  and the artists had generously donated their considerable talents. There was a good attendance. I met Alison Bowyer, of impeccable operatic lineage herself who  tells me that there will be  a new show at the Knappogue Castle  with hot off the manuscript arrangements from Colman Pearce  and  daughter Stephanie, a CM past pupil was busy rehearsing for a performance of Oklahoma in Bejing! 

Congratulations to the Lions Club in association with Colaiste Muire  for organising the event. Outgoing District Governor, Terence Mangan was in attendance. In terms of  professional performances, the presentation  of superb singing in a comfortable venue was on a high level.  While it was comprehensive programme, some of the spoken introductions  would have benefited from being trimmed a bit.  The pair can be heard again on August 3rd as guests of Kilkee Civic Trust  . Well worth an excursion!

A chatroom, a drunk & a farce - A night at the All Ireland One Act Finals

By Guest Blogger

The All Ireland and One Act Finals commenced this evening at Glór in Ennis. This is bumper week of live theatre in Ennis kicking off with two sell out houses for  Big Maggie  This competition is  sponsored by Mace and runs over the weekend with eleven groups from around the country converging in Co.Clare for the best in amateur drama.

Before we entered the theatre there was a spectacle as costumed performers mingled with the theatregoers  to a musical background. Being somewhat unfamilar with amateur drama competitions I was a bit unsure of what the expect but the fare on offer was terrific and it was a great night.

 There was a brief set of formal speeches with local amateur drama stalwart Allen Flynn, chairman of the event and the  distinguished theatre actress Marie Mullen amongst the speakers. The MC for the weekend  is John Finn and he has nice jovial manner with a wry sense of humour and connected well with the audience tonight. There is an excellent programme that covers the whole weekend.

Tonight we had 3 plays;

Reviews
The first play was Brenton v Brenton by David Tristram and was directed by Valerie Traynor.  This show was produced by Breffni Players from Carrick-on-Shannon in Co. Leitrim. This play is  a farce set in a wonderfully presented  advertising agency with a group  of  extravagantly drawn characters in  a bizarre storyline. The opening monologue delivered by Deke Brenton (Dessie Doyle) on the topic of condoms was very  funny and engaged the audience immediately. The script entailed  a lot of quick-fire dialogue reminiscent of the Marx Bros and there was a bewildering array of entrances and exits all timed to perfection. Caroline Burke was the stand out actor in the role of Lana Brenton the extravagant in everyway female lead.  There were a lot of non verbal props deployed to enhance the script and they worked well. The set was designed by Angus Dunne and Valerie Traynor. A strong production  and great start to the weekend.

The second play was 'The man who climbed pecan trees' by Horton Foote (screenwriter of  To Kill a Mockingbird) and directed by TJ Duggan. The company was the Prosperous Dramatic Society. This play concerned the travails of a  family in Texas during the Great Depression. It reminded me a of a Tennessee Williams piece in terms of the mood and the theme of family angst. The family has recently   enduring hardship with massive business losses and fraud amongst its problems.. A pivotal character  is a stoic mother well played by Zita McGarry Kelly who is trying to hold things together. Ashleigh O'Neill as the emotionally  wounded and suffering wife  delivered a fine performance The key character is Stanley who is an alcoholic  and delusional about his sutuation and has taken to climbing up a tree when under the influenbce. This part was superbly played by Robert Massey who is required to play a drunk thoughout the play and managed it wonderfully whilst mastering the emotional requirements of the role. The final scene with Stanley and his mother was very dramatic.  This was a powerful piece of theatre and was well received by the afficionados.

Great programme

The third play was Chatroom by Enda Walsh and directed by Philip Byrne. The group is Brádán Óg a youth section of the Brádán Players from Leixlip. The notable thing about this production is that the actors and director are all in the 18-21 age group. The concept of the play is novel; 6 characters communicating with each other in a chat room. So they don't speak to each other directly. Rather, the dialogue is to the ether. All actors remained to the front of and on stage throughout. The plot  progresses from chit-chat to cyber bullying and discussions of suicide. The play is clever and we see the real charcters become more rounded and sinoster and in two   cases progress to encouraging death. Sine Furlong played a compelling role as Eva and Kenneth Byrne was very believable as the arch bully.  Ciara Gore as the former anorexic also deserves a mention. John Dennehy as Jim was the star of the ensemble. He  played the  part of  troubled child that become the confused teen. He was very convincing as the vunerable teenager susceptible to the influence of those terrorising him. There was a movie insert to the piece that worked and sat well with the online conceit of the piece.  Credit to Conor Biddle on  lighting and Patrick Byrne on sound who supported the actors hugely.  Director Philip Byrne did a fine job in pulling all the strands of this innovative production together.

A word for the adjudicator Anna Walker who summarised the key pros and cons of each play immediately afterwards in a professional and comprehensive manner.

A great night of live theatre with three very  contrasting works and an   appetising   start to the weekend. I hope to return.

John Hartery