‘I brought hip-hop to my west Cork church – it's where I first felt I belonged'
After feeling he was 'in limbo' for years, rapper and therapist Raphael Olympio (30) now helps other young, vulnerable people find their own voice
My rap career began in the churches of Togher in west Cork, where I first found my community.
When my family moved to Ireland from Togo in west Africa, I was five and I didn't speak a word of English. It was really important to my mum that I integrate, so in our house, we stopped speaking our mother tongue, Ewe, and French.
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Irish Examiner
3 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Street spectacle, theatre, music... 10 highlights of Cork Midsummer Festival
1. Les Girafes: An Animal Operetta Outside Dunnes Stores, Patrick's Street, June 22 at 2pm and 9pm French street theatre company Compagnie OFF will show off their towering red giraffes during a parade through Cork city, accompanied by performers and musicians. The parade will blend circus arts, opera, and street theatre into a display of colour and sound. 2. The Second Woman Cork Opera House, June 14 to June 15 Eileen Walsh stars in The Second Woman, a film that features 100 different men opposite Walsh over 24 hours, as she repeatedly performs a scene about a relationship that has lost its creativity and romance. 3. Helios by Luke Jerram St. Fin Barre's Cathedral, June 9 to June 21 from 9am to 5pm Light and sound combine to create an immersive opportunity as Helios invites people to explore the sun up close through a new artwork by UK artist Luke Jerram. Each centimetre of the six-metre sculpture represents 2,300km of the real Sun's surface. 4. Caught In The Furze Cork Centre for Architectural Education, June 14 and 15 and June 17 to June 21 from 12pm to 5pm Caught in the Furze is a seven-day performance within an immersive installation of furze (gorse) bushes. The performance sees Coogan navigate the spaces between history and memory, myth and modernity by drawing on ancient folk traditions. 5. Cork Girl!, Camille O'Sullivan The Everyman, June 21 at 8.30pm On the evening of the summer solstice, Camille O'Sullivan presents a brand-new show which celebrates her hometown and its music through a mix of favourite songs and new gems. 6. Escaped Alone The Everyman, June 12 to June 14 at 8pm Directed by Annabelle Comyn, this new work from Hatch Theatre Company and The Everyman, in association with Once Off Productions, satirises contemporary capitalist culture and celebrates the voices of aging women. 7. Stitch J. Nolan Stationary, Shandon Street, June 13 to June 15 and June 18 to June 22 at 5pm and 9pm (9pm and midnight on June 14) Set on Shandon Street in 1989, Stitch digs deep into a world where the past lingers and the walls whisper. Described as sinister and unsettling, audiences are warned that this play is not for the faint of heart. 8. Burnout Paradise, by Pony Cam Dance Firkin Crane, June 19 at 8pm, June 20 at 9pm and June 21 at 4pm Known for their bold, high-energy performances, Pony Cam is set to bring an exhilarating and chaotic performance that exposes a system that demands more than we can give through pushes bodies, minds, and spirits to their limits. 9. Theatre for One: Made In Cork Emmet Place, June 14, 15, 17 and 22 The Theatre for One booth returns to Emmet Place as part of Cork Midsummer Festival, with a special instalment of five-minute plays performed by one actor for one audience member at a time. Pieces by Cónal Creedan, Katie Holly, John McCarthy, Michael John McCarthy, Gina Moxley and Louise O'Neill. 10. Songs and Souls by Deirdre Kinahan and Steve Wickham The Pav, June 14 at 2.30pm A celebration of music and storytelling, Songs and Souls features voices from the plays of Deirdre Kinahan and live music from fiddler Steve Wickham, bringing Kinahan's funny and fragile characters to life.
Irish Examiner
3 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Dance nights and beach days: Tony's photos provide a glimpse of Kerry in the 1950s and '60s
All of life's carnival is on display in a collection of photographs recently acquired by the Kerry Writers' Museum. Tony Fitzmaurice passed away in 2019 aged 87. Little did the wider world – including some close relatives – know of the archive he built up over half a century taking photos of his homeplace, Ballybunion, and the people of north Kerry. His photos from the 1950s in particular evoke the world of the Brooklyn film starring Saoirse Ronan, a time when cigarette-smoking was de rigueur. Kathy Reynolds, neé Kathy Fitzmaurice, left Ballybunion as a 13-year-old in the 1960s, emigrating to London. Her father was Fitzmaurice's guardian. She is a photographer, as is her English husband. They called to Fitzmaurice's house shortly after his death. Fitzmaurice's widow, Madeline, had asked them to do something with the photos and negatives that were stored in her late husband's office at the back of the house and in their loft. While rooting around, they stumbled upon Fitzmaurice's calling card, 'Tony's Photo Service: Kerry's Youngest and Best Ballroom Photographer'. As a child, Reynolds remembered her surrogate uncle's darkroom, effectively an 'oversized cupboard' at the bottom of the kitchen, but she had no appreciation of the photos he took. 'I had this vague impression he used to do photography, but I didn't realise he did ballroom photography,' says Reynolds. 'It's clear he did it to fund his photographic hobby. It was kind of a weekend thing.' Reynolds adds: 'My interest is in landscape photography. I talked to Tony umpteen times about landscape photography, about different films, different cameras, different lenses to produce particular types of shot. So when I got his archive, the first thing I said to Madeline was, 'I'm really looking forward to going through this because you'll have some fabulous landscape shots of Ireland.' And she looked at me and said, 'Why Kathy? He took people.' ' Jack Savage pictured in 1960. Picture by Tony Fitzmaurice, courtesy of Kerry Writers' Museum Fitzmaurice live out his life in Ballybunion. 'It was his inspiration, his subject, in that he took photos of its people throughout that time. The only place he stood for hours waiting for a sunset was on Ballybunion Castle Green. It was the first thing that surprised me – the fact he didn't do a lot of landscape photography, as he was in the most wonderful place. 'One of the early photographs I found was of a sunset in Ballybunion. It was taken in October 1968. It wasn't printed – it was a Kodak colour slide. "I've been in touch with archives in Ireland, like the John Hinde archive, and they haven't got anything like it. It's probably my favourite photograph because it's the castle of my childhood, what I remember as a child. If you go back there now, most of the top of the castle – what you might call the chimney part – is gone. So that's my childhood in Ballybunion.' Fitzmaurice was born in 1932. He spent his working life as a civil servant with the Kerry County Council, while moonlighting as a photographer. He got his first camera in 1953 as a gift for his 21st birthday, initially taking photos of family and friends, of young people in their late teens and early twenties, in their homes, and on the strand in Ballybunion, learning and developing his craft. His first recorded photograph dates back to 1954. 'The first commercial work he did was the annual Teacher's Dress Dance in Listowel in 1956,' says Reynolds. 'It was a big social event. Once we began digitising those photos, we realised they were amazing, that there was really good photographs of people. "People were dressed up to the nines in their evening wear, which tells us so much about the fashion, the social mores at that time. The fashion of the ladies was incredible. A lot of their dresses were handmade. After the war, cloth wouldn't have been that easy to get. 'I came across things like 1960 Confirmation Day in Ballybunion. That was amazing because it was the character of the kids that shone through. They were dressed up for their day. There are ones from a Wren Boys competition in Listowel. Most of them are around the dance hall, but those dances are very much community-based like The Pioneers' Social. That one is wonderful because there isn't a drink in sight. It's tea and cake, everybody sitting there. It's those moments captured that are important.' A couple at a dance. Picture by Tony Fitzmaurice, courtesy of Kerry Writers' Museum Reynolds and her husband spent 'three winters' digitising their haul. Then began the great search to put names on faces. They started posting Fitzmaurice's photos on a webpage. They reached out to the public through a variety of channels, including north Kerry Facebook pages and through a friend, Noelle Hegarty, a retired postmistress in Lisselton, who recognised people and connected Reynolds with others who could name those photographed. Last year, Reynolds's project kicked on a gear when she approached the Kerry Writers' Museum in Listowel, who agreed to archive and help restore the collection she has gifted to them. The Heritage Council has already invested €100,000 over two years in the restoration work. This includes the job of cataloguing more than 26,000 photos in a searchable database, and making them freely available to the public. In mid-May, there was a showcase event at the collection's new home, in which a 10x8-feet montage of 70 photos were put on display in the museum. The idea was to start a conversation with the community around north Kerry. There are plans for a book, and an exhibition based on the book, which is being led by the curator Ciarán Walsh. Mary Walsh (right) and an unnamed woman looking happy in one of Fitzmaurice's pictures. Picture by Tony Fitzmaurice, courtesy of Kerry Writers' Museum 'Kathy Reynolds liked the idea of the collection going into a small museum in north Kerry where it would not be monetised, but would be made publicly available to everyone,' says Walsh. 'She saw it was like handing it back to the community from whence it came. I suppose if you were to ask me one word that defines this collection it's 'community'. 'What stands out is how Tony had total access to the community of Ballybunion. The result is an extraordinary intimacy of portrayal. Take the girl in a floral dress where she's lying beside a couple wrapped around one another in the sand dunes. "Another photograph – and take that this is around 1954 – there's a family on the beach and the mother is sunbathing in her bra. It's that complete absence of difference between the photographer and the people he's photographing. There are no inhibitions, no walls. 'There's a photo we used on a poster of two girls lying on the grass. From a woman's perspective, the 1950s in Ireland were pretty grim. Here you have two young women full of life. It's so positive. It's a close-up. He must have been only about two or three feet from their faces. There's this wonderful intimacy about that photograph, but it's also the joy that comes through.' The Tony Fitzmaurice Collection is housed at Kerry Writers' Museum, Listowel, Co Kerry. See: and Other images from the Tony Fitzmaurice collection Men sip their tea a dance in Ardee. Pictures by Tony Fitzmaurice, courtesy of Kerry Writers' Museum A couple kiss in the dunes. A group of young people at a dance. A happy-looking couple at a dance. Three Kerry women, including one who is almost finished eating her apple. A woman shades children on the beach. A woman and man at a dance in Asdee in 1957.
The Journal
6 hours ago
- The Journal
How a group of Dublin students bagged a Booker-winning author's new work for their magazine
IN THE AUTUMN of 2023, a number of first-year English students at Trinity College Dublin met at Caffè Nero on Dawson Street after an early morning lecture. None of them had known each other before starting college, and as the semester progressed, they settled into the routine of meeting up and getting to know one another. The idea was thrown around that they should establish a joint creative pursuit, with a podcast, a zine, and a magazine all touted as potential options. Dublin's literary scene has flourished in recent years, with a growing number of literary journals being produced within the city. Publications such as The Dublin Review and The Stinging Fly, both established in the late 1990s and early 2000s, have led the way. Last night, the six students – Conor Ennis, Charlotte McCulloch, Priya Evans, Aisling McGorrian, Eoin Farrelly, and Elena Stack Martin – now heading into their third year, launched Issue 1 of their magazine, Hearth. All six contributed work to the magazine, which is composed of a collection of short stories, essays, poetry, and artwork. The crown jewel of the magazine was a new short story contributed by none other than the Booker Prize-winning author John Banville. John Banville speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the Prado Museum in Madrid, October 2024. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo Banville said his short story, The Hanged Man, was inspired by his favourite photograph of the Czech novelist Franz Kafka. Banville was awarded the Franz Kafka Prize in 2011. In the photograph, Kafka is 'with a barmaid, Hansi Szokoll, whom he had a brief passion for, and about whom he spoke disparagingly', Banville has explained. Advertisement 'She is usually cropped from the photo, and perhaps this is why I wrote the piece, to give Hansi a voice, however small.' Speaking to The Journal , Hearth's Aisling McGorrian said that Banville had seen their first issue, which was launched on a much smaller scale in March. One member of the team had sent him a copy. 'He got in touch with us and said that he was really impressed with everything,' she said, adding that the team thought it would be amazing if he could write something for the magazine. Priya Evans approached Banville and asked if he would submit something to the magazine. 'He went through some stuff he'd written previously – he said he was just clearing out some bits and pieces -and came across The Hanged Man. He sent us an early version of it to see what we thought, then worked on it and gave it a refresh, and then gave The Hanged Man to us officially for first time publication.' One hundred copies have been printed of the new issue of the magazine, which is a pursuit independent of Trinity College. These are still available to purchase from the magazine's Instagram . The magazine is entirely self-funded alongside donations , but the hope is that as the magazine continues to grow, it will develop into something self-sustaining. Despite the magazine's roots in Trinity, the editorial team are keen to expand beyond the university. Their next issue is open for submissions until 11 July. Contributor Anthony Adewuyi with a copy of Hearth Issue 1. Elena Stack Martin Elena Stack Martin 'It very much started like a passion project,' McGorrian said. 'We never imagined we'd have John Banville contributing to us. 'It's a real work of love and friendship, more than anything, which we try keep at the centre of it – especially since so much of our current writing community is Trinity-based, and they're our peers, people in our classes, and it's really important to us that they get to feel the friendship that started the magazine when they interact with us.' Hearth Magazine is available to view digitally here . Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
