Arts

LAST CHANCE TO CATCH THE AMAZING PRIDE ART SHOW RUNNING IN ENNISCORTHY’S PRESENTATION ARTS CENTRE UNTIL 10TH JULY.

Wexford PRIDE and The Presentation Arts Centre are delighted to be running this show which is the first Pride art exhibition in Co. Wexford – a celebration of queer artists, deliberately coinciding with Pride Month. The Pride flag can also be seen flying high at Enniscorthy Castle for the first time. 11 LGBTQIA+ artists are featured in the Presentation Centre exhibition and given a space to exhibit their work openly and proudly. “Queer art has a long history of challenging social norms, calling for change, and healing our community,” says Veronica Victor, who we were delighted to talk to at the launch last month. Veronica and fellow committe Riain, Charlotte and Robert are delighted to be colla tion Arts Centre to bring this exhibition into existenc Wexford Pride will continue to create spaces for its c and campaign for better outcomes for the LGBTQIA Follow on social media: Twitter @pridewexford Facebook Wexford Pride Insta Wexford Pride n

ee members John, Aislinn, aborating with The Presentace.

community to come together A+ community in Wexford.

Above: Veronica Victor with Vistafutur whose debut single called ‘Ringwood’ will be out later this summer and which was performed for the first time in public at the Pride Art Show Launch last month.

Above right: Lucy McLoughlin and Laura Hardiman.

Bottom right: Sarah Sinnott, Thomas Fitzpatrick (whose poetry features on the wall behind him as part of the exhibition) and Ger Freeman.

Bottom left: Lisa and Andrei.

Wexford’s Red Books doubles in size

Red Books – one of the biggest and best independent bookstores in the country, officially opened its enlarged premises at St Peter’s Square, Wexford, on 28th June, 2022. According to owner Wally O’Neill, “To say we were overwhelmed with the large crowd and loving sentiments is an understatement” as the enlarged Red Books heaved with book lovers and creatives.

Wally says, “Thanks to everyone who helped out or offered help with the ten days of hell to get the bookshop opened. There's too many to mention but special thanks to Ray, Kieran, Kevin, Pattie, Kiera, Dec, Richard, Sharon, Robbie, Lalani, Eithne, Marie, Tommy, Kathleen, Lorraine, Victoria, Tom, Melissa, Dannielle and my mother Nuala. “Once again, big thanks to the legends Daithi and Rory Kavanagh who always step into the breach to provide music at our events. It's much appreciated. “We also had wonderful performances from Ibar Quirke, Robbie Agar and Julie Dwyer, a beautiful poem from Roisin Hensman, and speeches from Alanna Hammel and Peter Griffiths-Baker. Thank you all. “Thanks to our great friend Kieran O' Brien for acting as MC and giving us so much help over the past week in particular, and to Anton O'Broin for cutting the ribbon and declaring the bookshop open. “Thanks to Cllr Tom Forde, Cllr Davy Hynes, and Claire and the incredible team at Wexford People Helping People for turning out tonight and always giving us such great support. “And thanks to all of you for your support and patronship over the past five and a half years. There was more than one time throughout the seemingly endless weeks of covid lockdowns that we thought about closing up for good but your constant support and enthusiasm for books and the bookshop kept us alive and fighting.” n

Red Books proprietor Wally O’Neill (centre) with Anton O’Broin and Kieran O’Brien.

Enniscorthy Book Club

The club’s next book is The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd. The club will meet on Thursday 28th July at 8pm at the Riverside Park Hotel in Enniscorthy. Everyone is welcome to join. https://www.facebook.com/enniscorthy bookclub n

Cutting the cake at Enniscorthy Castle on 2nd July to celebrate ten years of the Wexford Literary Arts Festival L-R: Edel Kelly, Maria Nolan, Paul O’Reilly and Anne Gilpin.

Calling all Artists...

The 15th plein air painting festival will take place from 24th July to 1st August 2022 here in the sunny south east of Ireland. Registration (https://www.artintheopen.org/) entitles you to the opportunity to book one of the many workshops by guest artists, the Gala Dinner at the end of the week, a social ‘hub’ for artists to gather and relax in the evenings, and submit two paintings for the Bank Holiday Exhibition in Greenacres Gallery, Wexford town. n

Above left: At the opening night of the Wexford Literary Arts Festival on 1st July in The Presentation Arts Centre were L-R: Minister James Browne TD, Megan O'Malley from Wexford (award winner), Anne Gilpin (Wexford Literary Arts Festival organiser), Cllr Aidan Browne (Cathaoirleach of Enniscorthy Municipal District), Cllr John O'Rourke. Above right: Three of the cast of a new play that was performed on the opening night of the Festival, Lillyanna Holohan, Georgia Swan and Pat Murphy. The play was written by shortlisted playwright, octagenarian Carmel Codd Leen.

Local author Maria Nolan will talk about and read from her latest book “The Shadow of Freedom” at 7pm, Thursday 21st July.

Please book your place by contacting the library on 053 9236055.

A Decade of the Wexford Lit

Above: Maria Nolan, Secretary, Wexford Literary Festival. Right: Daire Murray (uilleann piper), Declan O’Rourke, Peter Murphy and Elizabeth Whyte (Wexford Arts Centre). Far right: Cllr Aidan Browne (Cathaoirleach of Enniscorthy Municipal District), Anne Gilpin (Wexford Literary Festival) and Cllr Barbara-Anne Murphy.

Last weekend the Wexford Literary Arts Festival celebrated its 10th anniversary with one of its most successful festivals to date.

With events happening in both Enniscorthy and Wexford over the three Festival days, 1st to 3rd July, including a Poetry Workshop with poet Margaret Galvin, Fintan Murphy in conversation with author Des Kiely at Wexford Library, Declan O’Rourke in conversation with Peter Murphy at the Presentation Arts Centre, Enniscorthy, Book Launch with Derville Murphy, and Underground Womens Group at Wexford Book Centre, Childrens’ Fairy Workshop with Author Caroline Busher, June Caldwell and Susan Tomaselli in conversation with best-selling authors Carmel Harrington, Sheila Forsey, Hannah McNiven, Paul O’Reilly, Deville Murphy, Imelda Carroll, Felicity Hayes McCoy and Mabelle Wallis at Enniscorthy Castle, short films with awardwinning Imelda Carroll, Hannah McNiven and Dick Donaghue at the Presentation Arts Centre, Alannah Hammel and Michael Fortune at Enniscorthy Castle, a medley of poetry and music with local poets at Red Books, Wexford. And of course our marvellous Awards Ceremony at the Presentation Arts Centre, Enniscorthy, where Marie Day from Wales won the Eoin Colfer International Short Story Childrens Award with Monsters in the Snow.

Megan O`Malley, Wexford, took first place in the Billy Roche International One Act Play Award with her play Unforgettable, 2nd place went to Alice Lynch, Cavan for The Girls and 3rd place to Eamonn Doran, Waterford, for Aunty Maggies Remedy.

In the Anthony Cronin International Poetry Award first place went to Angela Patten from Vermont, USA, for the poem Shine, 2nd place to Derek Sellen, Kent, England, for G is for Grey and 3rd place to Liz Byrne, Bolton, England for I Long to Lift a Saxaphone.

In the Colm Tóibín International Short Story Award first place went to David Butler, Bray, Wicklow, for his story The Witch, 2nd place to Grainne Daly, Tallaght, Dublin, for Little Jerome and 3rd place to Fergal O’Byrne, Copenhagen, Denmark, for the story Sweetpea. As part of our Awards Ceremony we staged Carmel Codd Leen’s play The Boat Train. Carmel, who is eighty-eighty years old, has submitted plays and short stories to the competitions since the Festival began in 2013 and has been shortlisted no less that five times ending up in the final four.

‘A marvellous show of enthusiasm for a woman in her 80s,’ Maria Nolan, Secretary, said welcoming Carmel home from America for the event. ‘I have no doubt the Presentation nuns are smiling down tonight on Carmel with pride as she sits here beside my mother Maeve Doyle, her best friend who sat beside her eightyfour years ago at the Presentation Convent and have remained friends ever since. Carmel has been a tremendous friend of the Festival since it began in 2013 arriving home each year and attending and supporting all our events.’ The icing on the cake for this year’s festival was surely the Commemoration of the Battle of Enniscorthy.

terary Arts Festival

‘Realising that our 10th Festival occurred on the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Enniscorthy, we couldn’t allow the moment to pass without including a Commemoration in our Festival plans,’ Maria Nolan explained. The Battle of Enniscorthy, a four day battle of the Civil War, raged on the streets of the town from 1st – 4th July 1922 leaving several wounded and two men dead, and had never before been commemorated in the town. One hundred years exactly to the day, the Wexford Literary Festival has rectified that with a commemoration and re-enactment by Enniscorthy Historical Re-enactment Society and Lord Edwards Own. Approximately three hundred people attended the event including Chairman of Enniscorthy Municipal District Council Aidan Browne, Minister James Browne, Chairman of Wexford County Council George Lawlor, Deputy Paul Kehoe, Councillors Barbara-Anne Murphy, Kathleen Codd-Nolan, Cathal Byrne, and Jackser Owens, special guests Deputy Sean Haughey, grandson of Sean Lemass who fought in the Battle of Enniscorthy, Colm O’Brien and Orla McKeown, nephew and grandniece of Paddy O’Brien who was mortally wounded in the battle, keynote speaker Carmel Smyth, Rev. Nicola Halford, Acting District Administrator Bernie Quigley, Historian in Residence Barry Lacey who narrated the battle, and piper Liam Doyle who played a lament and the national anthem. Wreaths were laid at the Post Office for the two men killed there – Maurice Spillane and Paddy O’Brien by Colm O’Brien and Orla McKeown. Only fitting that one hundred years later all the men who fought and died in the Civil War are commemorated for the part they played in the struggle for Irish freedom, regardless of what stance they took, each and all of them believed that they were contributing to the birth of a nation and ‘we are here today to remember with dignity, compassion and gratitude, all who fought and died on these very streets one hundred years ago, so that we might all walk freely and proudly in this town of Enniscorthy.’

Wexford Literary Arts Festival award winners:

EOIN COLFER INTERNATIONAL SHORT CHILDREN'S STORY AWARD: Marie Day, of Wales, winner for the story Monsters In The Snow.

BILLY ROCHE INTERNATIONAL SHORT PLAY AWARD: First place: Megan O'Malley, of Wexford, for the play Unforgettable. Second Place: Alice Lynch, of Cavan, for the play The Girls. Third Place: Eamonn Dolan, of Waterford, for the play Aunty Maggies Remedy.

ANTHONY CRONIN INTERNATIONAL SHORT POEM AWARD: First Place: Angela Patten, from Ireland living in Vermont USA, for the poem Shine. Second Place: Derek Sellen, of Kent, England, for the poem G is for Grey. Third Place: Liz Bryne, from Dublin, living in Bolton, England, for the poem I Long To Lift A Saxophone.

COLM TÓIBÍN INTERNATIONAL SHORT STORY AWARD: First place: David Butler, of Bray, Wicklow, for the story The Witch. Second Place: Gráinne Daly, of Tallaght, Dublin, for the story Little Jerome. Third Place: Fergal O'Byrne, living in Copenhagen, Denmark, for the story Sweetpea.

Sponsorship of these Awards is from Wexford Co. Council which has been a fabulous supporter for ten years, and from entry fees from the competitors. wexfordliteraryartsfestival.com

Anne Doyle to do the honours

Anne Doyle, Wexford Ambassador and former RTÉ newsreader, a native of Ferns, will launch Dr Noel Culleton’s new book, Classical Women, at a function at Wexford Town Library on Thursday 14 July at 7.00pm. Noel Culleton said that his new book, which took more than three years to research and write, will comprise the amazing stories of 26 women composers from a thousand years span who, despite huge obstacles to them, broke barriers in the male-dominated world of music. This will be Noel’s third in a series of books on classical composers. Anne Doyle, a native of Ferns, who has been an RTÉ newscaster and anchor of their main News programmes, launched his previous book titled Classical Connections at the library three years ago. Noel Culleton, author, and David Mahon, illustrator of the 180page Classical Women, were together serenaded by three musician sisters from the Wexford traditional Bailiú group –Ann Wickham on flute, Alice McIntyre née Wickham on violin and Liz Wickham on tin whistle among the mussel boats on Wexford quay in a Three Sisters Press promotion for the book. Advisers to the production of the book include Maria Noelle Creevey, classical musician, a native of Kilmore, John Gibney, designer, Enniscorthy, Phil Murphy, editor of the Ireland’s Own Anthology, Declan Lyons, communications consultant and Dr Mary Staines, both of Arthurstown. Dr Noel Culleton is the former chief executive of one of the world’s leading agricultural research bodies, Johnstown Castle. As an executive with the Department of Agriculture and Teagasc, he also helped to formulate Irish/EU policies on water quality and climate change. David Mahon is an architect and a founder of the Dear Illustrator art studio. He has worked as an architect and artist in the US, New Zealand and Japan and has overseen design-build projects in Africa and the Pacific Islands. He will leave shortly on a two-month project in Jakarta, Indonesia. n

On Wexford Quay, the Bailiú traditional music group –sisters Ann Wickham (flute), Liz Wickham (tin whistle), and Alice McIntyre née Wickham (violin), serenaded author Dr Noel Culleton (seated) and illustrator David Mahon (standing) on the production of Noel Culleton’s new book, ‘Classical Women’. Anne Doyle, Wexford Ambassador, journalist and former RTÉ newsreader who will launch Noel Culleton’s new book ‘Classical Women’ at Wexford Library on Thursday 14 July at 7.00pm.

Poetry at Enniscorthy Castle

On top of the world!

Poetry / Open Mic Night on the roof of Enniscorthy Castle on 22nd June 2022 – a Cultrí event. This is the first of many Cultrí Arts and Culture events to be hosted by The Presentation Arts Centre, Enniscorthy Castle and The National 1798 Rebellion Centre.

Above: Wexford Poet Laureate Sasha Terfous. Above right: Jaz Boehmke, Jasper Hudson and Nike Sullivan-Haertling. Right: Lisa Byrne. n

Basic income for the Arts

Wexford is the county with the ninth highest number of applicants under the Basic Income for the Arts Scheme with about 250 artists based in this county applying. Over 9,000 applicants nationally are applying to be among the 2,000 to be selected as part of the initial pilot phase. This has been welcomed by Senator Malcolm Byrne who said, “Co. Wexford has a vibrant artistic tradition and it is great that so many from Wexford are applying to be part of this transformative income scheme introduced by the government. This scheme is designed to support artists and musicians during quieter periods when they may wish to be creative but might not have guarantees of income. If the pilot works, then it will be extended more widely.” Applications by art form: Visual Arts 36.1%, Music 27.8%, Film 10.3%, Literature 8.4%, Theatre 8.3%, Multidisciplinary 3.3%, Other 2.3%, Dance 1.8%, Circus 0.8%, Architecture 0.5%, Opera 0.3%, Not Classified 0.1%. n