Clifden Arts Festival Programme 2017 by ClifdenArtsFestival

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40TH CLIFDEN ARTS FESTIVAL – SEPTEMBER 13-24, 2017

NEVER MISS OUT

clifdenartsfestival.ie

ANNE UELTSCHI

BILL & DENISE WHELAN

sponsors

JOHN SWEENEY EJ KING’S, CLIFDEN

The Clifden Arts Festival Committee Artistic Director Brendan Flynn Chairman Des Lally Secretary Karen Mannion

TERRY SWEENEY

Joe and Joan McBreen

FORUM Connemara Ltd

PROVIDERS OF BROADBAND INTERNET TO THE FESTIVAL

We are very grateful to our generous

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.

Alcock and Brown Hotel, Michael and Toni Barrett, John Corless, Cullen’s Bistro & Coffee House, Celtic Crafts, The Central Bar, Stephen and Celia Cullinane, The Clifden Bookshop (thanks to Maire and Nicole) 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, Conor Killeen, 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, Mitchell’s Restaurant, Kate and Noel Noonan, Michael Nee Bus Hire, Matt O’Sullivan Auctioneers, Shane O’Grady (Guy’s Bar), O’Dallaigh Jewelers, Catriona and Patrick O’Toole – Buttermilk Lodge, Poetry Ireland, Paula and Peter Vine, The Quay House, Tim and Máiréad Robinson, Paul and Anne Summerville, Steam Café, Chris Shanahan - TOPAZ (Westport Road), Stanley’s, Vassar College, Sean Vaughan Vaughan’s Bar and Restaurant, Cathal and Joan Walsh – Walsh’s Bakery and Coffee Shop, Petra McDonnell, Dr. Brendan and Deirdre O’Connor, Roseanne and Peter O’Grady Walshe. 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.

Treasurer Percy Hyland Programme Coordinator Eunan Gill Health and Safety Officer Gerard King Primary School Coordinator Eily O’Grady Secondary School Coordinator Carmel Hanley Visual Arts Curator John Durning Operations & Staging Manager Danny Vaughan Breandan O’Scanaill, Ursula Flynn, Catherine Lowry, Mary Ruddy, Marie Mannion, Carol Ann Joyce, Caitriona O’Broin, Gerry Claffey, Nicola Snow, Keith Roache, Mary Keating, Mary McDonagh (box office), Pam Finn (Think PR). Special thanks to the staff of the Clifden Community School and primary schools for their kind cooperation and involvement over the years. Programme Design and Website Development by Noel Mannion - noelmannion.com 2017 Poster and Programme Cover Design Festival poster and cover illustration by Jimmy Lawlor. Composite and typography by Noel Mannion. 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.

VISUAL ARTS

SCHOOLS PROGRAMME

Festival Box Office Tickets can be bought online at clifdenartsfestival.ie or in the Festival Box Office. The festival box office is located inside the old SuperValu building on Market Street. Opens from Friday 18 August. Please see the front door for the opening hours. Telephone 087-3315009 / 091-442730 Email boxoffice@clifdenartsfestival.ie Full programme online visit clifdenartsfestival.ie

The Arts Festival Caravan is a hive of information and will be open on Market Square from Wednesday 6 September. The Arts Festival Merchandise Office is now open on Bridge Street. We ask patrons to be seated at least 5 minutes before scheduled performance time.

GENERAL PROGRAMME

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MAP OF VENUES

Visual Arts / Clifden Arts Festival

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Clifden Arts Festival / Visual Arts

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Visual Arts / Clifden Arts Festival

Mick O'Dea in Connemara

LAUNCH Thursday 14 September, 5pm VENUE Festival Gallery

This year the Festival Gallery will host a selection of recent, new and exciting work by renowned Irish and internationally acclaimed artist, Mick O'Dea PRHA. Born in Ennis, County Clare in 1958, Mick O'Dea studied at the National College of Art and Design and the University of Massachusetts from 1976 to 1981. In 1997 he was awarded an M.A. in European Fine Art from the Winchester School of Art having studied in Barcelona and Winchester.

His skill as a portrait painter has brought him many commissions, including ones from Hong Kong, Europe and the USA. He has been commissioned and recently completed the official portrait of President Michael D Higgins, which will hang in Leinster House throughout his term of office and will move to Áras an Uachtaráin after his departure from office. As a landscape artist he is consciously receptive to the ever shifting patterns of light. All his work is at once energetic and contemplative, multi directional yet focused, coloured sparingly yet luxuriant. He generates a sense of urgency which is translated and made manifest by the quality and the immediacy of his work.

Mick O'Dea is the current President of Royal Hibernian Academy and follows in the footsteps of former Presidents Carey Clarke, Stephen McKenna, Des McMahon and Arthur Gibney. O'Dea is an artist with a vivid awareness of the roots of his painterly tradition. He sees himself as being located within the scope of the Northern Renaissance, with an essentially humanistic approach and as being firmly in the academic tradition, but not in the classical sense. He is a natural observer and has a defined approach to beginning work on the blank canvas, "You begin by getting familiar with the geography," he said, "then go about trying to capture the essence of the person."

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This exhibition offers up an exploration of Mick O’Dea’s world in its different manifestations, a glance through the creativity of this highly regarded Irish Artist, from his portraits to his landscapes. This exhibition gives you the opportunity to enjoy the magnetic and compelling works of Mick O'Dea. The Festival acknowledges the contribution of Occasional Press, Ballynahinch Castle Hotel, The Inishlacken Project and Kevin Kavanagh. Very special thanks to Aaron Wootton for the use of the premises.

Talk by Mick O'Dea Mick O'Dea will give a talk on the works included in his exhibition. DATE Friday 15 September, 2pm VENUE Festival Gallery

Clifden Arts Festival / Visual Arts

Photo by Vincent Murphy.

limited special hardback edition which includes a CD with each poet reading their own word, a recorded introduction by Walter and music by harpist and composer, Kathleen Loughnane.

Launch: Connemara & Aran by Walter Pfeiffer Music, images and readings to launch the photography book Connemara & Aran by Walter Pfeiffer (Artisan House 2017) and to celebrate Walter Pfeiffer (1943 – 2017). "My Aran and Connemara are not grey; they are supremely light-filled, recklessly hued and splendidly untamed" – Walter Pfeiffer, Introduction to Connemara & Aran. Connemara & Aran, a visual chronicle of landscapes and seascapes by photographer Walter Pfeiffer, was to be launched joyously at this year’s Clifden Arts Festival. Sadly Walter died unexpectedly on 21st April 2017 – he was not to see his much-anticipated book published by Artisan House, Connemara. Vincent Murphy of Artisan House, a close friend of Walter, said: "Walter was very excited by this particular title Connemara & Aran. It was a visit to Aran in 1964, when he was only 20 years, that proved life-changing. So enchanted was he by the landscape, the light, the people, that he left his native Germany and moved to live in Ireland the following year and lived here ever since." The 176-page book contains images taken by Walter over a number of years as well as poems from Eva Bourke, Moya Cannon, Michael Coady, Eamon Grennan, Josie Guairim, Joan McBreen, Máire Áine Ní Dhiréain and Mary O'Malley, contemporary poets who are similarly familiar with and fascinated by the west coast of Ireland. The launch of the book is doubly bitter-sweet as Josie Guairim also died unexpectedly in March 2017. The foreword is by archaeologist Michael Gibbons whose deep knowledge and familiarity with the area greatly enhances the book. In addition to the paperback edition is a

As Irish Times journalist, Peter Murtagh, wrote in his obituary article on Walter: "Walter Pfeiffer was a photographer whose standards of excellence and attention to detail was applied with equal diligence to a single clove of garlic resting on a plate as to the epic landscapes of Connemara and Wicklow." LAUNCH Sunday 17 September, 5pm VENUE Festival Gallery

Allanah Robins She’s Like A Briar An exhibition of new works on paper by Alannah Robins. Drawing on familiar images, Alannah Robins explores our heritage of myth and memory. She enjoys an instinctive, play-like, approach to the work, in which previously unrelated images conjoin to touch on unconscious layers of meaning. The resulting objects or images trace an interior landscape, and with it recurring themes of identity, a sense of place and man’s relationship with nature. VENUE Church of Ireland, Church Hill, Clifden

CLIFDEN ARTS FES TIVAL 2017

Visual Arts / Clifden Arts Festival

Imelda Healy

Beth Trepper

Aqua

Ethereal Ireland

Imelda Healy is a Dublin-based artist who holds a B.F.A. with honours from the National College of Art and Design. At her degree show at the R.H.A. she won the Symantec Prize in Painting. She has also earned a Diploma in the History of Art from Trinity College and B.Soc.Sci. from University College Dublin. After graduating she was a founder member of Brunswick Mills Studio in Dublin, where she participated in many group shows.

For a country known for its lush green landscape, it may seem strange to portray Ireland in anything but full colour. But once I began shooting these images, I was drawn to the timeless drama and haunting quality of black and white film and the soft, muted hues of an infrared camera.

Imelda’s first solo show was at the Boat House Gallery in Castletownshend, Cork (2002). Her other solo shows include Powerscourt Town House (2003); White Cube, Rathmines (2006); and Riverbanks Arts Centre, Kildare (2008). Her work has featured in group shows at the R.H.A. Ashford Gallery; Mermaid Gallery, Bray; Dunamaise, Port Laoise; Monster Truck Studios, Dublin; and many others. From 2009-2013 Imelda lived in Los Angeles, where she did an M.A. in Arts and Humanities at Mount St. Mary’s, formed Berkeley Alley Studio, Santa Monica, with four other women, and held a well-received solo show at Upper West Gallery, also in Santa Monica. Her work is represented in many private and public collections in Ireland and abroad. She is an accomplished painter of portraits. In 2009 Paul McGuinness commissioned her to paint Gerry Lyne, the Keeper of Manuscripts at the National Library, where the portrait is now displayed. VENUE Old Whistlestop Shop, Station House

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Ireland is such a mystical country, steeped in history and folklore. The dreamlike properties of the infrared camera – which converts green foliage to snowy white and people to ghostlike figures – seem to evoke the mood of this ancient land. Sometimes, the infrared camera produces magical effects – blue, orange, copper. I don’t really know why, but there is little need for post-production work, which suits me fine. I’d much rather be outside playing all day than sitting inside staring at a computer! Other images were shot with a traditional black and white film camera. Again, the sensuality and directness of the monotone suspends time and invites the viewer’s imagination to run as wild as the rugged Irish landscape. For the third part in my portrayal of Ireland, I have combined my photographs with quotes from my favorite writers. With their poignant, often humorous words and my images, I rejoice and celebrate my Irish heritage. VENUE Steam Café, Station House Courtyard

Clifden Arts Festival / Visual Arts

Cyril Ó Flaithearta

Inishlyon Group Exhibition

Oilithreacht

By the Waters Edge

Oilithreacht is a response to fourteen climbs to the pilgrim site of Mauméan. An important pass through the Maamturks and is visited by thousands annually.

Joe Boske, Brian Bourke, Augustin Coyne, Olwen Kelly, Dolores Lyne, Marie Fitzpatrick, Jay Murphy, Scott Ward, Margaret Irwin West.

It was this journey to Mauméan and the time spent there in February 2017 that has inspired this series of work. I explore within my own belief of what a pilgrimage really is; the leaving behind of one’s material self; to explore the beauty of what’s out there; the attonement for wrongs; when the only sound one hears are the wind and torrents of water; this place where light, God and simplicity rule and I hope that I have done it justice. Cyril Ó Flaithearta is a native of Inis Mór, Árainn, where he lives with his family. He is a co-founder of the Oileán Project.

The Exhibition is inspired by the exposure of an abandoned coastal village on Inishlyon, east of Inishbofin, Connemara in 2015. The village was excavated in 2015 and 2016 by a team of archaeologists, artists and students. The artworks are of Inishbofin and coastal related themes. They are exhibiting here together with some established artists. Thank you to the library staff and to the participants. We couldn’t do this without you. A percentage of the sales will go towards the excavation costs. VENUE Clifden Library, Market St., Clifden

VENUE Foyer of Station House Theatre

Chris Munnia

Group Exhibition

LAUNCH Sunday 17 September, 5pm

New Works Michael Gough, Kathleen O'Brien, Ness Porter Kelly, Jason Fitzpatrick, Romy Hogan, Nancy Whelan, Philomena Schofield, Augusta McCabe, Jacqueline Barry and art students.

China Ink

VENUE Cullens Bistro, Market Street, Clifden

VENUE Credit Union, The Square, Clifden

CLIFDEN ARTS FES TIVAL 2017

Visual Arts / Clifden Arts Festival

Mary Donnelly New Works "In my practice I search for the Miraculous: 'a seeing that is blinded by eyesight' (1) Landscape is my allegory.” (1) John Moriarty, Night Journey to Buddh Gaia Dublin: Lilliput Press, 2006. VENUE The Lavelle Art Gallery, Main St., Clifden

Kenneth Webb London to London via Connemara – Kenneth Webb: an Artist's Journey An Illustrated talk with world famous artist Kenneth Webb including a video from his recent 90th exhibition in Knightsbridge London. Now in his 90th year, Kenneth will discuss his paintings, revealing his motivation and technique that have produced almost a century of world – renowned work. His works are now the subject of a major tour of USA cities such as New York, Boston and Chicago, organised by the famous London Gallery, Gladwell and Patterson. There will be an opportunity to meet the artist afterwards for light refreshments and a question and answer session. Visitors can also view over 20 of Kenneth's paintings which are on exhibition in the Hotel. Time in total: 1 hour excluding the refreshments. DATE Saturday 16 September, 3pm VENUE Alcock and Brown Hotel, Market Square, Clifden 8 CLIFDEN ARTS FES TIVAL 2017

Norbert Stolze Pencil Massacre Special 40th Arts Festival 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. He is working as an visual artist in Hannover and holding periodical exhibitions and workshops in Germany and Ireland. He has been working with pencil almost exclusively for a number of years. VENUE Upstairs Downstairs, Main St., Clifden

Angela Williams Felix Anniversario Angela Williams has lived and worked in Ireland over 35 years, returning to Connemara where her mother was a native. Finished her BA (Hons) in Fine Art this year, Angela has been longlisted for the RDS Visual Arts Award 2017. Angela’s current body of painting, woodturning and small structures are the culmination of the connection of living and working in Connemara. Where she says "…the ever changing landscape, the light always on the move creating extreme contrasts of colour, sometimes desolate always beautiful." VENUE Irish Antiques Gallery, Station House

Clifden Arts Festival / Visual Arts

Aspects of Connemara Group Exhibition Group Exhibition with Michael Cullen RHA, Dennis Mamalis, Reingard Gahan, Trish Findlater, Patricia Byrne, Richard Ward, Bernie Dignam, Michael Gemmell, Kieran Tobin, Kate Noonan, Dolores Lyne, Caroline Canning, Leon de Sachy. The exhibition will be opened by Mary Finan. Image above: On The Bog Road, Reingard Gahan. Smaller image: Inagh Valley, Dennis Mamalis.

LAUNCH Saturday 16 September, 6pm VENUE Blaithin de Sachy Art Gallery, Market Street, Clifden

Ability West The Tree of Life On Thursday September 14th Críost Linn will put on a performance with MoonMagic in the Station House Theatre at 2:30pm. Following the performance there will be an unveiling of The Tree of Life mural at Críost Linn. All welcome. LAUNCH Thursday 14 September VENUE Criost Linn, Ability West Centre, The Carriageway, Station House Hotel

The Whitethorn Gallery An Afternoon of Music A collection of paintings and sculptures by local, national and international artists – highlighting the works of Alexandra Van Tuyll and Padraig McCaul. The Whitethorn Gallery is proud to host an afternoon of music from the multi talented Alexandra Van Tuyll on the piano, and Padraig McCaul on the saxophone. Both are also very accomplished painters in their own right, and they will play a series of melodies in The Whitethorn Gallery, surrounded by their very beautiful works of art. Padraig McCaul is a full time artist, originally from Dublin, but now based on Achill Island, where he lives with his wife Anne, and three children. He works with oil on canvas, using a single palette knife and brush to create his semi-abstract, colour filled paintings, that evoke the solitary simplicity of life on the west coast of Ireland. He is internationally recognised, and his work is included in many private and public collections both at home and abroad. Alexandra Van Tuyll was born a Baroness in the Netherlands. She traveled widely, settling in Ireland in the seventies. Her background is in music and her paintings are inspired and influenced by classical music. She attempts to find the balance between dream and reality. She has had solo exhibitions in Ireland, the Netherlands and the USA where her work can be found in private and public collections. LAUNCH Sunday 17 September, 4:30pm VENUE The Whitethorn Gallery, Main Street, Clifden

CLIFDEN ARTS FES TIVAL 2017

Visual Arts / Clifden Arts Festival

Margaret Irwin West, Katherine West, Manon West Triple Triple is an intergenerational exhibition of the work of one family with close connections to the evolution of Clifden Arts Festival ever since its beginnings.

Tim Robinson A Tribute Tim Robinson is an author, visual artist, cartographer, curator and mathematician. Through his fascination with the geography and the ruggedness of Connemara and its islands, his adopted home, he has delighted and enriched the lives of all who have experienced the wealth and depth of his intuitive creativity. Regardless of the medium used, Tim Robinson has left us with beautiful pictures in our minds. This selected exhibition is presented by Clifden Community Arts Festival in association with the Irish Museum of Modern Art. Opening by Dr. Gearoid O'Tuathaigh. LAUNCH Wednesday 13 September, 5pm VENUE Irish Antiques, Clifden Station House

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Margaret Irwin West – Born in India of Irish parents, Margaret Irwin is a printmaker and painter with roots in Roscommon, who has been living and working in Connemara since 1991. She trained in Dublin and Paris. Her work is held in both public and private collections. In 2008, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Co. Galway Arts Office. Katherine West – Katherine West is a graduate of the National College of Art and Design, Dublin, Ireland, The School of Decorative Arts, Strasbourg France and the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, USA. She lectures in Ceramics at the Centre for Creative Arts and Media at the Galway Mayo Institute of Technology and makes work from her studio in Roscahill, County Galway, Ireland. Katherine West is a member of the International Academy of Ceramics. Her work can currently be seen in Shadow of Sodeisha at the National Museum, Collins Barracks and in Touchstone at the Farmleigh Gallery, Phoenix Park. Katherine West is represented by the NAG Gallery, Dublin. Manon West – Born in Connemara, Manon West is currently in her final year at Clifden Community School. She joins her grandmother and her aunt in this intergenerational exhibition. Based on observational studies, she works imaginatively in various media. Image: Katherine West.

VENUE Gallery beside Hedz Hairdressers, Station House Hotel, Clifden

Clifden Arts Festival / Visual Arts

Yvonne King Connemara Light Following 3 successful exhibitions in the USA in March, Yvonne King has been exploring her native Connemara, transferring the narrative of the sea and land through thick layers of impasto oil paint onto canvas. Rich colour runs through the seam of the new paintings with flecks of the primaries interspersed in more tonal greys and greens. The focus is on the particular light of Connemara. Yvonne King studied painting and drawing with the Scottish artist Douglas Anderson, Royal Painter, in his Connemara studio for 4 years. www.yvvonnekingart.com. VENUE Tourist Office, Galway Rd., Clifden

Marie Fitzpatrick Shifting Sands Marie Fitzpatrick was raised in Connemara on the West Coast of Ireland. The surrounding sea and mountains provided a profound and constant source of inspiration. Marie's work focuses on the powerful opposition of control and chaos. It looks at how this affects our personal space, making it intangible and elusive. Within the work, there is a sense of fragmented and half remembered scenes, both mythological and real. Images are dislocated, abstract projections developed to define physical, emotional and hypothetical worlds.

Aaron Holton Aaron Holton studied fine art at the Crawford College of Art and Design in his home county of Cork. Now settled in Connemara, Aaron explores the animal life of the surrounding countryside. He chooses to replace the landscape with a negative space, which draws our attention closely to the figure. Aaronâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s medium of choice is oil pastel which he combines with washes of watercolour. "With my work, I try and use the exceptional unfiltered light that is native to Connemara to push my theme of negative space that is ever present in my work. Replacing the surrounding landscape with negative space and using a strong light source to play across the cows, it is my intention that the viewers imagination recollect and make a comparison of a mindscape to their choosing." More work on show in The Lavelle Art Gallery, Main Street, Clifden. VENUE The Little Tin House, Bridge St., Clifden

The Art Trail Celebrating its 12th Year Shop Window Exhibition of work by artists who reside in, are inspired by and visit the area â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a map of the numbered Art Trail can be found in the What's On Connemara guide.

VENUE Irish Antiques Gallery, Station House CLIFDEN ARTS FES TIVAL 2017

Visual Arts / Clifden Arts Festival

'Past Light', Caroline Keî

Beyond Boundaries Group Photographic Exhibition

With Aoife Herriott, Patrick Howard, Caroline Kei, James Mortimer, Laurence Hofman, James Howard, Dave O'Halloran. Beyond Boundaries – an exploration of photographic mediums and genres from traditional and conceptual documentary to analogue and digital art and alternative photo processes. Aoife Herriott is originally from Renvyle and having left the area after secondary school she returned to live here in 2009. Since then she has been working as a professional photographer specialising in wedding and commercial photography. She trained in Documentary Photography at the University of Wales College, Newport from 1998-2000. As an escape from the commercial world of photography, Aoife experiments with various alternative photographic processes including Lumen printmaking, examples of which are on display in this group photo exhibition. Caroline Keî was born in 1984 in the suburbs of Paris and lives currently on the Renvyle Penninsula in Connemara with her partner and young daughter. She studied photography at the EFET College of Photography in Paris. She then experimented with the multiple possibilities of exposing film and discovered a real passion for the magical chemistry of colour. The essentials of her photographic work are realized at the instant, in movement. Equiped of her analogic Lomo camera, traditional color film, and a visual memory associated with a sharpened sense of the composition, Caroline overlays scenes of the ocean and nature with aesthetic ruins to create a serene, dreamy and unique vision of Connemara. 12 C L I F D E N A R T S F E S T I V A L 2 0 1 7

'Autoportrait', J.P. Mortimer

Laurence Hofman

J.P. Mortimer 'El Chico de Rueda' was born in Paris during the 'Trente Glorieuses' in 1955. After a rocky youth, his attraction for graphic arts made him discover the magic world of photography. In the early eighties, he graduated as a master in 'photo-cinema' after his work on the carnival in New Orleans, illustrated by a slide show with music Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Tireless traveller, he used his camera as a witness to his own time. Collective projects are a foundation of his work. Laurence Hofman: The work is a mixed media conceptual photographic triptiek researching recovery and female empowerment after trauma from systematic abuse. The woman in the photographs is an advocate for recovery after abuse (being severely abused herself since early childhood). VENUE Exhibition Space beside AIB, Galway Road, Clifden

Michael Harris Photography Birds of a Feather This photographic exhibition will combine the aesthetics of artistic composition, colour and pattern with scientific detailed study to create striking compositions. Going beyond the basic camera skills, Birds of a Feather explores exceptional lighting and close up skills to produce beautiful images featuring some of our most common birds. Beyond the Selfies lecture date and time available at gallery. VENUE Unit 4 Tom Barry House, Main Street, Clifden

Clifden Arts Festival / Visual Arts

Talk by Erin Gibbons Interface Studio Visit and Members' Exhibition Studio Visit and Members’ Exhibition at Interface Residency, Inagh Valley. Featuring work by September artists-in-residence Madelaine Sillfors (visual artist, Sweden), Brett Sroka (composer and experimental musician, New York) and Rauno Nieminen (kantele and jouhikko player, Finland). Group leaving Lidl carpark for 3 visits to the Inagh Valley: cars leaving at 11am, Saturday 16th and Monday 18th September, and 4pm, Wednesday 20th September. Please ring Alannah Robins on 086 199 3878 for more information and to confirm your place. Visits outside of the 3 programmed times are by appointment only. www.interfaceinagh.com Interface is a residency programme for visual artists, dancers, writers and musicians, situated in the Inagh Valley. The programme provides opportunities for artists in residence to engage with other international artists and local people through a unique platform that explores the intersections between scientific research and art. DATES Saturday 16 September, 11am Monday 18 September, 11am Friday 22 September, 7:30pm VENUE Meeting at Lidl car park for car pool visit to Inagh

Connemara to Clydebank and Clinton The winter and spring storms of 2014 wreaked havoc on the Connemara shore and Islands. Inishbofin was particularly badly affected. In 2015 an eroding site was observed on Inishlyon, a tidal Island, located off the east beach, Inishbofin. Annual rescue work has been going on there by a team of archaeologists, artists and students since, to try and understand its significance before it disappears. The work is licensed by the National Monuments Service and is undertaken with the permission of the landowners. The site consists of an abandoned village in sand. Finds from the site date from the 1870s. The discovery of Scottish Spongeware pottery in the excavations prompted research into the connections between Connemara and Scotland in the 19th century and early 20th century. Many Connemara and Mayo people worked seasonally as ‘Tattie Hawkers’ in Scotland and others worked as shipyard workers along the Clyde, travelling back and forth, some by regular ferry from Westport to Glasgow. The story of the Baker Family from Inishbofin and the Kane family from Glynsk, Cashel will be discussed in this context. The Conneely family from Inishlyon were the last family to live on Inishlyon. Some of their relatives still live on Inishbofin. They emigrated, (like others from Inishbofin and Shark), to Clinton, Massachusetts in the late 19th century from Inishlyon and their story is also told here. Erin Gibbons, archaeologist and Museum Consultant is a native of Clifden and a former student of Clifden Community School. She has directed excavations and research projects in 10 counties and much of her work relates to eroding coastal sites in the west of Ireland. DATE Tuesday 19 September, 5pm VENUE Festival Gallery CLIFDEN ARTS FES TIVAL 2017

Visual Arts / Clifden Arts Festival

Talk by Eamonn P. Kelly Connaught’s Greatest Treasure – The Cross of Cong So-called because it was kept for centuries in the Augustinian Friary at Cong, Co. Mayo, the Cross of Cong is an exquisite work of art made in 1123 to encase a fragment of the True Cross. It is one of the greatest expressions of Irish craftsmanship in the twelfth century and is also one of the great works of European art of the time. An inscription on the sides of the cross identifies the patron as Toirrdelbach Ua Conchobair (Turlough O’Conor), King of Connaught and High King of Ireland. The maker was the craftsman Máel Ísú mac Bratáin Uí Echach. The talk will present the superb decoration and form of the Cross of Cong while examining the wider political and social circumstances that led to its manufacture. This included the expropriation by the Kings of Connaught of the Cult of St Patrick associated with sites such as Croagh Patrick; with the ancient pilgrimage route known as the Tóchar Phádraig; and the monastic island of Inchagoill in Lough Corrib. St. Patrick’s Cult had earlier expropriated pagan religious traditions associated with these places since the Bronze Age. The Cross of Cong represents the conclusion of a long tradition of distinctively Irish religious metalwork as well as a high point in the religious activity of the region extending over a period of at least four millennia. Eamonn P. Kelly is the former Keeper of Irish Antiquities at the National Museum of Ireland. He is a Heritage Consultant and Director of Roundstone Historical Walking Tours Ltd. DATE Wednesday 20 September, 5pm VENUE Festival Gallery

Talk by John Coll Talking Heads A demonstration and dissertation on the art of the modelled portrait with sculptor John Coll. John Coll will give a talk and demonstration on the art, history and techniques of modelling a portrait head with reference to many of the famous and infamous heads he has worked on in the past 33 years as a sculptor. The talk will be approx 1 hour in length. DATE Thursday 21 September, 5pm VENUE Festival Gallery

AIB Collection / Talk Studio Visit and Guided Talk A selection of works from the AIB Art Collection in on display at the branch during the Clifden Arts Festival. Among the key works on show are exhibits by Louis LeBrocquy, George Campbell, Cecily Brennan, Brian Bourke and John Behan. A guided talk of the collection in the company of Blaithin de Sachy will take place on Monday September 18th at 1:30pm. All Welcome. DATE Monday 18 September, 1:30pm VENUE AIB Bank, Galway Road, Clifden

Imogen Stuart A selection of works by internationally renowned German/Irish sculptor Imogen Stuart will be on exhibition in Kylemore Abbey during the Festival. Stuart, who celebrates her 90th birthday this year, has an illustrious artistic career spanning over 60 years and her work can be seen in many galleries and churches in Ireland and abroad. We welcome this opportunity to show works by such a respected and inspiring sculptor as part of this 40th Clifden Arts Festival. With thanks to Lisa Caulfield, Isabel Cabezas and all at Kylemore Abbey. VENUE Notre Dame Centre, Kylemore Abbey

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Clifden Arts Festival / Visual Arts

Patricia Morrison Photo courtesy of Joe Boske.

and Daughters An exhibition of Patricia's botanical watercolours and mixed media works by daughters, Hannah and Vicky Morrison. Also work by Patricia's students from her Enjoy Watercolour classes. VENUE Wren Hollow Studio, opp. Coral Strand, Derrigimlagh. 14-24 Sept daily, phone 087 6569255. Handpmorrison@gmail.com

Nancy Whelan and Noalene Quinn Castle Dreams Connemara based artist Nancy Whelan and Canadian artist Noalene Quinn have put together a new and unusual exhibition. By mixing Nancy's fabric painting with Noalene's cross-stitch work, these works take on a royal and ancient theme of delicate beauty. Castle Dreams will continue on in Clifden Library during October. Visit www.clifdencastlearts.wordpress.com VENUE Quinns Shop, Market St., Clifden

Kate Noonan Glimpses of Connemara VENUE Ardagh Hotel, Ballyconneely Rd., Clifden

Public 'Paint In' By 6 Artists Special Culture Night Event DATE Friday 22 September, 5pm-7pm VENUE Market Square, Clifden

Roundstone Historical Walking Tour A Clifden Arts Festival Special Stroll through Roundstone, Connemara’s most picturesque village, with a professional historian and archaeologist. Discover a rich history; hidden places and the fascinating men and women who lived here – writers, artists, musicians, revolutionaries, scientists, engineers and merchants. Uncover the enduring legacy of Alexander Nimmo, who built Roundstone and the tragedies and triumphs of revolutionaries Alice Cashel and Bulmer Hobson – dubbed ‘Ireland’s most dangerous man’. View Connemara’s Gaelic coast from here, with its maritime heritage of traditional boats, fishing, trade and the everpresent danger of shipwreck. Learn of the area’s ancient monasteries and the Christian denominations that developed Roundstone’s religious traditions and architecture. Learn of the botanical, archaeological, historical and geological treasures of Roundstone Bog which linked the world through the Marconi Wireless Station and the flight of Alcock and Brown. The walk, which has been researched by Eamonn P. Kelly and Erin Gibbons, is guided by Eamonn P. Kelly. Duration: 1½ hours. No booking required. Visit www.roundstonewalkingtours.com DATE Sunday 16 September, 2:30pm VENUE Meet at ‘The Compass’ opposite Roundstone House Hotel COST €10 per person, children under 16 free

CLIFDEN ARTS FES TIVAL 2017

Visual Arts / Clifden Arts Festival

Fused Glass by Clare Lee

Bernie Dignam Exhibition of Fine Art Prints Artist studio, gallery and workshops. By appointment: 087 690 8137 Email: berniedignam@gmail.com VENUE Fionnghlas Thiar Gallery, Tooreen, Moyard

The Gaillard Gallery Exhibition of ceramics and stoneware by Alan Shattock. Exhibition of works in wool and felt by Sandra O'Connor. VENUE The Gaillard Gallery, Letternoosh, Westport Road, Clifden

The Clifden Art Gallery Exhibition of paintings by various artists. VENUE Main Street, Clifden

Roundstone Ceramics Rosemarie O'Toole's work on paper and porcelain is on display from 10am to 6pm. VENUE Roundstone Ceramics, Michael Killeen Park, Roundstone

The Surprise Exhibition VENUE at a venue to be anounced!

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All At Sea An exhibition of fused glass art by Claire Lee, Connemara Blue’s current Glass Artist in Residence. Entitled All At Sea, this collection of hand-crafted fused glass pieces features plates, bowls and wave sculptures. Executed in a style which echoes Claire’s background in textile art, each piece is a vivid depiction of the elements of the sea. Various subtle shades of blues and turquoise contrast with vibrant yellows and reds. Copper sheet and copper wire inclusions are offset by textured waves of white frothy frit. Throughout each of Claire’s creations there is a sense of the whole piece being in constant motion. The ocean sweeps across the surface in a wave of energy, carrying glistening fish of multiple colours. Fronds of seaweed, apparently swaying in the currents, picture-book sail boats, and shiny pebbles of every hue complete the scene. VENUE The Pink House, The Square, Clifden

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: Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA), Christina Kennedy, Senior Curator: Head of Collections, IMMA; Helen O'Donoghue, Senior Curator: Engagement and Learning, IMMA; Johanne Mullan IMMA, Collections Programmer, Collections Dept. IMMA; Mick O'Dea PRHA, Tom Kenny, Dean Kelly, Erin Gibbons, John Coll, Eamonn P Kelly, Brendan Flynn, Des Lally, Bernhard Sanders, Blaithin de Sachy, Aaron Wootton, Kevin O'Reilly, Brendan O'Sullivan, Lol Hardiman, Bernie Dignam, John Sweeney, Wayne and Orla at Upstairs Downstairs, Alan and Claire at Steam, Cashel Credit Union, Seamus Laffin and Rosemarie O'Toole, Noel Mannion and Catherine Lavoie, Paula Bann, West Coast Leisure Centre, Mary Ruddy and Vincent Murphy, Alcock and Brown Hotel, Mary Joyce, James O'Sullivan, Patrick and Jamie Howard, Danny Vaughan, Zsuzsanna Balogh, Karl Glass, John Brennan and finally to all the artists, businesses and general public who support the Art Trail and exhibitions.

Clifden Arts Festival / Visual Arts

40 th

13 - 24

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2017

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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. Clifden Community Arts Festival drew its first artistic breath in its then new Clifden Community School. Under the guidance of Brother Killian, artists, writers and musicians were allowed to share their talents with students, inspiring the arts in generations of young people. The Arts in education has been an essential ethos of the Festival ever since and in this 40th anniversary year, it is an honour to still be closely involved with Primary and Secondary schools in the area and also with the new Community School which is about to open. We are grateful to all the teaching and school staff over the last 40 years who have helped in many ways to facilitate artists and performers to visit the schools, without their help and support this 40 year link with the community would not have been possible. We thank you one and all.

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Day September

SCHOOLS PROGRAMME CLIFDEN ARTS FES TIVAL 2017

Schools Programme September 18-22

Monday 18th Fíbín and Erris Arts Centre present Clann Lir, directed by Brendan Murray. Clann Lir is a unique show combining live art, storytelling, and music based on The Children of Lir. A series of exciting images will be created live on stage by artist Dara McGee, as the story unfolds of how King Lir's children are banished by their evil stepmother to spend 900 years as singing swans in three remote locations in Ireland. Fibín will visit the schools all week. > Primary School Children prepare for the Parade with Workshops from the Belfast Circus and the flying Fidget Feet Company > Primary School Joanna McGlynn, artist-inresidence and visual arts facilitator with the Festival over many years, engages with students all week. > Primary School Creative writing workshops all week with playwright Terry McDonagh and Mike O’Sullivan > Primary School Tony Curtis spreads his wings and visits schools throughout the week. > Primary school Joanne McGrath, from New York, celebrates the joys of reading, her workshop encourages students to enter the wonderful world of books. > Primary school Norbert Stolz – animation workshops all week. > Primary School Magdalena Hylak gives dancing workshops all week. > Primary School The ever popular poet Tony Curtis returns with his eclectic and entertaining songs and poems. Tony has opened the Poetic Word to generations of students throughout Connemara. School’s Film Festival. Budding film directors, producers and actors get the chance to show their work as part of the schools film studies curriculum for Junior and Leaving Certificate Examinations. Details each day on the noticeboard. Thanks to Carmel and team.

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Marie Sheridan brings harmony and melody to her singing workshop.

Singing, Guitar, Stilt-walking, Bodhrán workshops continue throughout the week.

John Durning shares his gifts as a teacher of guitar.

Peggy Mannion shares the delicate art of crochet making. Peggy has been a regular visitor to the Festival over the years and we welcome her back once more.

Students get a marvelous opportunity to enjoy and learn from the internationally renowned Footsbarn Theatre as they share the wonders of theatre with the students. Sean-Nós dance champion and past-pupil Sean Joyce shares his great skills with students. The beat of the Bodhrán begins as the great player Sean Halpenny starts his workshop. Sean has been a visitor to the schools over the past 23 years. The musical tradition of Clifden and Connemara are shared by the veteran group The Slyne Heads, past students of Clifden Community School, Peter Carey, Paddy Newman, Adam Conroy. Helen O’Donoghue, Senior Curator: Engagement and Learning of Irish Museum of Modern Art gives a special presentation to the Art students.

Tuesday 19th LUXe Street Art workshops will take place over two days. > Primary School Allanah Robbins art workshop > Primary school Poetry Reading with Louis de Paor with the Leaving Cert classes. Louis has been involved with the contemporary renaissance of poetry in Irish since 1980 when he was first published in the poetry journal, Innti, which he subsequently edited. He has since published many collections, is internationally renowned and is a four times winner of the Oireachtas prize for best collection of poems in Irish. Basket Weaving with Ciaran Hogan. Ciaran is a basket maker located in Spiddal. He works from his studio which is open to the public. All his baskets are made from natural willow to a high quality and are very strong.

Historian Kathleen Villiers-Tuthill talks to the senior students. The Film Festival continues (check the notice board). The complex and intriguing world of bees is explored with Master Beekeeper Billy Gilmore. Michael Carey and band return. Michael O’Sullivan our writerin-residence with his company Humourfit arrives today and will present plays and conduct workshops for the week in the schools. We welcome back Norbert Stolz who commences his very popular animation workshop. Author Ann Henning Jocelyn meets Junior Cert classes. In recent years she has been writing mainly for the theatre. In 2013, her play Doonreagan had its world premiere at Jermyn Street Theatre, London, before touring the UK and Ireland. The critically acclaimed Only Our Own was shown in 2014 at the Arts Theatre West End in London and had a second production in the UK and Ireland the following year. Her new play, The Sphere of Light, was presented at the Howard Theatre in Cambridge in July. Marc Mulligan – Outside the Comfort Zone. Author, motivational speaker and public speaking coach Marc Mulligan delivers an inspirational presentation. He has spoken to hundreds of audiences all over Ireland. Marc spent two years recovering from brain trauma which led him to create Outside the Comfort Zone. His passion is in understanding fear and how to overcome it.

Wednesday 20th

Music with Betty and the Baby Boomers, 11am > Primary School

Schools Programme September 18-22 Proud Moyvane poet Gabriel Fitzmaurice makes a welcome return to the Festival and schools. Newgrange and the Connemara Connection. Talk by author and archaeologist Michael Gibbons. It is 300 years since the death of Ruairí O'Flaherty, Gaelic Lord and Historian of Connemara and Árann. He was the first to identify the connection between the then newly discovered tomb at Newgrange and Brú na Boinne. The talk will deal with the history of the discovery as well as the most recent controversy of aspects of the site's authenticity. Music, song, stilt-walking workshops continue. Marc Mulligan continues his talks. Mike O’Sullivan continues his drama workshops. Film Festival honouring the Great Bard continues. Gerard King, Chief Fire Officer, delivers an important safety talk highlighting the importance of Fire and Safety awareness, an important learning exercise that students can carry with them throughout their lives. The Festival wish to thank Gerard King and all members of Clifden Fire Brigade for their immense contributions to the safety of the community and visitors to the area. Graham Roberts gives an inspirational talk about his life in business, inspiring students to think of opportunities for the future in their local community. Film-making workshop led by local filmmaker and musician Barry Ryan. Poets Gabriel Fitzmaurice and Tony Curtis join forces in a meeting of Dublin and Kerry and the field of poetry. Footsbarn Theatre Company continue their theatrical journey with students and develop skills in stilt-walking and dance. Legendary musicians Yule and McQ visit schools. Kathleen Lughnane, harpist, gives a workshop to the students.

Thursday 21st

Music with the ConTempo Quartet > Primary School

Peter Crann and his percussion workshops > Primary School Samba workshop with Peter Crann. Peter Crann is a very experienced workshop facilitator specialising in percussion. For 10 years he has been working with many groups including schools, youth clubs, active age groups and corporate companies.

Music with Betty and the Baby Boomers, 10am.

The Curlew Theatre Company entertain the students. Curlew Theatre produce performance pieces that rely almost solely on text and voice. With only two actors (playing many voices), a minimum of props, and not much stage 'business', these dramatic pieces explore in an immediate way their chosen subjects, seeking to bring everything down to a close, even intimate relationship between players and audience. > Primary School

The Film Festival finishes today. A discussion seminar on the films seen during the week. Thanks to Carmel and helpers.

The School’s Film Festival continues. The guitar, singing, music, drama, art, stilt-walking workshops continue. Music with True North, 11am. Pat Mullan, author returns to speak with the students. His first novel, The Circle of Sodom, received two nominations, one for Best First Novel and one for Best Suspense Thriller, at the 2005 Love Is Murder conference in Chicago. Karin Joyce shares the gentle art of knitting with students and her workshops are ongoing. The night sky is brought to life and explained by renowned astronomer David Moore. KÍLA entertains the students. The vibrant group raise the roof as they perform and share their talents with students. Boxwood, the dynamic duo of John Durning and Lol Hardiman, perform today.

Friday 22nd Music with True North, 12pm > Primary School

Jazz with Les Follies, 2pm. The guitar workshop conclude today. Thanks to John Durning. The singing workshop concludes. Special thanks to Marie Sheridan.

Fidget Feet complete their final preparations for the Grand Parade on Saturday. Grand Finale Concert featuring the great talent from within the school, nurtured during the week! Many thanks to Mike O’Sullivan and Humourfit for their work throughout the week and over the years! A fond farewell to Tony Curtis and Gabriel Fitzmaurice. Thank you both for the sterling work all week. We thank all performers and artists who visit schools in the area throughout the Festival. Thanks to Eily O’Grady for coordinating the primary schools programme.

“The books fly open, and the gates unbarred.” – Seamus Heaney

Clifden Arts Society Upcoming Events

November 22, 2017

Finghin Collins (piano) Catherine Hunka (violin)

October 16, 2017

Music Network Presents: Tine Thing Helseth and Gunnar Flagstad

Tegolin Tales > Primary School

CLIFDEN ARTS FES TIVAL 2017

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Day September

Clifden Arts Festival acknowledges and thanks the great contribution to the Arts Festival by all our great local musicians. Eugene Barry, Marie Walsh, John Gerard Walsh, Liz and Yvonne Kane, Michael Roche, Mirella Murray, Peter Carey, Peter Carey Jnr, Michael Carey, Martin Conroy, Sean Halpenny, Kevin Barry, Michael McNamara (Clifden), Michael McNamara (Roundstone), 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, Alan Shattock. Clifden Arts Festival thanks the Clifden Town Hall Committee. Thanks to Mary Carey, Louisa Jack, Ivor Duane and Eoin Heanue.

#sparkshareexplore Clifden Arts Festival commissioned a piece of work from Grainne and Cavanagh Foyle of Bag & Bones to celebrate its 40th year. The piece, a neon LED sign, is our hashtag – #sparkshareexplore – and will be located in various places throughout the Festival. So please tweet photos of it to family and friends and help us spread the word about our unique Festival.

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 and the use of his photos. Thanks to Jamie Howard and Paddy Howard for the use of their photos. A big thank you to Clifden Tidy Towns for their hard work and dedication to the town of Clifden all year round. Thanks to Kevin Keogh for the Generator and Lights at the Footsbarn tent. Thanks to the Connemara Pony Breeders Society. Special thanks to Reverend Stan Evans and Brian Thornburgh for the use of the Church and to Fr. James Ronayne for the use of St. Joseph's Church. Clifden Arts Festival acknowledges the support of the Dublin International Piano Competition. Clifden Arts Festival congratulates councillor Eileen Mannion on her appointment as Cathaoirleach Chomhairle Contae na Gaillimhe. Clifden Arts Festival remembers Brother Oswald, John Montague, Anthony Cronin, Des Kelly, John Daly, Jason DeLappe, Phylis O’Donoughue, Walter Pfeiffer, Frank and Louise Kelly, Leo de Courcey, Paddy Clarke (RTÉ).

GENERAL PROGRAMME CLIFDEN ARTS FES TIVAL 2017

Wednesday 13 September Reading with

Eileen Battersby Five times national arts journalist award-winner, Eileen Battersby, originally from California, is repulsed by the current US administration, but is delighted to read from her novel Teethmarks On My Tongue in Clifden.

Photo courtesy of Piotr Lyszkiewicz.

DATE Wednesday 13 September, 11am VENUE Station House Hotel ADMISSION €5

Written / Performed by Seán Leonard

Humanity Dick

A Tale of Beasts and Bullets King of Connemara, father of animal rights, celebrity duellist and rolling financial disaster, Galway’s ‘Humanity Dick’ Martin (1754-1834) literally blazed a trail of triumph and tragedy through the Age of Revolution. Beloved of his tenants, but feared and jeered in equal measure outside Connemara, Martin held his honour and the welfare of animals above all else, and devoted most of his life to defending both, no matter the cost. Seán Leonard’s riveting one-man show was the break-out show of the Galway Fringe Festival 2016, a word-of-mouth hit that sold out for five consecutive nights. Audiences have delighted at this extraordinary life story: a tale of deadly duels, contrary cousins, wayward wives, fiscal fecklessness, the birth of the SPCA and, indeed, a donkey in a courtroom. DATE Wednesday 13 September, 1pm VENUE Station House Theatre ADMISSION €5 24 C L I F D E N A R T S F E S T I V A L 2 0 1 7

Reading from Doire Press

Martin Malone and Karen J. McDonnell Martin Malone is the author of seven novels, a memoir, two short story collections and several radio plays. He has also written for TV and stage. His first novel Us won the John B Keane/ Sunday Independent Literature Award and was shortlisted for the Kerry Ingredients Irish Fiction Award. His second novel After Kafra was optioned by and scripted for RTE TV. The Broken Cedar was nominated for the IMPAC Award and shortlisted for an Irish Fiction Award. His short stories have been widely broadcast and published, and have won national competitions, including Valley of the Peacock Angel, which was nominated for the 2012 Sunday Times EFG Short Story Prize and published in The Sunday Times. He has received several Arts Council of Ireland bursaries for literature and is the inaugural winner of the Cecil D Lewis Award for Literature. His prose appears in the Irish National Art Gallery’s anthology Lines of Vision: Irish Writers on Art. He is a former soldier with six tours of duty to Lebanon and Iraq. Karen J. McDonnell won the 2014 WOW Poetry Award and was runner up in the 2015 Wild Atlantic Words and the 2015 Baffle poetry competitions. She was shortlisted for the 2014 Poems for Patience Award, as well as being long listed for the 2014 Over the Edge New Writing Prize. Her poetry and other writing has been published and anthologised in Ireland and abroad, including The Honest Ulsterman, Crannóg, poeticdiversity, The Irish Times, Poetry NI: Poems for Holocaust Memorial Day 2016, Wild Atlantic Words 2015 and Rubicon: Words and Art Inspired by Oscar Wilde’s ‘De Profundis’ – Sybaritic Press. DATE Wednesday 13 September, 4pm VENUE Clifden Library ADMISSION €5

Photo courtesy of Nicolas Fève.

Wednesday 13 September

Opening by Dr. Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh

Opening of Tim Robinson Exhibition Dr. Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh is Professor Emeritus in History and former Dean of Arts and VicePresident of NUI Galway. DATE Wednesday 13 September, 5pm VENUE Irish Antique Gallery, Station House

An Evening of Music with

PJ Murrihy and Seamus Shannon PJ Murrihy, fondly known to his fans as ‘The Music Man from Co. Clare’ is a well-known Irish singer-songwriter. He inherited a true Irish musical heritage when as a young lad he picked up the old songs from his mother and two uncles. He has penned many hits and songs that have been recorded by some of Ireland’s leading entertainers while also digging up old gems like Pat Murphy’s Meadow. As his musical career evolved into entertaining at a diverse array of events, he teamed up with Seamus Shannon, world-renowned accordion player from Elphin, Co. Roscommon. As a duo, the pair gelled well and have brought their winning formula to audiences all over Ireland and beyond for many years. DATE Wednesday 13 September, 9pm VENUE Alcock and Brown Hotel ADMISSION €5

40th Clifden Arts Festival

Official Opening Official Opening of the 40th Clifden Arts Festival by Uachtarán na hÉireann, Michael D. Higgins. Clifden Arts Festival is greatly honoured that Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland, will perform the official opening of the Festival, on this 40th Anniversary. President Higgins has been a long time supporter and friend of the Festival and has performed the opening on previous occasions, most recently in 2012. Expect a lively performance of traditional Irish music, song and dance with the 2016 All Ireland Plearcha Group from Clifden Comhaltas and Connacht Champions West Coast Grúpa Ceol directed by Marie Walsh. The 6th class students of Scoil Mhuire will also be giving a drumming performance directed by Peter Crann. Fidget Feet Aerial Dance Company will also perform an aerial dance duet on fabric as part of the official opening ceremony. DATE Wednesday 13 September, 7pm VENUE West Connemara Sports and Leisure Centre

CLIFDEN ARTS FES TIVAL 2017

Thursday 14 September Film Screenings

Connemara’s Mystical Inspiration by Lorna Hill and Mike Hannon Musical Interludes by Lynn Saoirse

Clifden Historical Walking Tours Explore the history of this 200-year-old town in the company of local historian and author Kathleen Villiers-Tuthill, taking in the town’s early industrial sites, the railway station, the 19th century Bridewell (gaol) and the Catholic and Protestant graveyards. Hear stories of famine, war, religious conflict, street riots and political rallies. Learn about John D’Arcy, the founder of Clifden, and Alexander Nimmo, the 19th century Scottish engineer who designed the Connemara road system still in use today. Kathleen is the author of several books on the history of west County Galway and has a wealth of knowledge about the history and heritage of her native Clifden. No need to book, simply turn up. Tour lasts approx. 90 min. Tel: 087 647 1107. DATES Thursday 14, Tuesday 19 and Thursday 21 September, 11am STARTING POINT Station House Hotel COST €10 adults €5 children under 16

Lunchtime Recital with

Andy Vine and Anna Falkenau Born in the UK Andy Vine has been a folk singer/songwriter since the heady days of the folk revival in ‘60s UK (where he grew up). Now a Canadian, he is best known for his song Woman Of Labrador which has become a favourite of Canadian folk singers and recorded many times. DATE Thursday 14 September, 1pm VENUE Alcock and Brown Hotel ADMISSION €5 26 C L I F D E N A R T S F E S T I V A L 2 0 1 7

Conversations with my Godfather, Growing up with John Moriarty – This film portrays the unique story of a young girl growing up with one of the greatest minds of the century, John Moriarty. Narrated by Lorna Hill, we are given a glimpse into her world as a little girl having the cherished philosopher and writer as her godfather. The Cloud of Unknowing, Separate from all and connected to all: the life of a hermit – Rodney Thompson lived as a hermit for thirty years in a small cottage near Roundstone, dedicating his life to silence, solitude and prayer. The Cloud of Unknowing is the title of a Middle English anonymous manual on contemplative prayer. This practice dates back to the third century Desert Fathers (and Mothers) – Christian mystics who separated themselves from distractions in order to find God. The film is constructed from the interplay of formal and thematic dualities: movement and stasis, speech and silence, portrait and landscape, the sky and the ground. Mike Hannon works as an independent documentary filmmaker, and as a freelance documentor for creative sectors and the visual arts. His previous output has encompassed various forms, from conventional TV documentary to experimental work. The first performance of An Brainse Airgid /The Silver Branch: music composed for the Irish harp by Lynn Saoirse in honour of John Moriarty. Sponsored by Stephen Cullnane. DATE Thursday 14 September, 12pm VENUE Station House Theatre ADMISSION €5

Thursday 14 September

Readings accompanied by music

Joan McBreen, Geraldine Mitchell and Mark Granier DATE Thursday 14 September, 4pm VENUE Station House Hotel ADMISSION €10

Dublin-born Geraldine Mitchell lives on the Co. Mayo coast, overlooking Clare Island. Her third poetry collection, Mountains for Breakfast, was published by Arlen House earlier this year. She is a former Patrick Kavanagh Award winner and her other collections are World Without Maps (2011) and Of Birds and Bones (2014). Geraldine has also written two novels for young people and Deeds Not Words, the biography of Muriel Gahan. She is part of Poetry Ireland’s Writers in Schools scheme. Joan McBreen is from Sligo and now divides her time between Tuam and Renvyle, Connemara, Co. Galway. She has published five collections of poetry, the most recent being Map and Atlas (Salmon Poetry 2017). Previous collections are The Wind Beyond the Wall (Story Line Press 1990), A Walled Garden in Moylough (Story Line Press and Salmon Poetry 1995), Winter in the Eye – New and Selected Poems (Salmon Poetry 2003) and Heather Island (Salmon Poetry 2009, reprinted 2013). Her two anthologies are The White Page - Twentieth Century Irish Women Poets and The Watchful Heart - A New Generation of Irish Poets. Joan has produced a CD The Mountain Ash in Connemara - Poems by Joan McBreen. She is also a contributor to a number of journals and anthologies including fermata: Writings inspired by Music (Artisan House, 2016). She holds an MA from University College Dublin and is a serving member of the board of Poetry Ireland.

Mark Granier’s fourth collection of poetry, Haunt, was published by Salmon Poetry in 2015. Prizes and awards include the Vincent Buckley Poetry Prize in 2004 and Patrick and Katherine Kavanagh Fellowships in 2011 and 2016. His Ghostlight: New & Selected Poems was launched by Gabriel Fitzmaurice, along with Joan McBreen’s collection, Map & Atlas, launched by Niall MacMonagle, in Listowel on June 4th 2017. Bertrand Huvé is originally from Brittany, France. He started playing saxophone and studying music at the age of 7. Classically trained, he studied classical music theory, but played jazz more and more as life went on. He started age 10 playing chamber and orchestral music, joined his first jazz big band at 12, and from then on through classical, jazz, rock, funk outlets, developed a taste and curiosity for many kinds of music. He arrived in Galway in 2000. On his first Monday in the city, he got involved with the Black Magic Big Band. Since then he has shared his musical life between teaching and performing all over the country, the latter eventually taking over the former. He’s played and recorded with many bands and orchestras (Black Magic, Gipsy Jazz Quartet, RTÉ orchestras), in classical, jazz, rock, salsa, pop, folk, theatre music, etc. on the saxophone, the clarinet and the flute.

Sponsored by AIB.

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Thursday 21 September A Lecture by Luke Gibbons

Coast Modernism Artaud, Wittgenstein and the West of Ireland

Luke Gibbons has taught as Professor of Irish Studies at Maynooth University and at the University of Notre Dame, USA. His recent publication inlcuse Joyce’s Ghosts: Ireland, Modernism and Memory (University of Chicago Press, 2015), (Co-editor), Charles O’Conor: Life and Works (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2015), Limits of the Visible: Representing the Irish Great Famine (Quinnipiac University/Cork University Press), and ‘Irish Visual Modernism', in Joe Cleary, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Irish Modernism (Cambridge University Press, 2018). Among his forthcoming publications are ‘Afterword’ to Away from it All: Aran Diaries, 1941—1956, of Ernie O’Malley (Lilliput Press, 2017), and ‘Introduction’ to Dorothy Macardle, The Unforeseen (Tramp Press, 2017). Sponsored by Pat Molloy.

Lunchtime with Seán

Keane

Sean Keane is going back to his roots in music. In this brand new one-man show, set in his grandmother’s kitchen as he searches through her old leather suitcase where she held all the words of many famous songs collected from people who visited her home in Carragh near Caherlistrane, Sean combines songs and stories of how he was influenced to sing in the traditional way from a very early age. Featuring many well-known favourites like A Stór Mo Chroí, Dear Little Isle, May Morning Dew and Erin’s Lovely Home. Sponsored by Anne Ueltschi. DATE Thursday 21 September, 1pm VENUE Church of Ireland ADMISSION €10

DATE Thursday 21 September, 11am VENUE Station House Theatre ADMISSION €5

An Illustrated Lecture by Professor

FORUM presents: Connemara CLG

Connemara Between History and Myth 1700-1950

Celebrating older persons' contribution to arts and culture in the community. Dinner will be followed by dance and song with Peter Carey, Liam Aspell and friends.

Kevin Whelan, Michael Smurfit Director of the Keough Naughton Notre Dame Centre in Dublin has been a visiting professor at New York University, Boston College and Concordia University, Montreal. He has lectured in over a dozen countries and at the Sorbonne, Cambridge, Oxford, Torino, Berkeley, Yale, Dartmouth and Louvain. He has written or edited fifteen books and over one hundred articles on Ireland’s history, geography and culture.

Senior Citizens Event

Many thanks again to Geraldine Kelly and Martina Gavin. DATE Thursday 21 September, 1pm VENUE Clifden Town Hall

Kevin Whelan

Sponsored by O`Dalaigh Jewellers. DATE Thursday 21 September, 2:30pm VENUE Station House Theatre ADMISSION €5

CLIFDEN ARTS FES TIVAL 2017

Thursday 21 September Poetry and Music with

Simon Ó Faoláin Rugadh Simon Ó Faoláin i mBaile Átha Cliath agus tógadh é in Iarthar Dhuibhneach. Tá trí leabhar filíochta Gaeilge foilsithe aige. I measc na ngradam atá buaite aige dá scríbhneoireacht tá Duais Glen Dimplex, Duais Strong, Duais Bhaitéar Uí Mhaicín, Duais Cholm Cille agus Duais Foras na Gaeilge. Tá sé ina stiúrthóir ar An Fhéile Bheag Filíochta, féile dhátheangach ealaíne bhliantúil ar an mBuailtín. Is amhránaí sean nóis aitheanta é le suim ar leith aige in amhráin an tsár-amhránaí Duibhnigh Seán de hÓra. DATE Thursday 21 September, 4pm VENUE Clifden Library ADMISSION €5

Tom Lyden Memorial

Dance

Traces to Nowhere Dancer, choreographer: Magdalena Hylak Video projection: Cathy Coughlan

Traces to Nowhere explores themes of isolation and the artist’s search for connection and points of anchor within her environment. The title draws from the first episode of David Lynch’s cult classic Twin Peaks. A combination of the need for solitude with the desire for contact and support, manifests itself in constant movement, from place to place, experience to experience, leading the dancer into a state of uneasiness, uncertainty and disorientation.

The Festival’s tribute to the late poet and great friend of the Clifden Arts Festival, Thomas Lyden for his family, friends and his old comrades of the Baskethouse Collective of which he was a founding member. DATE Thursday 21 September, 5pm VENUE Mullarkey's Bar ADMISSION €5

Pol Huellou and Friends

Forth’iest Clifden World Sound Party

"I will always feel like a stranger here, but I would feel like a stranger anywhere in the world, detached."

Following the release of the new CD by Pol Huellou The Lost Agenda, he will be visiting the Festival with a new recital featuring two of the best known Breton musicians as well as a few surprise guests. Poetry, world beats, dance and craic guaranteed! Gilles Le Bigot: guitar. Jean Marc Lecoq: French button accordion; Pol Huellou: vocals, various flutes, sanza. Gerry O’Connor: fiddle. Sean Howley: bouzouki.

DATE Thursday 21 September, 5pm VENUE Station House Theatre ADMISSION €5

DATE Thursday 21 September, 10pm VENUE Mullarkey's Bar ADMISSION €8

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Thursday 21 September

Lisa Lambe, Fiachna

Ó Braonáin and Martin

Brunsden DATE Thursday 21 September, 8pm VENUE Church of Ireland ADMISSION €15

A trio that unites ethereal vocals and the talent of two of the Hothouse Flowers on guitar and double bass – their first performance together in Clifden is not to be missed!

Where to begin with the great combination of talents that is Lisa Lambe, Fiachna Ó Braonáin and Martin Brunsden. Lisa is one of Ireland’s most sought after actors and singers. A graduate of the Samuel Beckett Centre Trinity College, her debut solo album Hiding Away recorded in Nashville in 2015 was received with great acclaim in the USA and Ireland; RTE Radio One Album of the Week, the album debuted in the top ten in the general Irish charts and reached number one in iTunes. Fiachna has worked with African gospel singers, Moroccan tribesmen, Texan swingers and Irish balladeers as well as performing with his own band Hothouse Flowers for over thirty years and holds court on the radio late at night! Martin plays double bass and singing saw. He has worked with holy men and women, artists, poets, sculptors, theatre companies and Hothouse Flowers. For the past year Lisa has been artist in residence in the glorious surrounds of Killruddery House and Gardens. Here, with Fiachna and Martin, the trio has been writing and recording a new album finding in each other a natural simple symbiosis, which draws on various musical roots to produce a gentle and heartfelt world of string, wood and song. The music lends itself to perfect re-creation in a performance setting.

Sponsored by Dr. Brendan and Deirdre O’Connor.

CLIFDEN ARTS FES TIVAL 2017

Thursday 21 September

Comedy with

Kevin McAleer Sponsored by Mitchell’s Restaurant. DATE Thursday 21 September, 10pm VENUE Station House Theatre ADMISSION €15

Join spiritual guru Kevin McAleer for a mindsplitting evening of living fully in the moment, with meditation, mindfulness, deep breathing, tree visualization, bananarama yoga, straw bale therapy, psychic flower arranging, fire walking with dolphins, and ego massage. McAleer is universally recognized as Tyrone's leading Zen Buddhist saint, having trained for thirty three years under the legendary Deepjoy Chakra in Peru, before founding the Institute of Light™ in Strabane in 1972. He will be signing copies of his thirty nine classic self-help books, including the bestselling Idiot's Guide to Low Self Esteem, which has been translated into more than 94,000 languages worldwide. Wear loose clothing.

"McAleer’s comedy routine came from Planet Surreal. One night, he delivered all his material cycling on a bike around the stage. Another time, he did his act zipped up inside a sleeping bag." – Irish Examiner

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Friday 22 September

Inishbofin Field Trip with Michael Gibbons

Return ferry at 5pm. Cost per person includes ferry. Lunch stop on island not included. Boots and outdoor gear needed. Bookings in advance, please call 095 21379. DATE Friday 22 September, 11am STARTING POINT Cleggan Pier COST €40

Reading with

Carlo Gebler and Frank McGuinness Carlo Gébler was born in Dublin in 1954. He lives in Co. Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. He is the author of several novels including A Good Day for A Dog and The Dead Eight (shortlisted for the Kerry Irish Fiction Prize), the short story collections W.9. and Other Lives and The Wing Orderly’s Tales, works of non-fiction, The Siege of Derry and the memoirs Father and I, Confessions of a Catastrophist and The Projectionist, The Story of Ernest Gébler. He has also written novels for children as well as plays for radio and the stage, including 10 Rounds, which was short-listed for the Ewart-Biggs Prize. He is a member of Aosdana.

Latin, Folk and American Classics

The Irish Guitar Quartet

The Irish Guitar Quartet is drawn from some of Ireland’s most talented and versatile classical guitarists and is sure to be recognized as one of Ireland’s premier instrumental ensembles. Members Jerry Creedon, David Keating, Colin McLean and Aengus Kirakowski have garnered acclaim as soloists on stages around the world, with each member contributing their individual strengths toward creating an exciting, dynamic and engaging ensemble. The programme including Latin, folk and American classics transports listeners around the world in a single concert experience. Sponsored by Conor Killeen. DATE Friday 22 September, 1pm VENUE Church of Ireland ADMISSION €10

Awhile with Seamus Heaney by

Frank McGuinness’ original plays include The Factory Girls; Baglady; Observe The Sons Of Ulster Marching Towards The Somme (Awards from London Evening Standard for Most Promising Playwright, the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, Harvey’s Best Play Award, the Cheltenham Literary Prize Plays and Players Award, the Ewart-Briggs Peace Prize and the London Fringe Award). His first novel, Arimathea, was published by Brandon/O'Brien Press, 2013. They will publish his new book, The Woodcutter And His Family, in September 2017. He has published five volumes of poetry from Gallery Press. Frank McGuinness lectures in English at University College Dublin. Sponsored by Kay and John Fanning.

Seamus Heaney was a supporter and guiding spirit for the Clifden Arts Festival from its inception in 1977 and made visits until his passing in 2013. His inspirational contribution lives on through his works and the friendships he fostered here over many years. It is fitting that he is remembered in this lecture by Larry McCluskey. "Walk on air against your better judgement." Sponsored by The Quay House.

DATE Friday 22 September, 2:30pm VENUE Station House Theatre ADMISSION €10

DATE Friday 22 September, 11am VENUE Station House Theatre ADMISSION €10

Larry McCluskey

CLIFDEN ARTS FES TIVAL 2017

Friday 22 September

Poetry, Music & Song Nan Tom Teaimín de Búrca, John Sheahan, Seamus O’Flaithearta and Danny O’Mahoney Seamus O’Flaithearta has been playing music as long as her can remember. He is lucky to have been surrounded by the best of Irish musicians and singers in the area and have been able to travel the world with his music, sharing the lively art form with eager audiences around the world in places such as Canada, China, Europe and the United States of America. He has been part of Clifden Arts Festival events from a young age with Marie Walsh's West Coast groups. Danny O’Mahony is a traditional musician from Ballyduff in County Kerry. He grew up playing music with the older generation of musicians in his locality. His late father Mick had a very positive influence on Danny as a young child and nurtured his keen ear and interest in traditional Irish music. Both imaginative and fearless in his interpretation, Danny’s musical style is expressive and deeply personal, and reflects his affinity with the music of past masters. John Sheahan is one of Ireland’s best known musicians. Born in Dublin in 1939, he was a member of The Dubliners from 1964 to 2012. His own compositions, among them The Marino Waltz and Autumn in Paris, have become essential elements of the Irish musical repertoire. In 2013 he was conferred with an honorary doctorate in music from Trinity College, Dublin. In 2015, his debut collection of poems and lyrics Fiddle Dreams was published by Dedalus Press. Born and raised in Ruisin na Mannioch into a musical family, all Nan Tom Teaimín de Búrca ever wanted to do was sing. She has won many times for her Sean-Nós and English ballads and Oireachtas na Gaeilge and many other competitions. Nan has thought SeanNós all over the country for 15 years as well as composing for her new album A Waltz for Joy which will be out in a few months. DATE Friday 22 September, 4:30pm VENUE Alcock and Brown Hotel ADMISSION €5 64 C L I F D E N A R T S F E S T I V A L 2 0 1 7

LUXe present

Ship of Fools To celebrate the 40th Clifden Arts Festival, landscape spectacle company LUXe present Ship of Fools, a special intimate spectacle in the harbour mouth with procession, illuminated boats, fire, and music at sunset in the half light. DATE Friday 22 September, 8pm VENUE Clifden Beach and Boat Club

Johnny Cash Tribute Award-winning singer, songwriter and accomplished pianist Joey Lee Lawlor returns by popular demand with his energetic authentic show The Man in Black. Joey Lee takes us back to a time when Johnny Cash was in his prime, backed by a four piece live band and joined on stage by June Carter and his daughter. He also gives a nod to the killer himself Jerry Lee Lewis and the early sounds of the king of rock 'n' roll Elvis Presley. This is one show not to be missed! DATE Friday 22 September, 10pm VENUE Station House Theatre ADMISSION €10

Rob Strong and Band Going right back to the late 60s, Rob Strong personifies the raw energy of rock and blues. His unique voice sings out wild and true! He is rated as one of Europe’s finest soul singers. His musical roots are in the soul of the Motown era. DATE Friday 22 September, 10:30pm VENUE Mullarkey's Bar ADMISSION €10

Friday 22 September

Tommy Fleming is regarded as one of the finest singers and actors worldwide and is currently enjoying a hugely successful career. After 25 years honing his craft, he is now taking his place at the forefront of popular music across the globe. The mere mention of a Tommy Fleming concert has ‘sold out’ signs being displayed at venues from Dublin to Darwin within the space of minutes. Tommy Fleming turns each song into his own with his own unique and powerful style touching emotions in you that only music can reach. He is famous for his own arrangement of Danny Boy, Isle of Inisfree and Hard Times, all songs that you know and love but you have never heard them until you hear Tommy Fleming’s versions. He also covers songs from You Raise Me Up to Bridge over Troubled Waters, From a Distance and Something Inside So Strong along with many more contemporary numbers. While Tommy Fleming’s music may be difficult to classify, fans use such words as “deeply emotional, romantic and sincere” to describe the feelings it evokes. One reviewer described his music as falling into a genre of symphonic pop that still awaits a name. A Tommy Fleming concert is a musical experience not to be missed with one song more haunting than the other. He has a universal appeal to all ages and backgrounds with a fan base that is growing stronger worldwide year by year.

Concert with

Tommy Fleming Sponsored by Connemara Chamber of Commerce. DATE Friday 22 September, 8pm VENUE St. Joseph's Church ADMISSION €20 Tickets available online

CLIFDEN ARTS FES TIVAL 2017

Saturday 23 September A Lecture by Eoghan Harris

Humble Hearts, Gentle Gazes, Exacting Eyes: John McGahern & William Trevor Eoghan Harris is a former RTÉ television producer (Seven Days and Feach), screenwriter (Sharpe), Abbey Theatre playwright (Souper Sullivan), political media advisor (to Mary Robinson and David Trimble). He currently tutors in screenwriting at IADT, the National Film School, and writes a weekly political column for the Sunday Independent. Sponsored by Shane O’Grady, Guy's Bar. DATE Saturday 23 September, 11am VENUE Station House Theatre ADMISSION €10

A Talk by Dr. Grace O'Grady

John Moriarty Memorial Lecture The Storied Self

This talk explores story as a portal through which a person enters the world and by which their experience of the world is interpreted and made personally meaningful (Connolly & Clandinin, 2006). In tracing threshold moments in her own story, Grace O'Grady invites the audience into a space of remembering. Sponsored by Tim and Mairead Robinson. DATE Saturday 23 September, 2:15pm VENUE Station House Theatre ADMISSION €10

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Lunchtime Recital with

Jack O'Rourke

2016 was a phenomenal year for Jack O’Rourke, with the musician releasing one of the most critically acclaimed debut albums of the year. Dreamcatcher includes cinematic torch songs, noir folk and baroque pop creating a singular sound, delivered in a plaintive baritone around the piano. Dreamcatcher reached No.5 in the Irish album charts - just below Drake! Winning in the prestigious International Songwriting Competition for lyrics for the album’s centerpiece ballad, Silence – performed live on The Late Late Show, judged by industry legends Tom Waits and Bill Withers, Jack's eclectic songs range from the driving euphoric rock of Naivety to the dark Americana of I'll forget you in the Morning, playlisted on National Radio and chosen for the BBC4's series, The Great Irish Songbook. 2017 sees Jack O’Rourke setting out his stall with collaborations with Cohen collaborator Hattie Webb from The Webb Sisters as well as critically acclaimed electronica duo FreezerRoom for a future opus. Jack looks forward to playing an intimate solo concert at Clifden Arts Festival. Sponsored by John Varley. DATE Saturday 23 September, 1pm VENUE Church of Ireland ADMISSION €10

Church of Ireland Restoration Fund

The Ranelagh Singers The Ranelagh Singers are an award winning a capella choir that hails from a leafy suburb of Dublin 6 and were formed in 2011. The programme for this concert under the direction of Rosemary O’Brien ranges from medieval works of Desperz and Dowland right up to modern works by a fascinating young Finnish composer Mia Makaroff, and with new versions of Irish folk songs such as 'Mo Ghile Mear'. DATE Saturday 23 September, 3pm VENUE Church of Ireland ADMISSION €10

Saturday 23 September

The Voice Squad Family Event – Streetwise Presents

An Afternoon of Fun Jim Solo – No one can remember when Jim started performing, least of all Jim but your parents may have recollections of seeing him when they were growing up! His unique blend of comedy and skills will enthral young and old alike. Juggling blindfold, ladder-balancing, fire juggling and a cup of tea on an 8 foot unicycle result in a street show that cannot be missed. Babcock and Bobbins – Based in Belfast, this act tour their show throughout Ireland. From Coleraine to Cork and Belfast to Balina, they pull in the crowds... and now it’s Clifden’s turn! Come and see the madcap double act unleash their skills, fire breathing, fire juggling, stilt walking and unicycling are all included in this show, although not all at the same time! DATE Saturday 23 September, 3pm VENUE Market Square

Poetry Reading

Paul Muldoon Paul Muldoon was born in Co. Armagh in 1951. He now lives in New York. A former radio and television producer for the BBC in Belfast, he has taught at Princeton University for almost thirty years. He is the author of twelve collections of poetry including Moy Sand and Gravel, for which he won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize. His most recent book is Selected Poems 1968-2014. Sponsored by Mary Downe. DATE Saturday 23 September, 4pm VENUE Station House Theatre ADMISSION €10

The Voice Squad's (Phil Callery, Fran McPhail and Gerry Cullen) style of singing in harmony does not form part of the Irish singing tradition but each singer had already served their time in our individual tradition before coming together to sing in harmony. They have carried with them this individual approach to the song and it is this that gives the group its unique sound. The Voice Squad has been compared to those great English family groups, The Watersons and The Copper Family and while they would have enjoyed the singing of both these groups their strongest influences have come directly from our own traditional songs and the styles of our individual singers. It is the union of the distinct tenor voices of Fran and Phil plus the bass of Gerry, along with their own particular arrangements of good songs, that has made them one of the most distinctive unaccompanied singing groups of recent times. Sponsored by Kate and Noel Noonan. DATE Saturday 23 September, 6pm VENUE Church of Ireland ADMISSION €10

Haydn Mass With Cantairí Chonamara Choir, The Ranelagh Singers and Raymond O'Donnell. The Little Organ Mass by Joseph Haydn. DATE Saturday 23 September, 7pm VENUE St. Joseph's Church

Knights of Columbus DATE Saturday 23 September, 10pm VENUE Vaughan's Bar CLIFDEN ARTS FES TIVAL 2017

The Grand Parade Sponsored by Anne Ueltschi. DATE Saturday 23 September, 8pm VENUE All Around The Town ADMISSION Free Event LUXe return in celebratory spirit for the 40th Clifden Arts Festival with The Sea of Rainbows, which will fill the town with a fully illuminated community procession, the culmination of work with local schools. LUXe is a processional spectacle company based in Donegal and have developed the Clifden illuminated parade over 12 years adapting and expanding their collection sumptuous costume and processional sculpture. This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s spectacular array of rainbows and boats will carry the festival forward into a bright new world of possibility. Fidget Feet will take to the skies of Clifden, bringing you amazing aerial acts high in the sky. Performances will take place from 2-5pm and again that night during the gig, with live special effects. Each year Fidget Feet bring fun, laughter and a sprinkle of beauty to the Festival. This is always one of the highlights of the Grand Parade. Followed by a Fireworks Display. Thanks to Shay. Thanks to Clifden Comhaltas for use of Gig-Rig. Thanks to Martin Acton. Photos of parade courtesy of Paddy Howard.

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Saturday 23 September

The Light Runners DATE Saturday 23 September, 10:30pm VENUE Mullarkey's Bar ADMISSION €10

The Light Runners were formed in 2014 by Lazare Mbouwoua, from the Central African Republic, the lead singer and front man of the group whose passionate and enigmatic performances have brought people of all ages to the dance floor all over Europe and Africa. The lead singer with a number of reggae bands for over 15 years in the Congo and Germany Lazare is the band leader and driving force on stage. Lead guitarist best known for his work with legendary Congolese Rumba bands OK Jazz and Zaiko Langa Langa as well as ‘Ireland's most travelled African band The Lace, Daniel Muyombo is a true powerhouse of the electric guitar, his African style guitar solos breathing new life into many reggae classics. Affectionately referred to as “6000 volts” by his bandmates, Daniel has been electrifying audiences across Ireland and Europe with his improvisational flair.

Daniel is joined on stage by his long-term friend and collaborator Oscar Fololo ‘Troca’ , also from Kinshasa, the capital of the D. R. Congo. Always 'the man at the back' Troca has played the drum kit behind Daniel for decades, performing at shows in countries across the world with many internationally recognised bands, including Zaiko Langa Langa and TPOK Jazz in the Congo as well as The Lace, Motema and Pitak in Ireland. His knowledge and experience makes him undoubtedly one of the top African kit drummers working in Ireland today. Percussionist, Patrick Naughton has played alongside Daniel and Troca in a number of bands including Guadeloupean Gwoka band Pitak. Patrick has worked as a drum workshop facilitator for over 12 years and has a number of drumming groups set-up across Munster who regularly meet to practice and perform.

CLIFDEN ARTS FES TIVAL 2017

Sunday 24 September

One For The Road

BackWest

Galway’s New Trad Super Group DATE Sunday 24 September, 11:30am

VENUE Mullarkey's Bar ADMISSION €5

Individually, they hold authenticity; collectively they showcase the powerful ensemble of Western and Northern styles. They have performed at international festivals, danced on the biggest stages including ‘Lord of the Dance’ and they have featured on TV stations and radio programmes across the world. Together, they are BackWest – a vibrant, vivacious and thoroughly exciting new trad band, and they are all set to hit the open road with their magical combination of music, song and dance!

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Featuring Tyrone’s legendary virtuoso PJ McDonald (guitar/vocals/whistle), Galway’s well known brother and sister duo Maureen and Brendan Browne (fiddle and accordion) and Galway’s own ‘Lord of the Dance’ Peter Vickers (percussion/dance), this is not just any 4 piece. BackWest delivers Irish traditional music, song and dance to their audiences in a highly unique fashion. Their performances are vibrant, energetic and yet foster the organic nature of their home tradition and heritage. Having just finished launching their debut album with an amazing Irish Tour in May 2017, BackWest are the next hot tickets for the international folk and Celtic festivals worldwide. From tradition to modernity, Lord of the Dance to historical repertoire, BackWest will bring you on a cultural journey that nurtures the true delight of Irish traditional heritage at it’s best!

Sunday 24 September The Irish pianist John O’Conor has been gathering wonderful reviews for his masterly playing for over forty years. Having studied in his native Dublin, in Vienna with Dieter Weber and being tutored by the legendary Wilhelm Kempff his unanimous 1st Prize at the International Beethoven Piano Competition in Vienna in 1973 opened the door to a career that has brought him all around the world. His recordings of the complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas led CD Review to say that he “by now should be recognised as the world’s premier Beethoven interpreter” and his recent recordings of the complete Beethoven Piano Concertos with the London Symphony Orchestra and Andreas Delfs have also been greeted with acclaim. Veronica McSwiney has been performing around the world for over fifty years. She commenced her studies in Dublin at the age of seven and later studied at the Mozarteum Academy in Salzburg under Bruno Seidlhofer and later with Ilona Kabos in London She played her first concerto with the RTESO at the tender age of fourteen, and after her Wigmore Hall debut in London, her reputation spread far beyond her native Ireland. Thanks to Ann Fuller and the Dublin International Piano Competition. Photo courtesy of Frances Marshall Photography.

Piano Recital with

John O'Conor & Veronica McSwiney Sponsored by Helen and Vincent Foley. DATE Sunday 24 September, 7:30pm VENUE St. Joseph's Church ADMISSION €20 PROGRAMME Mozart

Sonata in D Major KV 448 1. Allegro con spirito 2. Andante 3. Molto Allegro

Rachmaninoff

Suite No. 2 Opus 17 1. Introduction 2. Valse 3. Romance 4. Tarantella

INTERVAL

Tickets available online

Tschaikovsky

The Nut Cracker, Suite arranged by Nicolas Economou

1. Overture 2. Danses Characteristiques a. March b. Danse de la Fee Dragee c. Danse Russe Trepak d. Danse Arabe e. Danse Chinoise f. Danse des Mirlitons 3. Valse des Fleurs

Darius Milhaud Scaramouche

1. Vif 2. Modere 3. Brazileira

CLIFDEN ARTS FES TIVAL 2017

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 Wed 20th 10pm – Les Follies Thurs 21st 9pm – True North

Fatima Hospital Fri 22nd 12pm – Betty and the Baby Boomers

St. Anne's Nursing Home Thurs 21st 11am – Betty and the Baby Boomers

Alcock and Brown Hotel Wed 13th 9pm – PJ Murrihy and Seamus Shannon Thurs 14th 1pm – Andy Vine Fri 22nd 4:30pm – Poetry, Music and Song with Nan Tom Teaimín de Búrca, John Sheahan, Seamus O’Flaithearta and Danny O’Mahoney

Keogh's Bar Fri 15th 9pm – Patsy McDonagh (accordion), íde Ní Fhaoláin (fiddle), Gerry D'arcy (guitar and songs), adm. free

Station House Hotel Nightly – Trad Music with Mick McNamara, JG Walsh and Tom Wallace Nightly – Barry Ryan on Piano Fri 22nd 6pm – True North Sat 23rd 8pm – Les Follies

Clúid Thurs 21st 1pm – Betty and the Baby Boomers Fri 22nd 2pm – Martín Conroy and J.G. Walsh and sing-along with residents. Thanks to Kathleen Mortimer. Criost Linn Centre Wed 20th 11am – True North E.J. King's Bar Sat 16th 6pm – Paddy Buckley and Friends Wed 20th 7pm – True North Thurs 21st 11am – Les Follies Thurs 21st 6pm – True North Fri 22nd 4:30pm – Les Follies Sat 23rd 3pm – Les Follies Every evening 7pm-9pm – Michael Carey and friends Sun to Fri 10:30pm – Live music Sat 10:30pm – Michael Carey and band: 3 piece rock 'n roll band

Lowry's Bar Tues 19th 10pm – Carmel Dempsey and Friends Sat 23rd 1pm – Les Follies Mon 10pm – Third Wheels: Irish ballads and contemporary music Tues 10pm – Lowry's famous trad Irish Tuesday Session Wed 10pm – High octane and energetic Irish music with The West Coast Trio Thurs 10pm – Lanseol: Irish and contemporary music with a Celtic twist Fri 8pm-10pm – West Coast Trio Fri 10pm – Traditional Irish music with Richie and Liam Sat 10pm – The Western 4: incredible Irish and contemporary music with Ciaran, Ronan, Brian and Conaill Sun 7pm-9pm – Irish music and ballads with The Carey's Sun 9:30pm – The West Coast Trio

Mannion's Bar Thurs 21st 2pm – True North Sat 23rd 2pm – Betty and the Elm Tree Centre Wed 20th 2pm – Betty and the Baby Boomers Baby Boomers O'Malley's Bar Mon to Thurs 6pm-9pm – Guy's Bar Michael Casey and Odie Mon to Thurs 7pm-9pm – Fri 22nd 7pm – Betty and the Boxwood (John Durning Baby Boomers and Lol Hardiman) Fri to Sat 9pm-11pm – Boxwood 72 C L I F D E N A R T S F E S T I V A L 2 0 1 7

Steam Café Thurs 21st 3pm – Betty and the Baby Boomers The Central Mon 18th – Jarlath Hession, Kevin Barry and Aiden Curran Tuesday – Aiden Curran and Friends, Neil Garvey Wednesday – Nial Garvey, Kevin Barry and David Slivin Thursday – Jarlath Hession, Kevin Barry, David Slevin Fri 22nd 12pm – True North Friday – Jarlath Hession & friends Sat 23rd – Jarlath Hession, David Slevin, Neil Garvey Sun 24th – JG Walsh, Martin Conroy, Brian Moran Tom King's Bar Wed 20th 9pm – Betty and the Baby Boomers Thurs 21st 9pm – Les Follies Fri 22nd 9pm – Les Follies Vaughan's Bar Thurs 21st 7pm – Betty and the Baby Boomers Sat 23rd 10pm – 5 piece rock band Knights of Columbus Walsh's Bakery Wed 20th 3pm – True North

Clifden Arts Festival / QuickFind Index WEDNESDAY 13

Reading with Eileen Battersby.................................................Station House Hotel.................................... 11am.................. p. 24 Humanity Dick: A Tale of Beasts and Bullets.................Station House Theatre............................... 1pm................... p. 24 Reading: Martin Malone & Karen J. McDonnell............Clifden Library................................................. 4pm.................. p. 24 Opening of Tim Robinson Exhibition..................................Irish Antique Gallery.................................... 5pm.................. p. 25 Music with PJ Murrihy and Seamus Shannon...............Alcock and Brown Hotel.......................... 9pm.................. p. 25 40th Clifden Arts Festival Official Opening....................West Connemara Leisure Centre....... 7pm.................. p. 25

THURSDAY 14

Clifden Historical Walking Tour................................................Meet at Station House Hotel................. 11am.................. p. 26 Screenings: Connemara's Mystical Inspiration.............Station House Theatre............................... 12pm................ p. 26 Recital with Andy Vine and Anna Falkenau...................Alcock and Brown Hotel.......................... 1pm................... p. 26 MoonMagic Theatre.........................................................................Station House Theatre............................... 2:30pm.......... p. 28 J. McBreen, G. Mitchell and M. Granier...............................Station House Hotel.................................... 4pm.................. p. 27 Mick O'Dea Exhibition Opening..............................................The Festival Gallery...................................... 5pm.................. p. 28 Cherish The Ladies.............................................................................West Connemara Leisure Centre....... 7pm.................. p. 29 Doctor Mindflip....................................................................................Mullarkey's Bar................................................ 10pm............... p. 28

FRIDAY 15

Talk by Psychotherapist Benig Mauger..............................Foyle's Hotel...................................................... 10am................p. 30 Reading with Tony Curtis..............................................................Station House Theatre............................... 11am..................p. 30 Tommy Sands........................................................................................Church of Ireland........................................... 1pm...................p. 30 TK Whitaker Talk by Anne Chambers..................................Station House Theatre............................... 2:30pm........... p. 31 Reading by Paul Durcan...............................................................Station House Theatre............................... 4:30pm........... p. 31 Lol Hardiman Album Launch....................................................Station House Theatre............................... 6pm.................. p. 33 The Band of An Garda Síochána & C. O'Sullivan..........St. Joseph's Church...................................... 7:30pm........... p. 32 Nick Timothy and The Soft Touches.....................................Mullarkey's Bar................................................ 10pm............... p. 33 Trad Session: John Joe Forde and Mike Fahey..............Vaughan's Bar.................................................. 10pm............... p. 33

SATURDAY 16

Irish History Lecture by Prof. Roy Foster............................Station House Theatre............................... 11am.................. p. 34 Clifden Elf and Fairy Trail...............................................................Starts at Church of Ireland..................... 11:30am.......... p. 34 Music Workshop with Lady Jeanne Galway...................Kylemore Abbey............................................. 11:30am.......... p. 34 Concert with the RTÉ ConTempo Quartet.......................Church of Ireland........................................... 1pm................... p. 35 Sean-Nós ar on Loch........................................................................Lough Inagh Lodge, Recess................... 2pm.................. p. 36 Clifden Writers' Group.....................................................................Foyle's Hotel...................................................... 2pm.................. p. 36 Reading – Groarke, O'Donoghue and Longley..............Station House Theatre............................... 3pm.................. p. 36 Youth Music Session.........................................................................Tom King's Bar................................................. 4pm.................. p. 36 Reading – P. Meehan, T. Dorgan and M. Coady.............Station House Theatre............................... 5pm.................. p. 37 Aerial Workshops...............................................................................Claddaghduff Hall..................................................................... p. 37 Evening Trad at E.J. King's............................................................E.J. King's Bar................................................... 6pm.................. p. 39 Stockton's Wing in Concert........................................................West Connemara Leisure Centre....... 7:30pm........... p. 38 Open Air Concert with Yule and McQ.................................Market Square................................................. 9pm.................. p. 39 The Mae Trio – Opening Karen Mercer................................Mullarkey's Bar................................................ 10pm.......p. 39-40

SUNDAY 17

Connemara Novelty Pony Show..............................................Noonan's Arena.............................................. 11am....................p. 41 Coffee Morning....................................................................................Elm Tree Centre.............................................. 11:30am............p, 41 Jung, Symbols and Songs of the Soul.................................Station House Theatre............................... 1pm.....................p. 41 C. Bateson, J. Williams and E.P. Keane................................Station House Theatre............................... 3pm...................p. 42 Singing in the Bookies....................................................................Paddy Powers.................................................. 6pm...................p. 42 I Hear You and Rejoice by Mikel Murfi................................Clifden Town Hall.......................................... 6pm.................. p. 43 RTÉ Concert Orchestra...................................................................West Connemara Leisure Centre....... 8pm.................. p. 44 Steve Poltz...............................................................................................Mullarkey's Bar................................................ 10pm................p. 42

MONDAY 18

Book Launch: The Deep Heart's Core..................................Station House Theatre............................... 10am................ p. 45 Reading with P. Fallon and E. Grennan..............................Station House Theatre............................... 12pm................ p. 45 Lunchtime Recital with Dordán..............................................Footsbarn Tent................................................ 1:30pm........... p. 45 The Cleggan Bay Disaster by Marie Feeney....................Station House Theatre............................... 2:30pm.......... p. 45 Reading with K. Donovan and M. O'Malley.....................Station House Theatre............................... 4:30pm.......... p. 46 The Humours of Bandon...............................................................Clifden Town Hall.......................................... 6pm...................p. 47 Book Launch with Ciara King....................................................Station House Theatre............................... 7pm.................. p. 46 Concert with the Irish Opera Artists.....................................Church of Ireland........................................... 8pm.................. p. 46 Zoë Conway, Máirtín O'Connor, Donal Lunny................Footsbarn Tent................................................ 10pm............... p. 48 CLIFDEN ARTS FES TIVAL 2017

Clifden Arts Festival / QuickFind Index TUESDAY 19

Newgrange & the Connemara Connection.....................Station House Theatre............................... 10am................ p. 49 Astronomy Ireland Talk by David Moore...........................Station House Theatre............................... 11:30am.......... p. 49 The Esposito Quartet.......................................................................Church of Ireland........................................... 1pm................... p. 49 Lecture: Ads Make Their Own Importance......................Station House Theatre............................... 2pm..................p. 50 Ragtime Piano with Colm 'Stride' O'Brien.......................Abbeyglen Castle Hotel............................ 3pm..................p. 50 L. De Paor, P. Bushe and S. Ó Coisdealbha.......................Station House Theatre............................... 4pm..................p. 50 C. Dempsey with B. Curtin and F. Colohan......................Church of Ireland........................................... 5pm..................p. 50 Footsbarn Theatre: Bottom's Dream...................................Footsbarn Tent................................................ 7pm................... p. 51 C. Jordan, J. Henderson and M. Daly....................................Station House Theatre............................... 10pm............... p. 52

WEDNESDAY 20

Herb Walk with Dr. Nicolas Kats..............................................Meet at Church of Ireland....................... 10am................ p. 53 Synge's Influence on Irish Art....................................................Station House Theatre............................... 11am.................. p. 53 True North................................................................................................See page 53 for dates & times........................................... p. 53 Reading with M. Harding and S. Griffin..............................Mullarkey's Bar................................................ 12pm................ p. 54 Johnny Duhan Book Launch......................................................Church of Ireland........................................... 1:15pm............. p. 54 Betty and the Baby Boomers....................................................See page 55 for dates & times.......................................... p. 55 Recital: The Aran Islands – J.M. Synge.................................Station House Theatre............................... 2:30pm.......... p. 55 Reading – C. Bryce, J. McAuliffe & J. Woods....................Station House Theatre............................... 4:30pm..........p. 56 Footsbarn Theatre: Mingling with Molière.......................Footsbarn Tent................................................ 7pm.................. p. 57 Kíla................................................................................................................Station House Theatre............................... 9:15pm............p. 58 Yule and McQ Soul Review.........................................................Mullarkey's Bar................................................ 10pm...............p. 56 Jazz with Les Follies..........................................................................See page 56 for dates & times..........................................p. 56

THURSDAY 21

Clifden Historical Walking Tour................................................Meet at Station House Hotel................. 11am.................. p. 26 Luke Gibbons Lecture: Coast Modernism.........................Station House Theatre............................... 11am..................p. 59 FORUM Senior Citizens Event...................................................Clifden Town Hall.......................................... 1pm...................p. 59 Lunchtime with Seán Keane......................................................Church of Ireland........................................... 1pm...................p. 59 Lecture by Prof. Kevin Whelan..................................................Station House Theatre............................... 2:30pm..........p. 59 Poetry & Music with Simon Ó Faoláin.................................Clifden Library................................................. 4pm..................p. 60 Dance: Traces to Nowhere...........................................................Station House Theatre............................... 5pm..................p. 60 Tom Lyden Memorial.......................................................................Mullarkey's Bar................................................ 5pm..................p. 60 L. Lambe, F. Ó Braonáin and M. Brunsden.......................Church of Ireland........................................... 8pm................... p. 61 Pol Huellou and Friends................................................................Mullarkey's Bar................................................ 10pm...............p. 60 Comedy with Kevin McAleer.....................................................Station House Theatre............................... 10pm............... p. 62

FRIDAY 22

Inishbofin Field Trip..........................................................................Starts at Cleggan Pier................................. 11am.................. p. 63 Awhile with Seamus Heaney.....................................................Station House Theatre............................... 11am.................. p. 63 The Irish Guitar Quartet.................................................................Church of Ireland........................................... 1pm................... p. 63 Reading – C. Gebler and F. McGuinness.............................Station House Theatre............................... 2:30pm.......... p. 63 Poetry, Music and Song.................................................................Alcock and Brown Hotel.......................... 4:30pm..........p. 64 LUXe Present: Ship of Fools.........................................................Clifden Beach and Boat Club............... 8pm..................p. 64 Concert with Tommy Fleming..................................................St. Joseph's Church...................................... 8pm..................p. 65 Johnny Cash Tribute Band...........................................................Station House Theatre............................... 10pm...............p. 64 Rob Strong and Band......................................................................Mullarkey's Bar................................................ 10:30pm........p. 64

SATURDAY 23

A Lecture by Eoghan Harris........................................................Station House Theatre............................... 11am..................p. 66 John Moriarty Memorial Lecture............................................Station House Theatre............................... 2:15pm............p. 66 Lunchtime Recital with Jack O'Rourke..............................Church of Ireland........................................... 1pm...................p. 66 The Ranelagh Singers.....................................................................Church of Ireland........................................... 3pm..................p. 66 An Afternoon of Fun with Streetwise..................................Market Square................................................. 3pm.................. p. 67 Reading with Paul Muldoon......................................................Station House Theatre............................... 4pm.................. p. 67 The Voice Squad.................................................................................Church of Ireland........................................... 6pm.................. p. 67 Haydn Mass.............................................................................................St. Joseph's Church...................................... 7pm.................. p. 67 The Grand Parade..............................................................................All Around The Town.................................. 8pm..................p. 68 Knights of Columbus.......................................................................Vaughan's Bar.................................................. 10pm............... p. 67 The Light Runners Band................................................................Mullarkey's Bar................................................ 10:30pm........p. 69

SUNDAY 24

One For The Road with BackWest.........................................Mullarkey's Bar................................................ 11:30am..........p. 70 Piano Recital: J. O'Conor & V. McSwiney............................St. Joseph's Church...................................... 7:30pm............ p. 71 74 C L I F D E N A R T S F E S T I V A L 2 0 1 7

Clifden Arts Festival / Map of Venues 5 ort

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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 and Brown Hotel Central Bar Church of Ireland Claddaghduff Hall (via Westport Road 12.6km) Clifden Community School Clifden Library Clifden Station House Hotel Clúid Clifden Town Hall Criost Linn Centre E.J. King’s Bar Elm Tree Centre Festival Box Office / Festival Gallery Foyle’s Hotel Footsbarn Tent (The Showgrounds) Guy’s Bar Keogh’s, (via R341 Ballyconneely, 9km) Lowry’s Bar Mannion’s Bar Market Square Mullarkey’s Bar

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

O’Malley’s Bar (Atlantic Coast) Paddy Power’s St. Joseph’s Church Station House Theatre Steam Café Tom King’s Bar Vaughan’s Bar Walsh’s Bakery & Coffee Shop West Connemara Leisure Centre Towards Noonan's Arena Festival Merchandise Office

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

CLIFDEN ARTS FES TIVAL 2017

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., Noel Grealish T.D., Catherine Connolly T.D., 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, Circus and Street Acts), Karl Wallace (Head of 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, 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 volunteers), Sean and Rosalind Coyne, Cregal Art, Clifden Gardaí, Jim Carney, John Conneely, Breeda Cunningham, Sharon O'Grady (Arts Officer 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), 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, 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, Annemarie Leonard 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), Pat Charleton and all the staff at E.J. King’s 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, Sandia Joy 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, Oliver Joyce (GMT), David McNamara (GMT), 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 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 and Noel Kavanagh (SuperValu), LUXe, Kathleen Loughnane, Eilish Lowry, Patricia Jean Lacey, Kurt Lydon (Galway County Council), Lough Fadda Guesthouse, Dara McAleer (Scoil Mhuire, Clifden), John McDonnell, 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, 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, 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), 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, Alan and Sandra Shattock, Raymond Schley, John and Treena Sweeney, Mary Smyth, Michael and Iris Taylor, Terry Sweeney, Georgie Thompson, Brian Thornburgh, Vassar College, Mr. and Mrs. Vanderlee, Sean Vaughan, KathleenVilliers 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, John Brennan, Rodney Thompson, David Warren, Pam Finn at ThinkPR, Joan Ann Lloyd, Andy Mcantee. Thanks to Paddy and Freddy for the use of the Footsbarn Tent. Thanks to Ursula Byrne and all at the UCD Archive. 76 C L I F D E N A R T S F E S T I V A L 2 0 1 7