David Rooney Event - Sat. Nov. 4th

DATE: Saturday Nov. 4th

VENUE: Abbey Arts Centre, Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal

Highlight of the Festival Friday Night will be an appearance by freelance illustrator/ animator and musician David Rooney. David has amassed over thirty years experience as a freelance illustrator. His concept driven scraperboard technique has won numerous awards over the years. As a contributor to The Irish Times and Hotpress his editorial work reflected the tumultuous changes in Irish society.
Work in the last decade has focused mainly on cultural projects - one hundred illustrations for the five part BBC series ‘The Story of Ireland’ was followed by The Titanic Experience Belfast, King John’s Castle Limerick, Lindisfarne Gospels Exhibition Durham, the Stonehenge Interpretative Centre and Edinburgh Castle.

The ‘1916 - Portraits and Lives’ book, published by the Royal Irish Academy, received an IDI Design Award and the 40 original portraits were acquired by the State and exhibited in Kilmainham Gaol in 2016 as part of the 1916 Centenary Celebrations. The portraits subsequently toured the world as prints from Berlin to Buenos Aires before finally reaching Nelson Mandela’s old prison on Robben Island, Cape Town.

More recently he has created album covers and animated video work for Christy Moore and post-rock band God Is An Astronaut. Along with the ‘Ice Men’ series of stamps for An Post and a Bram Stoker’s Dracula coin for The Central Bank he has designed high end whiskey labels for brands like Midleton and Jameson.

The recording of David’s debut album ‘Bound Together’, with Declan O’Rourke as co-producer, took place in 2016. Together with jazz drummer Conor Guilfoyle, he put together some of the finest musicians in the country. 2021 saw the release of a new music project under the name Echotal produced by Torsten Kinsella (God Is An Astronaut) and featuring a host of music and film collaborators. The follow up Echotal EP is due in the autumn.

Opening for David will be Ballyshannon’s own Chanele McGuinness , an artist who understands the unique intrigue of darkness & isolation.

Instead of trying to fight the problems that may come along with living and working in a small coastal town in the northwest of Ireland, she has taken these challenges & used them to her advantage, further leaning into the dark & lonely subjects of her songs. The juxtaposition of sweet vocals paired with miniature ghost stories keeps the listener locked into McGuinness’ performances. Her music floats from the eerie storytelling side of Andy Shauf to the dulcet tones of Julia Jacklin. However, Chanele carves her own pocket in the singer-songwriter genre with her pure, haunting vocals & ominous song subjects alone.

Chanele has toured with songwriters Natalie Prass & Matthew E. White, playing sold out shows across Europe and the U.K. Her voice has been featured in various television advertisements including Galaxy Duet, Erste Bank and Pampers.

Booking is now open for this unique event on Friday November 4. If you are not one of the lucky holders of a Bird on the Wire ticket (or even if you are) don’t miss this one!

ARE WE ALL MAD?

"Well you may ask!", you may say, but this year we are delighted to welcome Dr Tony Bates to ask this precise question in the context of the increasing medicalisation of our everyday lives.

The phrase, ‘We all have mental health’ is widely used in the media, in government policies, and mental health charities and schools. Intended to reduce stigma, we are encouraged to talk about our ‘mental health issues’ openly. Intended to break down barriers between the minority who are deemed to be ‘mentally ill’ and the rest of us who are ‘normal’, this is generally regarded as a good thing. But it has had some unintended consequences.

It has become a blanket term for ‘feelings’, including loneliness, self-doubt, sadness, anxiety, and frustration. Whereas before these were accepted as an inevitable part of being human, there is a growing tendency to see these experiences as indicative of something ‘wrong’ with a person. From being people who struggle in different but important ways throughout our lives, we are now encouraged to consider that we may have a diagnosable psychiatric condition.

Young people are turning to social media that diagnose their struggles as ‘mental health’ problems. Dr Bates’ talk will explore why we insist on translating our emotional highs and lows into the language of ‘mental health’ and what happens when we increasingly medicalise our everyday lives.

The Allingham Lecture takes place in the Abbey Arts Centre, Ballyshannon, on Thursday 2nd November @ 8pm

It is a free event but please book to avoid disappointment.

Literary Ladies of the NW

A Dark Daughter Production

Written and produced by Maura Logue

Walk with the Ghosts of Ballyshannon's Literary Past.

Take a stroll, on a Visual & listening Heritage & Literary Experience

Your host is William Allingham the Poet.

Meet at St Anne's Hall and spend a while, listening to the ghosts of

Literary Ladies of the Northwest

SAT 5TH NOV @ 12 NOON 40 mins show

Admission FREE (Donations accepted.)

Sold Out Already

We knew it would happen but don't worry, there are many other exciting Allingham tickets to be snapped up at the Abbey Arts Centre's Bookings page.

Good News - It's not too late!

All entries, on-line and postal, must be received by midnight on September 29th.

Full details on our Competitions Page.

Good luck to all writers!