FESTIVALS AND SUMMER SCHOOLS: Looking for ways to enjoy memorable days and nights this summer? Here's a selective guide to the numerous events that liven up the holiday months - everything from music and myth to poetry and a pig festival
When you're a teenager, you go to the Gaeltacht: music, culture, talk, craic. Unless, of course, you fall off your bike halfway through, split your head open and have to go home in ignominy, as I did.
When you get older, you go to summer schools and festivals: music, culture, talk, craic and - let's be honest - long nights at the bar.
Some festivals and summer schools have been going since Yer Man was a boy, others come and go like Dublin restaurants; some are wilfully obscure, and some are really quite bizarre. You have to admire the fertile imaginations of the three Cavan pig-farmers who cooked up the idea of a festival based solely on the premise of celebrating the curly-tailed creatures, resulting in the quite unique Ballyjamesduff International Pork Festival.
The term "festival" is self-explanatory; the best festivals will entertain, intrigue, inspire and infuriate the punter in equal doses. "Summer school" is a slightly old-fashioned term, however; one that often sells itself short.
Perhaps the word "school" stirs too many unwelcome memories. The truth is that many summer schools offer fine opportunities to learn more from experts in their field about the subjects that actually interest one, be those subjects scholarly, arts-based, political or plain esoteric. Part of the attraction also has to be that you're in the company of other like-minded people, often in wonderfully scenic and offbeat parts of the country.
And, since it is supposed to be summer, the sun has even been known to shine on Ireland's festivals and summer schools. Get on the road this year and happy hunting in your search for memorable days - and nights.
Festivals and summer schools
Féile na Bealtaine
Dingle Peninsula, various locations
May 1st-6th
066-9151082
www.feilenabealtaine.ie
Not to be confused with the various Bealtaine-flagged events around the country celebrating creativity by older people. This is Dingle's own local festival. An unhappily topical highlight this year will be a discussion about the Middle East, led by the Israeli ambassador, Mark Sofer, and the head of the general delegation of Palestine to Ireland, Ali Halim; a discussion which had been programmed months ago. Other events include: exhibitions by photographer John Minihan and artist Hammond Journeaux; readings by poets Kerry Hardie, and Cathal Ó Searcaigh; a morning of short films, including the charming Oscar- nominated Give Up Yer Aul Sins; and a lecture by IMMA curator Catherine Marshall.
Brehon Law Weekend
Ballyvaughan, Co Clare
May 3rd-6th
065-7077200
eleanor@burrencollege.com
Your brain cells will certainly be exercised during this programme of events, the theme of which is 'Identity and the Law: Nationalism in Europe'. Senior Counsel John Rogers debates 'Ireland and the Nice Treaty' with Tommie Gorman of RTÉ, Paul Gillespie of The Irish Times, and Roger Cole, chairman of the Peace and Neutrality Alliance. Also speaking are Justice Susan Denham, Supreme Court judge, and Conall O Caoimh of Comhlamh. Journalists galore - Eamonn McCann, Susan McKay and Fintan O'Toole - also participate, as does writer John O'Donoghue.
Strokestown International Poetry Festival
Strokestown, Co Roscommon
May 3rd-6th
078-33759
www.strokestownpoetryprize.com
This is one for readers and writers of poetry, in an festival whose profile is increasing yearly, partly thanks to its associated poetry competition with a remarkable €3,800 first prize. In addition to readings by all the shortlisted candidates, invited readers this year are Bernard O'Donoghue, Mary O'Malley, Pearse Hutchinson, Neil Astley, Máire Mhac an tSaoi, Brendan Kennelly and Vincent Woods.
Bealtaine Laois Festival of Literature
Portlaoise, Co Laois
May 15th-19th
0502-63355
Another festival with the Bealtaine moniker. This one celebrates writing, storytelling and music. Highlights include an imaginative 'Storytelling in the Hospitals' project, fronted by Nuala Hayes. There are also evenings of music and readings with, on one night, poets Cathal Ó Searcaigh and Medbh McGuckian followed by musicians Micheál Ó Suilleabháin and Mel Mercier; and the next, novelists John Banville and Deirdre Purcell followed by singer Eleanor McEvoy and Brian Connor.
Inishbofin Community Arts Festival
Inishbofin Island, Co Galway
May 16th-19th
095-45861
Arts festivals on islands have the advantage of unbeatable locations, and a captive audience. Traditional music features big in this year's programme, with concerts by Sean Tyrell, and band Andrew Murray, Desmond O'Halloran, and Liz Kane - and also by Sean Keane. There will be workshops on flute, whistle, accordion, and fiddle, and sean-nós. Closing event is American blues singer, Stan Hirsch.
Diversions
Temple Bar, Dublin
All summer, from 25th May
01-6772255
www.temple-bar.ie
For those of us stuck in the city over the summer, Temple Bar is offering a summer-long festival of free outdoor events to ease the pain. Let's hope the rain stays off for the Saturday night Movies in the Square: musicals are on offer this year, including Singing in the Rain, Moulin Rouge and The Wizard of Oz. New this year will be the Sunday night season of Irish Film Retrospective. In July, there'll be a screening of a film study by Turner Prize nominee and photographer Richard Billingham. The summer ends with a circus season, including a circus school-in-residence, workshops and performances.
Iniscealtra Festival of Arts
Mountshannon, Co Clare
May 25th - June 3rd
061-927290
www.mountshannon.com
Academic and writer Declan Kiberd will deliver the opening address. Events include traditional band Danu, with Breandán Ó Beaghaíoch, Gavin Ralston, Mary MacNamara; a reading by poet Michael Coady; a set-dancing workshop from Brooks Academy; and a jazz concert. Two exhibitions are on loan from the IMMA collection: a show by Tony O'Malley and a group show including artists Patrick Collins, Gwen O'Dowd, Eilis O'Connell and Patrick Ireland.
Listowel Writers' Week
Listowel, Co Kerry
May 29th - 2nd June
068-21074
www.writersweek.ie
A festival that can be as much miss as hit due to its somewhat tired format, although the associated writing workshops consistently gather praise. Among the readers this year are Canadian novelist Jane Urquhart, novelist Eoin McNamee and entrepreneur Bill Cullen, who recently wrote his memoirs. Phelim Donlon chairs a discussion on 'The lack of a cohesive touring policy for professional theatre'. On the panel are theatre directors Garry Hynes and John Breen; Arts Council drama adviser Enid Reid Whyte, and Liz Culloty, Belltable's manager. Among the workshop facilitators are: novelists James Ryan, Sean O'Reilly, Éilís Ní Dhuibhne; poet Michael Coady; and broadcaster John Quinn. Tonight With Vincent Browne broadcasts live from Listowel on May 30th.
Goldsmith Summer School
Abbeyshrule, Co Longford
May 31st-June 2nd
086-8294093
linesend@iol.ie
You have to wonder which of today's writers will get the compliment of having a summer school in their name. The longer dead you are, the better the chances, as with sainthood. The theme of this year's Goldsmith school is 'Oliver Goldsmith and 18th-century Perspectives on the Good Life'. Irish Times journalist Fintan O'Toole gives the keynote address.
Also speaking over the weekend is Eamonn Ó Ciardha of the University of Notre Dame, Illinois. Poets John Montague and Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin read. Traditional musician Tony MacMahon and poet Michael Davitt also perform together.
International Tope Festival
Rathmullan, Co Donegal
June 1st-2nd
074-58129
"Tope is the same as a blue shark except it's black," explains organiser Niall Doherty. This fishing festival for serious anglers has been going for 36 unbroken years. It's 100 per cent conservation sports fishing - every tope caught is tagged and returned.
It clashes with Ireland's first World Cup match, so a few tope might go untaggedthis year.
Éigse Carlow Arts Festival
Carlow town
June 13th-23rd
0503-40491
www.carlowartsfestival.ie
An arts festival with a special reputation for its visual arts programme. A new development this year is a Film Shorts programme, featuring work by young film-makers. Also new are a children's exhibition, and a craft exhibition in association with the Craft Council of Ireland.
Other highlights include an outdoor performance by Co-Opera of La Bohème; comedy with Further Ted and Deirdre O'Kane; a new play by Michael Harding, Talking Through His Hat; and the international street performance company, Pyromania. The visual arts programme features British painter Gillian Ayres, Irish sculptor Michael Quane, screen-painter Neil Canning, sculptor Don Cronin, and painters Barbara Freeman, Aidan McDermott and Samuel Walsh.
Dublin Writers' Festival
Dublin, various locations
June 13th-16th
01-8741415
www.dublinwritersfestival.com
Dublin's riposte to Galway's Cúirt is now in its fourth year. Among those reading are novelist Fay Weldon, Australian poet Les Murray, South African novelist Christopher Hope and US Pulitzer-winning poet Charles Simic, who will be reading in Ireland for the first time. There will also be a line-up of Irish writers, and a series of masterclasses.
Ballyjamesduff International Pork Festival
Streets of Ballyjamesduff, Co Cavan
June 14th-16th
049-8544219
www.ballyjamesduffporkfestival.net
Ireland at its most surreal. Now in its ninth year, the festival was started by three pig farmers in an effort to change the image of Cavan's main industry. A historically-themed parade from the county museum, music on the streets, a roast pig barbecue, and the highlight - five pig races through the main street. "They're small trained pigs, the races are short, and the pigs know there's food for them at the end," explains co-organiser Susan Willis. And yes, there's a Pig Bookie to take your bets.
James Joyce Centre Bloomsday Festival
Dublin city
June 16th
01-8788547
www.jamesjoyce.ie
Could be argued that this one is strictly for the tourists, diehard Joyce fans and those who like wearing absurd costumes. Readings and re-enactments from the book many still admit not having read at locations around the city. Highlights include the 8 a.m. Guinness Bloomsday Breakfast at the James Joyce Centre, complete with organ innards; the temporary transformation of the Liffey boardwalk into an Edwardian fair for the day; and the recreation of the Viceregal Procession from Ulysses with the carriage borrowed from the Lord Mayor.
Cathal Buí Festival
Belcoo, Co Fermanagh and Blacklion,
Co Cavan
June 27th-July 1st
048-90660293
cathalbui@hotmail.com
New Age comes to the lakelands and drumlins. Highlights of this year's festival include a 5 a.m. poetry reading around a bonfire, followed by breakfast and violin music; an astronomy class; print-making and Japanese book-binding. There is also an ambitious-sounding Irish language performance of Brian Friel's Translations, with a simultaneous translation into English. Irish Times columinst John Waters speaks on 'The media and the Public Interest: What Public? Whose Interest?', a topic about which he has had first-hand experience recently.
McGlinchey Summer School
Clonmany, Inishowen, Co Donegal
July 5th-7th
077-76484
This year, the theme of the school is 'Borders, Boundaries, and Divisions'. Seamus Heaney will give the opening lecture, entitled 'Who Owned that Half a Rood?' Other speakers include: Eunan O'Halpin of TCD on British black propoganda and Ireland during the second World War; historian Richard Doherty on Inishowen in the 1940s; and Myrtle Hill of QUB on women in 20th-century Ireland.
Bard Summer School
July 7th-12th
Clare Island, Co Mayo
01-4904879
www.bard.ie
This summer school wins the best-location prize; Clare Island is an unspoilt and beautiful place, where the boat docks at a pier abutting an idyllic sandy beach that pirate queen Grace O'Malley may well once have gone swimming from. Aimed chiefly at visitors to Ireland, the Bard summer school explores various Irish myths through workshops, lectures and poetry. This year, it explores the theme of exile and return, focusing on the Children of Lir. Among the speakers are folklorist Dáithí Ó hÓgáin of UCD, archaeologist
Michael Gibbons and philosopher John Moriarty.
ESB Lough Ree Environmental Summer School and Arts Festival
Locations in Co Longford
July 7th-14th
0430-27070
www.lough-ree.com
Now in its third year, the event was established as a way of focusing attention on the protection of the environment by way of using
a hands-on approach. This year's venues are the bogs, islands and Royal Canal surrounding Lanesborough. Included in the programme are walks, bird-ringing, a bat walk and island cruises with broadcaster Dick Warner.
Earagail Arts Festival
Various locations throughout Co Donegal
July 8th-21st
074-29186
www.donegalculture.com
The attraction of Earagail as a festival is the fact that there is no one fixed venue: the events criss-cross the county's towns and far-flung villages, and sometimes even take place aboard boats on the Atlantic itself. Highlights this year are Berlin's Macnas-type Floez company; Africian musician Mory Kante, who plays the kora (a harp/lute-like instrument) and his 15-piece band; and an exhibition at the Glebe Gallery in Churchill, which will feature both pre-Columbian artefacts and 20th-century modern art, including work by Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, and Anthony Carroll.
Galway Film Fleadh
Galway city
July 9th-14th
091-751655
www.galwayfilmfleadh.com
In recent years, the international profile of this fleadh has been going up, and it also signals the start of Galway's festival season. The programme is still not available, but an eclectic mix of some 60 Irish-made, European and international films are promised. Also screened will be the competitive programmes of New Irish Shorts, New Irish Animation and New Irish Documentary.
Galway Arts Festival
Galway city
July 15th-28th
091-509700
www.galwayartsfestival.ie
Ireland's biggest arts festival celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. Publication of the programme is always a news event in itself, and it'll be announced on May 28th. New Irish and international theatre and dance, street spectacles, music, children's events and visual arts are all promised.
Gerard Manley Hopkins International Summer School
Monasterevin, Co Kildare
July 19th-26th
045-433613
www.gerardmanleyhopkins.org
The school begins with a classical concert in Moore Abbey. Exhibitions include work by Alice Hanratty, Rossano Maniscalchi and the magnificently-monikered Wilhelm Fockersperger. There will be visiting writers from over 30 countries, including Afghanistan, Greece, Poland, Slovenia, India, Japan, Lithuania, Korea, Russia and Croatia.
Boyle Arts Festival
Boyle, Co Roscommon
July 26th-August 2nd
079-63085
www.boylearts.com
The visual arts element this year focuses on Northern Irish artists. Other participants include writer John McGahern; pianist and composer John Gibson; US pianist James Nalley; and the National Chamber Choir, performing Purcell, Mendelssohn and Brahms.
Yeats International Summer School
July 27th-10th August
Sligo town
071-42693
www.yeats-sligo.com
Going strong for 43 years now, this is the one that people studying literature attend as students, then return to as lecturers; a school that is a rite of passage for academics as well as ordinary punters. Its endurance is a testimony to the remarkable breadth of the Yeats canon. The opening address will be given by Prof Roy Foster, biographer of Yeats. Lecturers include Bernard O'Donoghue, Geraldine Higgins, Selina Guinness and Robert Welch - who will deliver a paper with the arresting title, 'Yeats's Serious Stuff: Sex and the Dead'.
Patrick MacGill Summer School and Arts Week
Glenties, Co Donegal
July 28th-August 2nd
075-51103
The summer school set up in memory of the Glenties writer is 22 years old. There is now also an arts week (programme to be announced) running in parallel with the school. The school's theme this year is 'Ireland and Europe 1972-2002: Where do we Go from Here?' Speakers from social, economic and political organisations will analyse our EU membership and the implications of a second Nice referendum. The second John Hume Lecture will be delivered by Pat Cox MEP.
John Hewitt International Summer School
Carnlough, Co Antrim
July 29th-2nd August
048-90793008
pomuiri@aol.com
Holding a cultural event in Northern Ireland in July in recent years has not been easy, but the Hewitt has endured, since its purpose is the discussion and exchange of ideas across the communities. Politicians often drop in on an ad-hoc basis. This year, the school looks at the 'Outsider' in Irish society. Those taking part include critic Mark Patrick Hederman, speaking on the artist's role in society; Seosamh Mac Donnacha of NUI Galway on the Gaeltacht regions; former loyalist Andy Tighe; and novelists Bernard MacLaverty, Antonia Logue, Carlo Gebler and Nuala O'Faoláin.
Caherciveen Celtic Festival
Caherciveen, Co Kerry
August 2nd-5th
066-9472973
The focus here is on exploring the history and archaeology of the area. There will be an archaeological walk for up to 200 people, as well as hill and coastal walks; lectures on local history; and Celtic music and dance.
Kilkenny Arts Festival
Kilkenny City
August 9th-18th
056-52175
www.kilkennyarts.ie
Among the highlights in Kilkenny this year are: the 35-piece Prague Chamber Orchestra, performing Mozart, Janacek and Dvorak; a group show by prominent Irish artists, including Sean Scully, Brian Maguire and Felim Egan; readings by novelists Joyce Carol Oates and John McGahern; and the world première of Alan Gilsenan's adaptation for stage of novelist John Banville's The Book of Evidence.
European Cultural Week
Ennis and other Co Clare locations
August 11th-18th
065-6825084
thshanahan@eircom.net
Although this event has been going for some years now, this is the first time it will be held in Ireland. Some 230 dancers and musicians from Lithuania, Latvia, Sardinia, Romania, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria and France will showcase their national cultures in towns and villages across Co Clare. The week opens and closes with concerts in Ennis.
Merriman Summer School
Ennistymon, Co Clare
August 17th-24th
087-9324725
www.merriman.ie
'Exiles and Strangers; Immigrants to and from Ireland' is the theme of this year's school - a subject in the news for all the wrong reasons. Among the speakers are Donnacha Ó Conaill of UCG; Pat Wallace, director of the National Museum; writer Proinsias Mac Aonghusa; and Piaras Mac Éinrí of Bradford's Irish Centre for Migration Studies.
Desmond Greaves Summer School
Beggars Bush Barracks, Dublin
August 23rd-25th
087-2308330
The EU is a popular topic at summer schools this year, turning up here again at the Greaves. Speakers include novelist Ronan Bennett and artist Robert Ballagh, both addressing the topic of art and politics; former trade union official Sean Redmond on the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Movement; and writer Don Mullan, on the Dublin/Monaghan bombings.
History/Archaeology and Irish Language courses
Áras Éanna, Inis Oírr, Co Galway
Selected dates in July and August
099-75150
araseanna@eircom.net
The Aran Island featured in the opening sequence of Father Ted is the location for Irish course on levels from Ni thuigim to advanced. There are also bilingual courses on the history and archaeology of the three Aran Islands.
Oideas Gael, cultural activity courses
Glencolumbkille, Co Donegal
Various weeks throughout the summer
073-30248
www.oideas-gael.com
Held in a bilingual form, these well- established one-week courses for adults at sea-swept Glencolumbkille offer archaeology, hillwalking, Donegal dancing, tapestry weaving, flute, whistle and bodhrán playing, pottery and environmental studies. Also offered are refresher and advanced Irish-language classes.
