Rathfriland literary festival celebrates Brontës' County Down link
The first literary festival to take place in Rathfriland will this weekend celebrate the Brontë family's connection to the area.Rath Literary Festival will feature authors, poets and music in celebration of the area's contributions to the arts, both past and present.The famous sisters' father was a clergyman in nearby Drumballyroney before moving to Yorkshire.Organiser Ada Elliot told BBC News NI he had been "perhaps been overlooked" in the telling of the Brontë family story.
'Rathfriland is a spectacular area'
Patrick Brontë was born Patrick Brunty in County Down in March 1777 - St Patrick's Day - explaining his first name - and changed his surname when he moved to England. Three of his children - Charlotte, Emily and Anne - became authors, with Charlotte writing Jane Eyre and Emily writing Wuthering Heights - both gothic romances set in the north of England, with strong psychological components. Anne Brontë wrote The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, which explores themes of social duty and the place of women in the Victorian world."Although the girls are not part of Rathfriland he (Patrick) has a long history here," festival organiser Ada Elliott told BBC Radio Ulster's Your Place and Mine programme."Rathfriland is a spectacular area. We're very proud of it and that's why we want to celebrate it."
Historians through the years have speculated on whether Patrick Brontë's Irish roots might have influenced his daughter's writing, and even whether they might have had Irish accents.County Down celebrates those links. A signposted Brontë interpretive trail runs for 10 miles from an interpretive centre around Rathfriland and its surrounds, allowing visitors to drive through the area and imagine how the windswept Mournes might have influenced the father of girls whose writing was mystical, passionate and wild.But local historian Uel Wright believes more could be done."If you come here you cannot fail to see Brontë signs everywhere," he told BBC News NI. "Roads, homeland, library, nursery, steakhouse - all Brontë."
Despite the wave of enthusiasm that led to those celebrations in the 1990s, the stone cottage where Patrick Brontë was born lies in ruins. Mr Wright hopes public money can be used to restore it and celebrate the link."My theory is that unless there's another generation of interest and enthusiasm to keep the Irish Brontë heritage alive, we're going to lose something very important."
Mr Wright's great-great-uncle William Wright wrote a book on the Brontës in Ireland.Mr Wright believes those stories were based in oral history, in which his ancestor had a great interest, and he will examine them at a talk on Sunday in the schoolhouse where Patrick Brontë taught. "The whole Irish part of the story has gone out of fashion but with the upsurge of interest in oral history let's say - this is what we have in Ireland," he says."Let's celebrate it."Later on Sunday author Martina Devlin, who has written a novel based on Charlotte Brontë's honeymoon in County Offaly, will speak in the original church where he preached before leaving Ireland in 1802.
The Rath Literary Festival started on Friday and runs until Sunday. It has been organised by the Rathfriland Women's Institute, Rathfriland Regeneration and Hilltown Community Association and will feature music and a one-woman show imagining the sisters in the modern day, by Pauline Vallance.Poets will read poems inspired by 19th Century women caught up in the criminal justice and mental health systems, and a walking tour will tell the stories of famous Rathfriland residents down the years. The festival was the brainchild of Margot Groves, who said: "We are delighted to be bringing such a wealth of talent to Rathfriland. There is something for everyone to enjoy no matter which genre they prefer."
And did the Brontë sisters have Irish accents?"It wouldn't be surprising," says Uel Wright."Patrick never made great pretensions with his accent."I don't suppose we'll ever really know but it wouldn't be beyond the realms of possibility."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BreakingNews.ie
an hour ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Jonathan Bailey says Wicked sequel is ‘darker' and will ‘go there politically'
Actor Jonathan Bailey has said the Wicked sequel is 'darker' and is 'going to go there politically as well'. The Bridgerton star, 37, plays Prince Fiyero in the films, also starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, which are adapted from the musical of the same name. Advertisement 'Being slightly off the M1 in Munchkinland, with Ari singing a beautiful mezzo soprano, and then seeing cars pulling up on the hard shoulder trying to record it, and then seeing men in the sky, (which) turned out to be microlights and drones, it was like Independence Day,' he told British GQ. View this post on Instagram A post shared by British GQ (@britishgq) He added: 'I remember having four hours to learn how to do a dance move. I did it with Ari, headbutted her, and was like, 'Gotta go!'. 'I think she might have even headbutted me, but it was a meeting of minds, literally.' Wicked's next instalment will arrive in cinemas in Ireland and the UK from November 21st and will cover the years after Elphaba, played by Erivo, parted ways with her friend Glinda (Grande). Advertisement Wicked: For Good will also show Elphaba being demonised by those in Oz, and transformed into The Wicked Witch Of The West. The films have been adapted from the musical, which was based on Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel – which was in turn inspired by the story first told in L Frank Baum's 1900 children's novel, later adapted into the 1939 film starring Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale. Bailey said: 'It's darker, and I've got a sense it's going to go there politically as well. 'Fiyero's arc really kicks off and he literally is transformed by the end.' Advertisement Other stars of Wicked include Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, and US actor Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard. View this post on Instagram A post shared by British GQ (@britishgq) Both Bailey and Goldblum are part of the Jurassic Park franchise. Goldblum played Dr Ian Malcolm in the original 1993 adventure/sci-fi while Bailey stars as Dr Henry Loomis in Jurassic World: Rebirth, which is yet to be released. 'We'll see how it goes, but there might be a few films down the line where me and him can appear in Jurassic together,' Bailey said. Advertisement He added: 'Dr Ian Malcolm and Dr Henry Loomis on a night out.' Bailey stars on the cover of the summer Heroes issue of British GQ and will be speaking at the GQ Heroes conference, taking place at Soho Farmhouse, Oxfordshire from July 2nd to 4th. The Heroes Issue of British GQ is available via digital download and on newsstands on June 10th.
Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Telegraph
Michelin restaurant guide ‘racist and Eurocentric'
The Michelin restaurant guide is racist, Eurocentric and elitist, academics are claiming. The famous guide, first published by the French tyre company in 1900, now covers more than 30 countries and has racked up sales of more than 30 million copies. Its rating system of stars – one star for high quality cooking, two for excellence, and the celebrated three stars for exceptional cuisine – are coveted by restaurateurs across the world. Many cooks regard it as the ultimate honour and starred chefs, such as Gordon Ramsay and Heston Blumenthal, have often become celebrities in their own right. In the most recent version of the Great Britain and Ireland guide, which contains 1,147 restaurants, 220 are starred, including the first Greek restaurant to be awarded one, an AngloThai eatery and a Korean restaurant. Two West African restaurants in London's Fitzrovia were awarded stars in 2024. But despite some variety within the guides, critics argue that Michelin's approach is generally 'parochial' and that it ignores 'huge swathes of the world'. These omissions may be down to racism, suggests Tulasi Srinivas, a professor of anthropology, religion and transnational studies at Emerson College, in Boston. 'There is no Michelin Guide in India, one of the world's greatest and oldest cuisines, or in Africa with its multiplicity of cultural flavours. Perhaps a side of racism with the boeuf bourguignon?' she wrote in a blog on the website The Conversation. Instead of promoting restaurants in other parts of the world, she criticises the 'inherently elitist' guide for celebrating 'obscure' European gastronomic processes such as 'fire cooking' in Stockholm and 'molecular gastronomy' in Spain. 'Despite a movement to decolonise food by rethinking colonial legacies of power and extractive ways of eating, Michelin has derived its stellar reputation primarily from reviewing metropolitan European cuisine,' she said. Michelin Guide expansion into new regions is often funded by local tourism boards or governments, with Thailand, for example, paying more than £3 million for the guide to rank restaurants in Bangkok. The professor said this arrangement amounts to a 'shakedown' - stars in return for cash. Other academics describe the Michelin Guide as the 'gatekeeper' of fine dining, focusing on white, Eurocentric restaurants and controlling the styles of cuisine that are worth paying a premium for. Zeena Feldman, a professor of digital culture at King's College London, compared food influencers' reviews on social media to the Michelin Guide and concluded that the former gave a voice to 'under-represented cuisines' from different parts of the world. 'Culturally and economically, Instagram food criticism is a lot more inclusive than Michelin,' she said in a separate blog on The Conversation website. But supporters of the guide hit back. Chris Watson, a former Michelin Guide inspector who runs an HR consultancy, dismissed claims of racism and said there will always be an element of exclusivity to dining guides that rate restaurants. 'Michelin has introduced a 'Bib Gourmand' award representing value for money experiences in dining, and there are currently over 3,200 of these across Michelin Guides globally,' he said. 'It also introduced the green star, in 2020, to celebrate restaurants which utilise 100 per cent local ingredients - so far from elitist. And there are a multitude of Indian restaurants across the globe which have been awarded the star accolades. Hardly, racist.' A Michelin Guide spokeswoman said: 'The Michelin Guide evaluates all cuisines according to five universal criteria, without quotas or Eurocentric favouritism. Its expansion beyond Europe has led it to be present today in more than 60 destinations worldwide, from Mexico to Thailand, via Brazil and Turkey. 'The Guide celebrates the richness and diversity of culinary cultures by highlighting more than 200 styles of cuisine, the result of rigorous inspections carried out by inspectors from over 30 nationalities. 'Trésind Studio, the first Indian restaurant in Dubai awarded three Michelin stars, El Califa de León, a Michelin-starred Taquería in Mexico, the famous hawker centres of Singapore, and the kebab shops of Istanbul are all examples that perfectly illustrate this ambition: to celebrate universal culinary excellence, without borders. 'This diversity is also reflected in the wide range of price points among Michelin-selected restaurants. For example, some starred establishments in France offer three-course menus for less than 40 euros (£34), while some starred restaurants in Asia serve dishes for under 10 dollars (£7.40).'
The Sun
3 hours ago
- The Sun
Jockey Jake Coen rushed to hospital and racing delayed after parade ring incident
'NASTY' FALL He was said to be moving and talking JOCKEY Jake Coen has been rushed to hospital after a terrifying parade ring incident. Racing at Punchestown was delayed while the jumps jockey was attended to. A post from IHRB Stewards on X confirmed a delay while a message posted on Irish Racing's page read: "Delay to the first race at Punchestown as Jake Coen is receiving medical attention following his fall from Arch Empire in the chute leaving the parade ring." Racing TV presenter Kevin O'Ryan said: "Jake is moving everything and he is talking and fully conscious, which he has been from the word go. "He has been taken to Tallaght Hospital as a precautionary measure. "But he is fully conscious and moving everything after that nasty incident." The incident came before the second race at Irish track Punchestown on Epsom Derby day. . Remember to gamble responsibly A responsible gambler is someone who:
