Seamus Heaney HomePlace Autumn Winter 2017

AUTUMN EVENTS PROGRAMME September - December 2017

seamusheaneyhome.com

Welcome across the threshold We have been celebrating a very successful first year at Seamus Heaney HomePlace, reflecting on the highs of our opening last September, the incredible responses to the exhibition from thousands of visitors and the remarkable number of local, national and international performers who have inspired and entertained audiences here.

Again, we work with a range of partners – from our very great supporter, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, to the Linenhall Library, the Patrick Kavanagh Centre, Words Ireland and our own Bellaghy Historical Society – to stage these events and appreciate greatly the positive outcomes of each collaboration.

As we embark on our second year, we launch a new season programme which continues to hold the work of Seamus Heaney at its heart, and looks to his imaginings and interests to shape events and performances which will, we hope, inspire those who experience them.

I hope you enjoy browsing through the new programme and enjoy your next experience in HomePlace.

Councillor Kim Ashton Chair Mid Ulster District Council

There are – as always! – too many highlights to mention, but rest assured that a quality combination of talks, conversation, memories, music, song, comedy and drama are reflected from October through to December, and that there truly is something on offer for everyone.

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Step into HomePlace Immerse yourself in the extraordinary world of Seamus Heaney’s poetry, and explore through his words and imagination the people and place that so inspired him.

Described by Michael Longley as ‘an echo chamber for the poet’s beautiful lines’, Seamus Heaney HomePlace features an interactive exhibition over two floors, filled with personal stories, images and the voice of the poet himself. An interpretation of his Dublin study will transport you back to 1995, when Seamus Heaney was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Previously unseen artefacts, transcripts and books kindly donated by the Heaney family are also on display, ensuring a truly unique and illuminating experience for all.

You can also explore our gift shop, featuring bespoke ranges by local craft-makers influenced by the surrounding landscape and, of course, the work of Seamus Heaney.

Derry Donegal

Bellaghy Belfast

For more information and to book tickets contact the Box Office on 028 7938 7444 or visit www.seamusheaneyhome.com

Ticket Prices Adult £7, child £4.50, concession £4.50, family £19.

Galway Dublin Limerick

Only 45mins from Belfast and Derry, 2hr 30mins from Dublin 54.8077° N, 6.5213° W Free car and coach parking.

Café serving delicious, locally sourced food.

Gift shop.

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Café and room hire information

Foreword from the Arts Council

During your visit to Seamus Heaney HomePlace, why not drop into the HomePlace Café? Open seven days a week, the HomePlace Café serves breakfast, lunch and afternoon treats, using locally sourced ingredients, making it the perfect spot to begin or end your visit.

Hard to believe, as we reach autumn, that the first anniversary of the opening of Seamus Heaney HomePlace has already slipped by. It has been a wonderfully successful first year for HomePlace, as it has sought to provide a fitting place for people to celebrate Heaney’s life and build on the poet’s legacy. As HRH The Prince of Wales remarked, upon his visit to the centre in May, HomePlace has found, “a universal voice with the accent of a particular place”.

Serving everything from homemade quiche to Irish stew, the Café also stocks speciality teas and coffees to have in or take away.

The HomePlace Café can also cater for larger bookings and for groups of 15 people or more you can pre-book any refreshments to ensure a smooth and enjoyable experience.

You can contact the HomePlace Café on 028 7938 6808 or email thehomeplacecafe@gmail.com to make a booking and discuss your requirements.

It has achieved this through a remarkably strong programme of themed events, all of which relate to some aspect of the poet’s life or work, and all of which deepen our appreciation of the breadth of his influence. Medbh McGuckian, Leontia Flynn, Sinéad Morrissey, Paul Muldoon, Bernard MacLaverty, Michael Longley, Ciaran Carson and Frank Ormsby - all have contributed over the past year. We’ve enjoyed music from Paul Brady, Bronagh Gallagher, the Ulster Orchestra and The Henry Girls; and dramatised readings by Fiona Shaw, Adrian Dunbar, Ian McElhinney and Stephen Rea – just a few of the many, many highlights of a stellar year at the HomePlace, which also saw it pick up a prestigious RTPI architecture award.

The Arts Council is proud to have played our part, through our National Lottery funds, in helping the HomePlace deliver this outstanding programme. And now, as we move through the autumn months, our thoughts turn to the present creative programme.

What can we expect? More of the same, please.

Seamus Heaney HomePlace is also the perfect venue for your meeting or conference.

Roisín McDonough Chief Executive, Arts Council of Northern Ireland

Positioned centrally between Belfast and Derry, HomePlace has a range of rooms that can be set up to meet your requirements; on-site parking; technical support and in-house catering.

For further information on availability and costs, please contact our Reception on 028 7938 7444 who will be happy to advise on your visit.

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October

‘He entered my head the way the potato digger enters the field at the start of his poem The Great Hunger: kicking the dead weight of the familiar into life, putting the lumpiness of things into a spin. There was force and refreshment in equal measure, bag-apron realism and far-horizon vision.

You were in the presence of something ferocious and purposeful, and your natural impulse was to cheer but also to stand back ’ Seamus Heaney on Patrick Kavanagh

Patrick Kavanagh

‘The Placeless Heaven’: Kavanagh & Heaney One of the earliest influences on the work of Seamus Heaney was undoubtedly Patrick Kavanagh, whose exploration of the commonplace and the ordinary allowed Heaney to focus his own writing on the detail of local, rural life.

2017 marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Patrick Kavanagh and Seamus Heaney HomePlace is delighted to be working with the Patrick Kavanagh Centre in Monaghan to present a series of events exploring the works of these two great writers and the shared links in their work.

In a cross-border collaboration, events will take place in both venues over two weekends, celebrating the links, commonalities and echoes in their work.

Celebrations will take place in the Patrick Kavanagh Centre on Saturday 30 September and in Seamus Heaney HomePlace on Saturday 7 October.

For more information on the events at the Patrick Kavanagh Centre please visit www.patrickkavanaghcountry.com

‘AT-HOMENESS’ Children’s writing workshop with Maura Johnston

Saturday 7 October - 11am – 2.30pm | Cost: £5 Maura Johnston leads this entertaining children’s writing workshop, encouraging participants to write a story based in the place where they were born. Taking inspiration from both Heaney and Kavanagh, the workshop will prove that the best stories don’t have to be written about a land ‘far, far away’ – they can start right at your own doorstep!

Suitable for ages 8 – 11 years

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DIVERGENCE AND CONVERGENCE: FROM SHANCODUFF TO MOSSBAWN A lecture on Seamus Heaney and Patrick Kavanagh by Dr Una Agnew Saturday 7 October - 2pm | Tickets: £5 Dr Una Agnew is one of Ireland’s foremost experts on Patrick Kavanagh. In this lecture, to be delivered in both Inniskeen and Bellaghy, she attempts to evaluate Kavanagh’s influence on Heaney and highlight ways in which they can both be compared and contrasted in their legacies to literature. Dr Agnew is Professor Emerita of Spirituality at the Milltown Institute Dublin. Among her published work is The Mystical Imagination of Patrick Kavanagh: A Buttonhole in Heaven, published in 1998.

Lyric Theatre Belfast presents THE GREAT HUNGER BY PATRICK KAVANAGH Saturday 7 October - 7.30pm | Tickets: £10 Directed by Jimmy Fay | Starring Seamus O’Hara Music by Paul Stapleton & Steve Davis Last year, the Lyric Theatre enthralled HomePlace audiences with their Performance Reflection on Seamus Heaney’s Station Island.

They will restage this production in the Patrick Kavanagh Centre in Monaghan on Saturday 30 September, before returning to the Helicon stage with their interpretation of The Great Hunger by Patrick Kavanagh a week later.

Under the direction of the Lyric’s Executive Producer Jimmy Fay, this dynamic performance melds spoken word, film, and sound to evoke the poet’s exploration of country life.

‘and after him, a third fosterer slack-shouldered and clear-eyed: ‘Sure I might have known once I had made the pad, you’d be after me sooner or later’ Seamus Heaney, ‘Station Island V’ These events are supported by the Co-Operation with Northern Ireland Funding Scheme through the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.

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Eugene Kielt

SEAMUS HEANEY LIFECYCLE TOUR with Eugene Kielt Saturday 7 October - 3.30pm (Tour lasts approximately two hours) | Cost: £12 This guided coach tour of the landscape made famous by Seamus Heaney’s poetry is led by local man, accredited tour guide and Heaney specialist Eugene Kielt. This is a wonderful way to explore the ‘home ground’ in which Heaney was rooted and which so influenced his poetry.

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Colin Davidson

Geray Sweeney is an Irish photographer who has worked with a wide range of writers and poets and photographed Seamus Heaney in the 1970s. Her 1979 photograph of Heaney was recently used on the cover of Faber & Faber’s new edition of Field Work.

This discussion, which will also explore the nature of portraiture as an art form, will be chaired by Dr Declan Long, Course Director of the MA in Art in the Contemporary World at the National College of Art & Design. In 2013 he served as a member of the judging panel for the Turner Prize and is a visual arts correspondent for RTÉ radio.

CAPTURING SEAMUS: The Art of the Portrait Sunday 8 October - 3pm | Tickets: £10 With Colin Davidson, Eamonn McCabe and Geray Sweeney, chaired by Dr Declan Long When we think of Seamus Heaney and his poetry, our responses are often tied up with the iconic images of the man himself. In this fascinating panel discussion, three artists who have each created a portrait of Heaney will discuss the context and experience of working with him and the process of capturing his essence in just one image.

Often considered one of the greatest photographic journalists, Eamonn McCabe has been Picture Editor of the Guardian, is a Fellow in Photography at the National Museum of Film, Photography and Television and has published many books on the art form. He recently presented documentary series The Art of the Photograph for BBC4.

Colin Davidson is a contemporary artist, living and working near Belfast. Since 2010 his focus has been on painting grand scale portraits, which have won widespread recognition and many international awards. Davidson’s sitters have included Liam Neeson, Brian Friel, Sir Kenneth Branagh, Dame Mary Peters, Gary Lightbody and Glen Hansard. Most recently Colin was invited to paint an official portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II, which was unveiled in November 2016.

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Eamonn McCabe

Geray Sweeney

‘Nothing in a portrait is a matter of indifference… all must combine to realise a character’ Charles Baudelaire

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‘The best writer in Ireland’ Roddy Doyle

© Michael Shelford

Sally Rooney

Jennifer Johnston

JENNIFER JOHNSTON IN CONVERSATION With Martina Devlin Saturday 14 October - 3pm | Tickets: £10

Ciaran McMenamin

June Caldwell

YOUNG BLOOD: CIARAN McMENAMIN, SALLY ROONEY & JUNE CALDWELL Chaired by Paul McVeigh Sunday 15 October - 3pm | Tickets: £6

Jennifer Johnston is widely regarded as one of Ireland’s most important contemporary novelists. Like that of Seamus Heaney, her work draws on her own experience of growing up in Ireland and her writing is infused with her experience of life as a middle class Protestant. She favours exploration of the small but important moments in life, the relationships and events that come to define her characters. As she herself says, “I’d like people to find small truths in my work and go on doing so”.

Born in Dublin in 1930, Jennifer published her first novel The Captains and the Kings in 1972. Since then, she has published many more, including Shadows on our Skin (1977), which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and The Old Jest (1979), set during the War of Independence and which won the 1979 Whitbread Novel Award.

The Old Jest was later filmed as The Dawning, starring Anthony Hopkins.

Now approaching her 87th birthday, Jennifer will be in conversation with her friend and fellow novelist Martina Devlin, author of About Sisterland, The House Where it Happened and Ship of Dreams, to discuss her career of almost 50 years, her reputation and her legacy.

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Martina Devlin

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Irish writing is in rude health thanks to the arrival of a new generation of young writers, and HomePlace is delighted to welcome three exciting debut authors, who are taking the literary world by storm with their fresh and irreverent take on contemporary life in Ireland.

Skintown is the acclaimed debut novel from Enniskillen born actor Ciaran McMenamin. Skintown is a drink- and drug-fuelled odyssey through fights, riots, fishing, ecstasy, sex and acid house that bristles with restless energy.

Sally Rooney, one of the Observer’s Rising Stars of 2017, is enjoying success with her debut novel Conversations with Friends. This startling, intimate story of high risk relationships, youth and love is set to become a modern classic.

June Caldwell’s Room Little Darker was published in May 2017 and hailed by the Guardian as ‘a gothic collection of short stories that shock and fascinate in equal measure’. Comparisons to William Burroughs and Kathy Acker confirm her as a strong new voice in Irish literature.

Expect the unexpected as these three uncompromising authors share their thoughts with Paul McVeigh on their own work and the current state of the Irish writing scene.

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Kabosh Theatre Company

KABOSH THEATRE COMPANY PRESENTS GREEN & BLUE Written by Laurence McKeown Directed by Paula McFetridge Featuring James Doran and Vincent Higgins Tuesday 17 October - 7.30pm | Tickets: £5 John Hegley

Green & Blue explores the painful and humorous realities faced by the individuals who patrolled the border during the height of the conflict. Critically acclaimed and nominated for the Writers Guild of Ireland Best Theatre Script award 2017, the play is based on an oral archive of serving RUC and An Garda Síochána officers. Fusing theatre and film, the production looks at the person behind the uniform and the different experiences of two individuals on either side of a line in the ground.

Green & Blue finds a natural home at Seamus Heaney HomePlace, given the history of the site of the venue. This production will be followed by a facilitated discussion.

‘Green & Blue is a thoughtful, challenging and entertaining dramatisation of an oral history, casting light on police officers’ lives as they saw it ’ Culture Northern Ireland This event is funded by The Executive Office through District Council Good Relations Programme supported by Mid Ulster District Council

JOHN HEGLEY: PEACE, LOVE AND POTATOES Friday 20 October - 8pm | Tickets: £12 One of the UK’s most popular poets – the eccentric and very funny John Hegley – makes his debut at Seamus Heaney HomePlace. This reading (with added singing!) will consist largely of poems from John’s latest book, Verses on Keats, Dickens, Daleks, which has been inspired by his memories of his childhood days.

Expect Keats, Daleks, soot, belief, osmosis and ‘compassionate autobiographical poems and correspondence between family members’ (Poetry London).

During the evening, verses will be spoken and sung, hearts will be broken and repaired, but above all, the joy of poetry will be celebrated in John Hegley’s own inimitable way.

‘Scandalously talented’ The Sunday Times ‘Awesomely mundane’ Independent

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‘Marvellous, joyful fun’

WORDS IRELAND WRITERS’ CAFÉ

The Daily Telegraph

Saturday 21 October at 2pm

FREE

Seamus Heaney HomePlace is delighted to partner with Words Ireland to present one of their regional writers’ cafés on Teaching Creative Writing.

Writer Yvonne Cullen will deliver a talk on developing a career as teacher of creative writing. With advice on everything from booking your first job, to expanding your teaching portfolio in a variety of settings and employing best practice, Yvonne’s presentation will be of interest to emerging and mid-career writers or anyone who teaches or is interested in becoming a teacher of creative writing.

Author of Invitation to the Air (poetry), and A Winter Quarters (non-fiction, forthcoming), Yvonne Cullen has been leading writing classes throughout Ireland with great success for the last twentyfour years.

Words Ireland is a recently formed grouping of seven literature organisations, who are working collaboratively to provide coordinated professional development and resource services to the literature sector. Words Ireland’s remit includes the provision of professional development opportunities, with a particular focus on mid-career and advanced career practitioners.

John Hegley

JOHN HEGLEY: I AM A POETATO Friday 20 October - 2pm Tickets: £7/£5 concession (Group rates are available)

Free booking and information on the chosen topic for the HomePlace event are available on www.wordsireland.ie Place are free and should be booked through Words Ireland at www.wordsireland.ie

Join John in this family- and schools-friendly show as he dips into an animal alphabet of poems about people, pets and other creatures. This is poetry at its most accessible as John mixes songs, jokes and rhymes in an entertaining and unforgettable show.

Suitable for 8 – 12 years

Yvonne Cullen

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FOSTERAGE: MICHAEL McLAVERTY, LITERATURE AND INFLUENCE Presented in association with the Linen Hall Library Saturday 28 October - 3pm - Tickets: £10

‘He discerned The lineaments of patience everywhere And fostered me and sent me out, with words Imposing on my tongue like obols ’ Seamus Heaney, ‘Fosterage’ Seamus Heaney worked with Michael McLaverty as a young teacher at St Thomas’ Secondary School in the early 1960s. Their relationship developed from that of colleagues to friends and McLaverty became a mentor to the young Heaney. A gifted writer himself, McLaverty was one of Ireland’s greatest short story writers and is also famous for his novels, which include Call My Brother Back. In describing McLaverty’s writing, Heaney said, “his voice was modestly pitched, he never sought the limelight, yet for all that, his place in our literature is secure”.

This event will bring together John Killen, ex-librarian of the Linen Hall Library; Sophia Hillan, author and literary executor of the Michael McLaverty estate, and Michael’s daughters Maura Cregan and Sheila Cunningham, who will discuss his life, work and relationship with Heaney. The discussion will be chaired by Professor Iggy McGovern of Trinity College, Dublin, who was a close friend of Michael McLaverty.

The event, which will examine Michael’s work along with personal reminiscences on his life and relationship with Seamus Heaney, will be bookended by a reading of Heaney’s poem ‘An Evening at Killard’, performed by actor Vincent Higgins, and his ‘Tribute to Michael McLaverty’, originally delivered at the Michael McLaverty Colloquium in the Linen Hall Library in September 2004.

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Michael McLaverty

FREE

FOSTERAGE: THE LIFE AND WORK OF MICHAEL McLAVERTY – AN EXHIBITION Saturday 21 – Saturday 28 October, Admission Free In conjunction with the Linen Hall Library, an exhibition of artefacts from the Michael McLaverty collection – including books, letters and personal items – will be on display in the Library of Seamus Heaney HomePlace.

Vincent Higgins

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November

Stephen Beggs

MY FATHER’S CHAIR Written and performed by Stephen Beggs Saturday 4 November - 11am & 2pm | Tickets: £5/£3 concession My Father’s Chair is a performance for families about the nature of fatherhood. What is it like to have a Dad? What is it like to be a Dad? What makes the relationship between Dads and kids unique and special? How does society view the role of fathers in children’s lives?

As a theatre maker and a father himself, Stephen Beggs explores all these questions, creating a funny, challenging and emotional journey for audiences along the way.

‘Funny, touching and life-affirming’ Audience Member at The MAC

ROBERT McCRUM IN CONVERSATION With Martin Doyle Sunday 5 November - 3pm | Tickets: £8 Presented in association with the John O’Connor Writing School In the fascinating and insightful article, ‘A Life of Rhyme’, published in the Guardian in 2009, Robert McCrum interviewed his friend Seamus Heaney. During the interview, Heaney spoke about the stroke he had suffered in 2006 and the feeling that the time following it seemed like a ‘closing cadence’.

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Robert McCrum

In 1995, at the age of 42, Robert McCrum had suffered his own dramatic and near-fatal stroke, which became the subject of his acclaimed memoir My Year Off. Ever since that life-changing event, McCrum has lived unavoidably aware of his own mortality and his new book, Every Third Thought is an enthralling exploration of what it means to approach the end and how to avoid living life as if it is that ‘closing cadence’.

Robert McCrum was born and educated in Cambridge. For nearly 20 years he was editor-in-chief of the publishers Faber & Faber, where he met Seamus Heaney. From 1996 to 2008, he was literary editor of the Observer of which he remains an associate editor.

Robert McCrum will be in conversation with Martin Doyle, Books Editor of the Irish Times, talking about his new book, his life and career, his literary response to his own mortality and his friendship with, and memories of Seamus Heaney.

‘I have never read anything quite like this… it should be prescribed reading for all’ Beryl Bainbridge on My Year Off BOX OFFICE T: +44 (0)28 7938 7444

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Liz Nugent

Eoin McNamee Ralph McTell

RALPH McTELL In concert Sunday 5 November - 8pm | Tickets: £20 In a career spanning over fifty years, renowned English folk-singer Ralph McTell has gained an international following for his powerfully emotive songs and his virtuoso guitar playing. Often considered one of the great storytellers and songwriters of his generation, he weaves narratives of great poignancy – including his classic, Streets of London and From Clare to Here about Irish immigration – inviting listeners into his unique world.

Ralph made his debut in 1968 with the album Eight Frames a Second and in 1974 the release of Streets of London earned him an Ivor Novello Award. In 1993, Nanci Griffith recorded From Clare to Here on her Grammy Award-winning album Other Voices/ Other Rooms and in 2002 Ralph was presented with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.

Declan Burke

A CONSTABLE CALLS: THE BEST OF IRELAND’S CRIME WRITERS With Eoin McNamee, Liz Nugent and Declan Burke, hosted by David Torrans Saturday 11 November - 3pm | Tickets: £8 Irish crime writers have long been established on the international stage as bestsellers and award winners and since the Northern Ireland ceasefire, the rise of Emerald Noir has been unstoppable.

This panel discussion will explore the rise of Irish crime fiction and will feature some of the strongest voices currently writing in the genre: Eoin McNamee, author of Resurrection Man; Liz Nugent, whose recent bestseller Lying in Wait is taking the US market by storm and has won Best Read in the Richard & Judy Book Club and Declan Burke, crime writer and editor of Trouble is Our Business, a recent anthology of Irish crime writing.

‘A shadow bobbed in the window.

He was snapping the carrier spring Over the ledger. His boot pushed off And the bicycle ticked, ticked, ticked’ Seamus Heaney, A Constable Calls

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‘It hardly seems fair that one man should possess so many talents’ The Daily Telegraph

CAROLAN’S WELCOME: AN EVENING OF HARP MUSIC Presented in association with Bellaghy Historical Society Friday 17 November - 7.30pm Tickets: £5/£3 to members of Bellaghy Historical Society

‘Wider than the heavens is my fame...I am the best as regards the power of my fingers...nobody will ever be found to match me’ Turlough Carolan Turlough Carolan was an early Irish harpist, composer and singer famed for his melodic compositions. Born in 1670, Carolan was not a composer in the classical sense, but is considered by many to be Ireland’s national composer.

The evening will feature a lecture by Nicholas Carolan, Director Emeritus of the Irish Traditional Music Archive in Dublin. Nicholas is a researcher and writer and frequent lecturer on traditional music, but is best known as the presenter of the long-running archival television series Come West along the Road on RTÉ and Siar an Bóthar on TG4.

Carolan’s music will be performed by Cláirseacha Álainn, an ensemble of six harpists featuring Maria McGowan – former All Ireland Harp Champion and member of the Belfast Harp Orchestra – Sianine McGowan and several Ulster champions.

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Ardal O’Hanlon

ARDAL O’HANLON IN CONVERSATION With William Crawley Thursday 23 November - 7.30pm | Tickets: £12 Multi-award-winning actor Ardal O’Hanlon is probably best known for his iconic portrayal of Father Dougal Maguire in the hit Channel Four comedy Father Ted - however he is also an accomplished stage actor, comedian and writer.

HIs bestselling debut novel The Talk of the Town features in the influential tome 1001 Books to Read Before you Die and has been described as a cross between The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 ¾ and The Butcher Boy. His TV and film credits are vast and most recently he joined the cast of BBC’s Death in Paradise as the lead detective, Jack Mooney. He is equally comfortable on stage, both as a highly acclaimed standup comedian and as a theatre actor. His theatre work includes an Olivier Award-winning role in the 2014 West End/Donmar Warehouse production of Conor McPherson’s The Weir.

Ardal will be joined by BBC journalist and presenter William Crawley to chat about his wide-ranging career, his love of literature and his famous acting creations.

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Mark Carruthers

Charlie McCarthy

OUT OF THE MARVELLOUS Screening and discussion with Charlie McCarthy and Mark Carruthers

Off the Cuff Theatre

Saturday 25 November at 2pm - Tickets: £8

‘Talking to Seamus Heaney about poetry is like going for a swim in the ocean. You immerse yourself in the immensity of his knowledge about the art, you feel better for having done so, but you know there are depths you will never reach’ Charlie McCarthy, Director of Out of the Marvellous Widely considered to be the definitive documentary of the life and work of Seamus Heaney, Out of the Marvellous is an intimate and all-embracing exploration of the man and his work. Created in 2009 by IceBox Films for RTÉ to celebrate the poet’s 70th birthday, the documentary explores his personal relationships and his work, following him to Harvard, London and New York for readings, engagements and signings. This joyful documentary uses Heaney’s poetry to reveal a man who used his gifts to give expression to the great themes in all our lives of love, loss and longing.

Following a screening of Out of the Marvellous, director Charlie McCarthy and producer Clíona Ní Bhuachalla will be in conversation with broadcaster and journalist Mark Carruthers about the experience of working with Seamus Heaney on this iconic documentary.

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THE BURIAL AT THEBES A version of Sophocles’ Antigone by Off the Cuff Theatre Wednesday 29 November at 8pm | Tickets: £3 Set in a Northern Ireland city, this production of The Burial at Thebes, Seamus Heaney’s version of Antigone, is presented by local amateur theatre company, Off the Cuff Community Theatre Group.

Originally written by Sophocles almost 2,500 years ago, the play explores themes that are just as relevant to audiences today as they were in his time. The story of Antigone’s dilemma of whether or not to bury her beloved brother and plunge her family into a cycle of violence is a tale of mythic proportions, which Seamus Heaney adapted in 2004 to mark the centenary of the Abbey Theatre.

Off the Cuff Community Theatre Group is a cross-community and multi-cultural group who use drama to reach out and inspire communities by ‘bringing people to the theatre and theatre to the people’.

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December

Guy Masterson

Fintan O’Toole

‘It’s not often that penetrating intelligence, a keen historical understanding and sparkling prose coincide in one journalist’ Dame Liz Forgan, Judge of the Orwell Prize for Journalism

FINTAN O’TOOLE: ONE YEAR ON, THE ROAD AHEAD Thursday 7 December - 7.30pm | Tickets: £8 Fintan O’Toole’s searing lecture on Brexit and its implications was one of HomePlace’s sell-out highlights of 2016. Exactly one year on, he returns to the Helicon to explore issues that have dominated the news in the last turbulent twelve months – covering everything from the first year of Donald Trump’s presidency to the UK general election, to the implications for the UK and Ireland of triggering Article 50.

Since his last visit to HomePlace, Fintan O’Toole has been awarded European Commentator of the Year at the European Journalism Awards and the Orwell Prize for Journalism for his writings on Brexit.

Don’t miss what will undoubtedly be one of the most talked-about events of the autumn programme, as a journalist at the height of his powers explores one of the most explosive 12 months in recent history.

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‘Sheer unadulterated pleasure! Expect the words and characters to be brought wonderfully to life! An unmissable offering ★★★★★’ Scotland on Sunday

THEATRE TOURS INTERNATIONAL PRESENT A CHRISTMAS CAROL Thursday 14 December - 7.30pm | Tickets: £7/£5 concession Performed by Guy Masterson Adapted & Directed by Nick Hennegan From the text by Charles Dickens Charles Dickens’ mystical, magical Christmas fable is brought to life in this one-man show – the perfect Christmas treat for all the family!

Olivier Award-winning actor Guy Masterson, veteran of many smash hit solo works such as Under Milk Wood, Animal Farm and Shylock, now brings us Dickens’ classic festive fable. Famed for bringing multiple characters to vivid life in his enthralling one-man shows, Masterson recreates Scrooge, Marley, the Fezziwigs, Tiny Tim and many more in an enchanting performance that will dazzle and linger long in the memory. Guaranteed to get grown-ups and children alike into the Christmas spirit!

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Workshops

UNDER THE SKIN with Maria McManus

WHO AM I NOW? A writing workshop with Nuala McKeever When your world has been turned upside down by loss, it can be hard to get your bearings.

Bewildering feelings, numbness, sadness – they can all build up inside and leave you feeling paralysed by grief. Releasing the build-up through writing, in a safe, supportive space, can help. Nuala McKeever leads an expressive and creative writing session for anyone living with life-changing loss, which explores all the emotions that come with grief, and aims to bring about growth and self-discovery.

Date: Saturday 21 October Time: 10am – 4pm Cost: £20

This creative writing course is intended for new and emerging writers who want to develop their own practice and writing voice.

Six monthly sessions will provide a combination of intensive workshops, writing time, feedback and support in order to help participants develop their craft and writing habits.

In addition to producing new work, the course will focus on research, development of themes, form, preparation for submissions and reading your own work in public.

The course will culminate in a showcase event in The Helicon, the performance space at Seamus Heaney HomePlace.

Format: 6 x one-day workshops Date: Beginning 11 November and continuing for 6 months on 9 December, 14 January, 10 February, 10 March and 21 April with a showcase event on 5 May 2018.

Time: 10am – 4pm Cost: £85

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BOX OFFICE T: +44 (0)28 7938 7444

DIGITAL ANIMATION WORKSHOPS FOR SCHOOLS To mark the centenary of the death of poet and soldier Francis Ledwidge, The Nerve Centre will be delivering these two schools workshops for Key Stage 3 in Digital Animation and Audio Design, both exploring Ledwidge’s life. Create a digital comic book story charting Ledwidge’s time in the army, using green screen technology to send yourself back in time, or use audio recording technology to create a podcast from the past.

Workshop participants will each receive a free comic book exploring Ledwidge’s life, designed as part of the Nerve Centre’s Creative Centenaries project.

CHRISTMAS WREATH MAKING Join Clive Lyttle from Welig Heritage Crafts at this special time of year to create and construct your own Christmas wreath from his home-grown willow, spruce, pine and holly.

You can bring your own ribbons and bows to decorate the wreath, or just keep its natural beauty.

All tools and materials will be provided.

Date: Saturday 10 December Time: 1.30pm – 4.30pm Cost: £15

Wednesday 11 October from 10am – 12 noon and 12.30pm – 2.30pm, Cost: £5 For school booking and enquiries please contact Seamus Heaney HomePlace on 028 7938 7444 BOX OFFICE T: +44 (0)28 7938 7444

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AT A GLANCE OCTOBER Saturday 7 October 11am - 2.30pm ‘At Homeness’: Kids Writing Workshop with Maura Johnston £5 Saturday 7 October 2pm Kavanagh Lecture with Una Agnew £5 Saturday 7 October 3.30pm Seamus Heaney LifeCycle Tour with Eugene Kielt £12 Saturday 7 October 7.30pm The Lyric Theatre present The Great Hunger by Patrick Kavanagh £10 Sunday 8 October 3pm Capturing Seamus: The Art of the Portrait £10

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AT A GLANCE Wednesday 11 October 10am & 12.30pm Ledwidge Digital Animation Workshops £5 Saturday 14 October 3pm Jennifer Johnston in Conversation £10 Sunday 15 October 3pm Young Blood: Ciaran McMenamin, Sally Rooney & June Caldwell £6 Tuesday 17 October 7.30pm Green & Blue presented by Kabosh Theatre Company £5

Friday 20 October 2pm John Hegley: I Am A Poetato (Schools Show) £7/£5 Friday 20 October 8pm John Hegley: Peace, Love and Potatoes £12 Saturday 21 October 10am – 4pm Who Am I Now? Writing Workshop with Nuala McKeever £20 Saturday 21 October 2pm Words Ireland Writers’ Café Free: Booking through Words Ireland Saturday 28 October 3pm Fosterage: Michael McLaverty, Literature and Influence £10

BOX OFFICE T: +44 (0)28 7938 7444

NOVEMBER Saturday 4 November 11am & 2pm My Father’s Chair performed by Stephen Beggs £5/£3 concession Sunday 5 November 3pm Robert McCrum in Conversation £8 Sunday 5 November 8pm Ralph McTell in Concert £20 Saturday 11 November 10am – 4pm Under The Skin: Writing Course with Maria McManus £85

Friday 17 November 7.30pm Carolan’s Welcome: An Evening of Harp Music £5/£3 (Bellaghy Historical Society) Thursday 23 November 7.30pm Ardal O’Hanlon in Conversation £12 Saturday 25 November 2pm Out of the Marvellous: Screening and Discussion £8 Wednesday 29 November 8pm Off the Cuff presents The Burial at Thebes £3

DECEMBER Thursday 7 December 7.30pm Fintan O’Toole: One Year On, The Road Ahead £8 Saturday 10 December 1.30pm – 4.30pm Christmas Wreath Making with Clive Lyttle £15 Thursday 14 December 7.30pm Theatre Tours International present A Christmas Carol £7/£5 concession

Saturday 11 November 3pm A Constable Calls: The Best of Ireland’s Crime Writers £8 BOX OFFICE T: +44 (0)28 7938 7444

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THE HOMEPLACE BOOK CLUB With Carol O’Doherty and Patricia Broderick Dates: Continuing on the first Sunday of the month from 3pm - 4.30pm | Cost: £3 A story is always better if you have someone to share it with and what better spot to meet and share stories that HomePlace! Join Carol and Patricia for this relaxed and friendly book club. Meeting monthly, the club chooses accessible and entertaining books relating to themes found in Seamus Heaney’s work.

Come along for some entertaining conversation and the shared love of a good book.

The books for the Autumn season are: Sunday 8 October: Fly Away Peter by David Malouf Sunday 5 November: The Road Home by Rose Tremain Sunday 3 December: Reading in the Dark by Seamus Deane

Seamus Heaney HomePlace 45 Main Street Bellaghy BT45 8HT T: +44 (0)28 7938 7444 E: SeamusHeaneyHome@midulstercouncil.org Monday–Saturday, 10am–5pm | Sunday, 1pm–5pm BOX OFFICE T: +44 (0)28 7938 7444