"Keegan is measured and merciless as she dissects the silent acquiescence of a 1980s Irish town in the Church's cruel treatment of unmarried mothers - and the cost of one man's moral courage."
So said the Booker Prize judges when shortlisting Claire Keegan's wonderful novel 'Small Things Like These' for this year's prize.
We are honoured to have Claire at this year's Allingham Festival. Though publication of her works are rare events, four in 23 years, each one is a gem. One cannot think of any other writer who can manage the feat of creating a completely imagined, structured and sustained world with the brevity we find in her books. The real life situations she writes about are wonderfully evocative and the reader is captured from the beginning. We are in for a fascinating afternoon.
Sunday 6th November @ 3.15pm €10
We're looking forward to meetig Ian McElhinney, best known for his roles in Derry Girls (Granda Joe), Game of Thrones (Ser Barristan Selmy), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (General Dondonna), not to mention Superman's great great grandfather in Krypton.
With over 140 films, television shows and stage performances to his credit, Ian McElhinney was also nominated for Best Director for Stones in His Pockets, a play written by his wife, Marie Jones.
McElhinney will share highlights of his career in an interview at the 2022 Festival on Saturday 5 November.
The interviewer's chair will be taken by Sinéad Crowley, Arts and Media Correspondent with RTE News, who is also the author of The Belladonna Maze, One Bad Turn and other novels.
There has already been a lot of interest in this and booking is now open.
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!
"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.