Culture Night 2024

On the evening of Friday September 20th Leitrim will come alive once more with a host of free events across the county, showcasing Leitrim’s culture and creativity for Culture Night 2024.  Events will be taking place across the county from Ballinamore to Manorhamilton to Carrick on Shannon so start planning your evening now! Places are limited for many events so book early where booking is required.

Live Youth Band Showcase

Join us from 5.30 to 7pm, where we will showcase some invigorating live performance footage on the new outdoor projector at the Market Yard Live with young musicians, singers, and songwriters from Leitrim and Roscommon. From 7 -9.30pm, join six young groups who will perform an eclectic mix of Rock/Pop/Indie covers alongside original material and some pieces performed by a young group of musicians and singers who recently performed in SHIFT, an immersive event exploring young people’s perspective on the climate crisis through breath-taking dance and music. The talented young musicians performed in three performances of SHIFT in the BBC Studios in Belfast and received rave reviews.

A Night of Percy French

Culture Night at St. Georges in Carrick-on-Shannon will feature a celebration of the 170th Anniversary of Percy French who was born on the 1st May 1854, in Cloonequinn, Co. Roscommon by the County Leitrim Percy French Society.

The County Leitrim Percy French Society was formed by Tish Dunleavy and Frank Cadam as they realised that, despite his extensive musical repertoire French was under-appreciated and under-promoted. The society have performed in theatres all across the country, including two sell-out shows in the National Concert Hall, the show is performed by nine members of the Society in period costume with Frank Cadam taking the role of the great man himself, in a manner authentic to the spirit and arrangements in which French himself performed. From the moment the curtains rise the audience will be transported to a world of laughter, song and timeless story telling. The talented performers breathe life into Percy French's classic works with unparalleled passion and finesse. Their dedication to preserving Irish culture and heritage shines brightly in every note sung and every line delivered. The show is a delightful journey through the whimsical landscapes of Irish folklore and the tender moments of everyday life, all expertly woven together by the society's skilled actors and performers. From uproarious comedy to poignant ballads, each item is executed with precision and heart, eliciting a range of emotions from captivated audiences. The event will serve as a joyous celebration of the 170th anniversary of Percy French's birth.

Culture Night at The Dock

Beginnings

Youth exhibition launch
Jury Room Café, 6pm

Get ready to be amazed by Beginnings showcasing the creative talents of young animators at The Dock! This fantastic display features animations crafted during a lively workshop at Staisiún Óige Ballinamore. Guided by artist Fergal Brennan, a spirited group of 10-14 year olds from the local community came together to bring their stories to life. Their hard work, creativity, and collaboration have resulted in a collection of animations that are as captivating as they are unique. Let's support these budding artists and celebrate their incredible achievements together.

A Record of Tenderness & CREATION

Guided exhibition tour
Dock Galleries 6.30pm

Drop in for a guided tour of our current exhibitions led by Mary Conlon, Director at The Dock. A Record of Tenderness by Richard Malone is a powerful exploration of labour and class through sculpture, performance, film and a site-specific mural at The Dock. CREATION by Deborah Kelly unfurls across generations, identities, artforms and places, and changes with each iteration, acquiring songs, congregants, iconography, poems, recipes, rules. Both artists celebrate the queer imagination.

How Can One Not Love You 2.0

Iconic short films from Ukraine
Performance Space, 7pm

How Can One Not Love You 2.0 is a selection of iconic short films about Kyiv. It includes the renowned Kyiv Frescoes by Serghiy Paradzhanov, the stunning road movie It's a Date by Nadia Parfan, the touching love story Teatralna Station by Alina Panasenko, the atmospheric Dovecotes of Kyiv by Mykhailo Volkov, the existential animation Come Outside, Masha by Yuliia Shalimova, and the impressionistic work Dedicated to the Youth of the World II by Roman Khimei and Yarema Malaschuk. The total running is 59 minutes with English subtitles.

 Culture night at Leitrim Design House

Elaine Quinlan – Exhibition Launch, 4-7pm

The Leitrim Design House is delighted to showcase a new exhibition Elaine Quinlan, an Irish artist living and working in rural Galway. She paints in her studio in an area known for its marshy lowlands, rocky limestone fields and turloughs. These turloughs or vanishing lakes are the inspiration for her work, which lies somewhere between abstraction and representation. Pools, reflections, straggly grasses and mossy lichens are regular motifs in her paintings. Working in either oils or acrylics, she builds up layers of paint with lots of glazing and delicate mark-making to create colourful, ethereal paintings on wood panels and canvas. Living close to the Burren has also inspired her to create smaller works exploring a more graphic style - little snapshots of the colours and shapes she sees in the landscape there.

Drop-in Workshop Scarf Puppets with Rose Minnema, 4-7pm

Rose Minnema is a puppet builder and facilitates workshops to create puppets and manipulating them. Puppetry is a beautiful medium to express oneself and explore themes such as biodiversity, racial diversity and one's identity in a safe and playful way. Respect, compassion, joy and a sense of wonder about life are key elements in my work and I like to transmit that during the workshops by stimulating participants to get actively involved and use their imagination. During this drop-in workshop in The Leitrim Design House Rose will make a selection of medium size scarf puppets. Participants will first assemble the puppets and afterwards there will be a possibility the play with them. This will give the participants a great opportunity to see something of the process of making puppets and get a sense of manipulating them. All ages are welcome to join this exciting interactive workshop.

Going Global – A Global Citizenship Education Workshop

Are you a Local Citizen interested in Global Issues?

Leitrim Volunteer Centre & Comhlámh are hosting an afternoon workshop exploring Global Citizenship Education as part of Culture Night 2024. You must register to secure a space. (Spaces are limited, the workshop is free.) Contact kieron@volunteerleitrim. Meeting Point - Breffni Resource Centre; 4pm - 6pm. Through our Global Citizenship Education practice, Comhlámh strives to create space for open inquiry, exploration of the complex, interdependent and unequal world of which we are part, and the envisaging of a more just and sustainable future for all.

An evening with Charlie McGettigan and Friends

Entertainer, songwriter and musician Charlie McGettigan is joined by some special friends for what will undoubtedly be a very special and intimate evening at Drumshanbo Library. Joining Charlie is Eamonn and Orla Daly, whom Charlie has known for more than fifty years; Longford multi-instrumentalist and sound engineer Paul Gurney; and storyteller Phillip Nolan from Knockcroghery who played ‘Jamesy’ in Pat Collins recent film “That they may face the rising sun’ which is based on John McGahern’s great novel of the same name.

Music and Words with Brian Leyden and Dave Lawless

Join us in Mohill library at 7pm for Culture Night where we will be treated to a wonderful night of music and words by Brian Leyden and Dave Lawless. Brian Leyden is a novelist, short story writer, memoirist, essayist, playwright, and editor. He co-writer the feature film, Black Ice, currently on Netflix. His new novel is Love These Days, which The Irish Examiner says ‘grabs the reader’s attention from the very first page and holds it to the end.’  Dave Lawless is a Sligo based musician playing Gaelic harp, which has a resonant, clear, bell-like sound. His set for Culture Night will include music by Turlough O' Carolan, Cornelius Lyons, The Connellan Brothers, and others.

Rakes of Music

Join a host of musicians in Ballinamore Library for Culture night as they launch “Rakes of Music” – an online archive of Leitrim’s traditional music, song, dance, cultural and social history which has been curated by traditional singer, Fionnuala Maxwell and supported by Leitrim County Council and Creative Ireland. You will be treated to music, song and a few steps from local artists, Lorraine and Noel Sweeney, Brian Mostyn, Conor Ward, Ailíse Maxwell, Kate O’ Reilly and Tara Kelly. Fionnuala will also give people a little insight into the collection which takes a look at our county’s social, political, sporting and cultural history through its music. This collection will then be live and will allow online access to information about various aspects of our traditions through video footage, recordings, pictures and articles... so you’ll get to enjoy the “rakes of music” we have in Leitrim no matter where you are in the world. The event is free, there will be some light refreshments, plenty of music and a welcome for all.

Film and Fiction @ The Island Theatre Ballinamore

An eight ‘till late event at the new Island Theatre in Ballinamore presented by the Ballinamore Writers Group. The evening will begin with Ballinamore Writer’s introducing extracts from their work on local piseógs and sayings and inviting conversations around these in Ireland and other cultures. There will be lots of tea, coffee and cake. Following this there will be a screening of ‘That they may face the Rising Sun’ a film based on a story by local author, John McGahern and set locally. “The way I see it is that all of the ol’ guff about being Irish is a kind of nonsense” John McGahern

Kneecap - Open Air Screening

A Glens Centre/Adaptation Film Festival presentation. When fate brings a Belfast teacher into the orbit of self-confessed 'low life scum', the needle drops on a hip-hop act like no other. Rapping in their native Irish, they lead a movement to save their mother tongue. Kneecap are joined on screen by standout actors of their generation Michael Fassbender and Simone Kirby. Winner of the Sundance Film Festival’s Audience Award this fiction film loosely adapted from the real-life experience of the Belfast Gaeilgoir Rap sensation of the same name, Kneecap – the film - further widens the offering of Irish language cinema which has seen such a rapid growth in some short years.

Culture Night at Leitrim Sculpture Centre

On Culture Night 2024, Leitrim Sculpture Centre will bring together exhibitions, technical demo’s, open studios; the Chluinin co-op shop and local food in an evening that celebrates some of the diverse art forms practised across the County and the North West. Exhibition: Artist in Residence Katheryn Maguire will present To the Mountain in the gallery on New Line from 5 – 9pm. To the Mountain is Maguire's first solo show, which explores how the mapping of Mountains was developed in Ireland to ascertain the 'underground potential' of geological material value and to facilitate taxation. The mapping was done by triangulation and by creating a series of primary triangles. Sightings were taken between stations using theodolites. This, and the artist's question, 'Do Mountains commune with us?' has inspired the fabrication of the exhibition including text, sculpture, video and installation works which continues until Saturday, Sept. 21st 4 pm.  Technical demonstrations with public participation include Stone motifs & letter-cutting by Dominic Keogh of memento-mori; Ceramic form and glaze work by Herbie McCann; Metal casting by Kate Oram; Printmaking by Liz Byrne & Phoebe Dick and a variety of woodworking techniques for musical instruments and furniture by David Spence. Open studios include Caoimhe Guckian; Baibre Kennedy, John Byrne and international artist-in-residence Jude Griebel from the USA (all of the above at LSC factory New Line between 6pm – 8pm when local food and refreshments will be served). In addition, the Cluainín Community Co-operative Shop on Main Street will highlight the work of over 50 practitioners in the North West from 5-9pm, all work is for sale and at the factory on New Line between 6 – 8pm

Meithel Meán Fómhair!

Welcome one, welcome all! We invite all those in our community and beyond to The Organic Centre this Culture Night for a friendly gathering where we are hosting an evening of culturally themed events based on the significance of our natural world, so please come and join us for an array of complimentary happenings, beginning with self-guided wanderings throughout our gardens and tunnels whilst the light remains, followed by local singer and guitarist Mike McAlister whose music will be inspired by his surrounds and the natural world has to offer. Fiona Wheeldon-Former NPWS ranger-will involve attendees in various crafting endeavours to the tune of the dynamic duo of Tony Cuckson & Barbara Smith who will weave stories, music and tales of the wonders of our landscape, followed by a gentle eco art session with artist Sarah Ellen Lundy to finish up proceedings. With locally made nibbles being available free to participants throughout the evening and dancing thoroughly encouraged! All ages welcome to what should be a well-rounded event to feed body and soul through cultural and creative activities suitable to all abilities, and will impart the importance of the centres work in this context as a cultural hub where local and new communities are at the heart of all efforts now and to come.

Please note this is a walk-in programme between 6-9pm with food and materials available on a first come basis so come early & stay for the evening!