Saturday 9 August
2pm-4pm
Free, drop-in.
B⃣ o⃣ d⃣ y⃣ W⃣ o⃣ r⃣ k⃣
𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓶𝓾𝓼𝓲𝓬𝓲𝓪𝓷𝓼 𝓢𝓲𝓷é𝓪𝓭 𝓚𝓮𝓷𝓷𝓮𝓭𝔂, 𝓒𝓪𝓽𝓻𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓪 𝓚𝓮𝓷𝓷𝓮𝓭𝔂 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓔𝓵𝓵𝓲𝓮 𝓜𝓬𝓖𝓲𝓷𝓵𝓮𝔂
As part of tour de force pit stops across Ireland, the Renault 4 heads to Glencolmcille Folk Village and parks at the centre of the cottages where musician and visual artist Sinéad Kennedy, musician and educator, Catriona Kennedy and musician, singer and archivist Ellie McGinley gather for a recital recorded on reel to reel. By recording the music on retrograde equipment, a speculative fictions forms, reimagining and reconsidering decisive historical moments in the music tradition of the valley. Through fiction we move closer to overlooked truths and forgotten histories. With reference to poems by Moya Cannon and advice from folklorist and fiddle player Rónan Galvin, we look at what it means to etch a living art form onto a permanent archive.
Amongst objects of local, historical and sentimental significance, three of the most beautiful fiddlers you’ve ever heard, remember the ebbing and flowing, winding and bending, double-stopping and trilling tunes associated with the gentle place that is Glencolmcille.
The boys walked home,
taking turns to carry the gramophone
and three records.
We don’t now how many cartloads of turf
the shopkeeper took out of the bog
or for how many summers
or what the boy’s father,
a fiddler in a valley of fiddlers, said
or who got the better part of the bargain,
only that they had dry turf in Carrick that winter
and that new music was played in the valley.
Extract from The Barter
for Ronan Galvin
By Moya Cannon
The Glencolmcille Folk Village Museum was the initiative of a dynamic Donegal priest, called Father James McDyer. It opened in 1967 with three cottages, built and furnished in just three months through local community effort. At the time of Father McDyer’s arrival in 1951 the parish of Glencolmcille was suffering from a long-standing cycle of unemployment and emigration. Over the next three decades Father McDyer worked to help break this cycle, lobbying for amenities, organising community projects and supporting the development of local industries, many of which, like the Folk Village, are still successful today. New cottages and exhibits have been added over the years, and the Folk Village Museum is still very much a community concern. Local people regularly donate time, expertise, artefacts, stories and photographs.
This event takes place at Glencolmcille Folk Village thanks to the support of Director, Margaret Cunningham, a highly regarded musician, singer and weaver in her own right.
tour de force Co. Donegal pit stop in partnership with Glencolmcille Folk Village.