See photos as return of Craic in the Granite festival rocks Aughrim crowds
The festival reached fever pitch on Saturday, with a full day of events being held at the Aughrim Pavilion, where gold panning, a sensory tent, and some explosive science experiments were part of the children's entertainment.
Musicians such as Settle the Scór and Dogpond played to much fanfare from the audience, while a dramatic Irish mythology performance from CandleLit Tales had Aughrim enraptured.
Following two days of good weather and great attendance, with some visitors coming from as far as Drogheda, festival director Barry Reid and musical director Tristan McCall brought this years festival – which seems set to become a mainstay of the Wicklow summer calendar – to a close, thanking attendees and reminding them: 'Same time, same place next year!'.
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Irish Examiner
an hour ago
- Irish Examiner
Immrám: A film about wild hurling and the fascinating life of Diarmuid Lyng
Former Wexford hurling captain Diarmuid Lyng and his partner - spoken word artist Siobhán de Paor - are the subjects of a new documentary that debuts at next week's Galway Film Fleadh. Immrám is one of dozens of Irish and international films that will screen at the Fleadh. The film, co-directed by Cork-based filmmaker Michael Holly and Mieke Vanmechelen, focuses on the couple, who are involved in a movement that aims to reclaim indigenous Irish identity, customs, religion, and language. Following the teachings of philosopher John Moriarty, who they reference through the film, they run retreats featuring cultural skills, sweat lodges and 'wild hurling'. For Holly and Vanmechelen, Immrám marked a natural next step following their previous film Hungry Hill, which focused on the lives of a community of sheep farmers on Beara. 'We decided that we would try to make this documentary by not doing too many interviews,' says Holly. 'Instead, we would focus on using sounds and images and observation to tell the story. When we did Hungry Hill, we thought we had a unique way of doing film. We thought we'd like to try it again on a totally different subject. We were also interested in making a film that had some components of the Irish language and an unusual form of culture that we might come across.' The former Wexford hurling star and his family would become the subjects of the film, says Holly. 'I came across Diarmuid through a podcast, and I emailed him speculatively, about maybe doing a film, and he phoned me within half an hour, and that's where it started.' Cork filmmaker Mick Holly. The documentary follows Lyng, de Paor and their family and circle of friends as they embark on a ten-day pilgrimage across the south of Ireland. It meets them at their home in Co Kilkenny, at gatherings and rituals, as they share insights into their beliefs. The filmmaking duo got to know the couple well as they filmed over 28 hours of footage. For Holly, who also teaches documentary filmmaking at Queen's University in Belfast, the documentary offered the possibilities of filmmaking in a unique style. 'I teach documentary making, and I do some research about it, and this is all very central to the type of films that I'm interested in, the research that I do. It's not that I don't like the way other documentaries are made - everybody has their own way of doing it. But what I'm really interested in is how you can use film to give a sensory experience, as opposed to telling a story or explaining something. 'What we're aiming to do is give people who are watching almost the feeling of being there, or some kind of sensory experience of being there, rather than explaining what's happening." Holly says this approach creates a number of challenges. 'One of them is that audiences when they hear you're making a documentary, they might expect that there would be a lot of explanation and a lot of interviews. The other challenge is that things don't always happen as you might expect them to, and you have to be ready for that as well.' Siobhán de Paor in a scene from Immrám. Among Lyng and de Paor's interests as they explore identity and custom is 'wild hurling', which the former player embraces. 'He was very interested in the origins of hurling, and the mythical background of it,' says Holly. 'He still plays club hurling, he's still involved in that world. But I think he kind of feels like hurling has lost a lot of its original intention. 'When he organises wild hurling, anybody can play, people of all ages, and women and men playing together, and the rules are simplified. That's the way he sees it - as a way of forming community, rather than something that's very competitive. He really loves hurling, he's really got a serious passion for it, but he kind of sees that it can be more. It can be a cultural movement that involves nature and Irishness.' Originally from Kerry, Holly has made his home in Barryroe in West Cork for the last decade. He moved into filmmaking after originally working as a photographer. 'I studied photography at Dun Laoghaire college in my 20s, and went on to become a commercial photographer. I lived in Canada for a number of years doing that. When I came back to Ireland in 2012, I started a master's degree. I did a PHD at the film department at UCC with Laura Rascaroli (Professor in Film and Screen Media at University College Cork).' For his doctorate, he spent three years filming at Clonakilty GAA Club, also in a very observational style. 'My PhD was interested in using contemporary art and film together. But as time went on, it really became more about film.' Immrám screens at Galway Film Fleadh on Saturday, July 12. See Magnificent seven to see at Galway Film Fleadh With 31 World Premieres, 11 International Premieres and 46 Irish Premieres, Galway Film Fleadh takes place from July 8-13. Christy: Filmed on location in Knocknaheeny and Cork's city centre, director Brendan Canty's drama makes its Irish debut following strong buzz at Berlin Film Festival. It centres around a teenage boy at a crossroads who moves in with his estranged older brother and his young family. The film's local cast includes members of Cork's Kabin Studio, Alison Oliver and Chris Walley. Christy is set in Knocknaheeney in Cork. The Negotiator: Directed by journalist and filmmaker Trevor Birney - who previously worked as a producer on Kneecap - The Negotiator tells the story of Senator George J Mitchell while exploring the art of political negotiation and achieving lasting peace. The film is a portrait of a peacemaker and goes beyond that, according to the filmmakers, describing it as 'a meditation on patience, compromise, and hope in a world still torn by division'. Trad: Written and directed by Lance Daly, who previously brought the Famine-set thriller Black '47 to our screens, Trad tells of a gifted fiddle player and her brother as they go on the road with a troupe of musicians in search of music and adventure. The cast includes Sarah Greene, Peter Coonan and Aidan Gillen and features new talents, Megan NicFhionnghaile and Cathal Coade Palmer. BP Fallon: Rock 'n' Roll Wizard: Alan Leonard's documentary will have its world premiere at Galway and centres on the broadcaster and music advocate who helped shape the soundtrack of generations. It tracks the life and times of Fallon and his work with acts like The Beatles, T Rex and U2. BP Fallon. Báite: Eleanor O'Brien, Moe Dunford and Denis Conway star in this Irish-language feature set in 1975. Directed by Ruán Magan, it follows the story of a body found in the receding waters of a lake and of 23-year-old Peggy Casey, who runs the local pub, and for whom nothing will be the same again. Sunphlowers: Anne McCrudden, Patrick Bergin and Jerry Fish star in a drama that revolves around the story of Catherine, a woman who embarks on a journey of self-discovery following a huge change in her life. Written and directed by Dave Byrne, the film has its world premiere at Galway. Dragonfly: Andrew Riseborough and Brenda Blethyn star in UK filmmaker Paul Andrew Williams' drama. It focuses on two neighbours who strike up an unlikely friendship, not always to the approval of others around them. Seeing the lack of care that her elderly neighbour is receiving, Colleen decides to lend the older woman a hand.
The Irish Sun
an hour ago
- The Irish Sun
Dejon's sister begs him to leave ‘controlling' Meg and couple up with Love Island bombshell Billykiss
DEJON'S sister has begged her brother to leave 'controlling' Meg and couple up with brand new bombshell Billykiss. She warned that she will 'stop watching the show' altogether if he doesn't end up with the Irish beauty. 6 Dejon's sister has begged her brother to leave 'controlling' Meg and couple up with brand new bombshell Billykiss Credit: TikTok/saint._nw 6 She warned that she will 'stop watching the show' altogether if he doesn't end up with the Irish beauty Credit: TikTok/saint._nw 6 Sparks flew between influencer Billykiss and personal trainer Dejon Credit: Eroteme Sparks flew between But, back in the villa Now, Dejon's sister Saint is having her say on the situation, taking to TikTok she revealed how she really feels about Meg and her brother's relationship. She said: 'I love my brother and I'll support whatever decision he wants to make on Love Island but if he fumbles the bag with Billykiss. Read More on Love Island "If he fumbles the bag with her, I'm going to have to stop watching the show. Im going to have to stop watching it. 'I support him in whatever decision he makes, but I'll be so upset. "Everyone pray that he chooses Billykiss." Last night's episode saw Most read in Love Island After gathering around the firepit new bomshells The boys were then told to stand up if they'd like to recouple with Billykiss. Two dumped Love Islanders revealed as villa stars break down in tears over shock exit The girls then had to stand up if they'd like to recouple with new bombshell Ryan, but none of the girls stood up. Now newly single, this left Alima and new bombshell Ryan dumped from the show. Meg has been recently been called out by ITV viewers for her After her brother's decision Saint made a follow up post, captioning video: 'Welp are prayers were not answered (sad emoji)' She added: 'Clearly him and Meg have a good connection in the villa and he really likes her and she likes him and I'm happy for him. "Like I said, whatever decision he makes I'm going to root for him, I'm here for him, I love him and I support him, I'll welcome Meg into the family.' 6 Meg has been recently been called out by ITV viewers for her 'controlling behaviour' towards Dejon Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 6 Fans were shocked that Dejon did not stand up to couple up with Billykiss but instead chose to stay with Meg Credit: Eroteme 6 Saint made a follow up post after the re-coupling captioning video, 'Welp are prayers were not answered (sad emoji)' Credit: Eroteme
RTÉ News
an hour ago
- RTÉ News
Mary Lavin, J.D. Salinger and her path to The New Yorker's pages
We present an extract from Gratefully & Affectionately: Mary Lavin & The New Yorker, the new book by Gráinne Hurley. Between 1958 and 1976, the Irish American writer Mary Lavin had sixteen stories published in The New Yorker, after J. D. Salinger introduced her to the magazine. It was a prolific time for Lavin, helped in no small part by her close working relationship with her chief editor there, Rachel MacKenzie. Gráinne Hurley's debut, draws extensively from Lavin and MacKenzie's letters, offers a fascinating insight into the lives of two brilliant 20th-century literary women. When The New Yorker first made overtures to Mary Lavin in November of 1957, she was a 45-year-old widow tasked with the sole responsibility of raising her three young daughters (the youngest of whom was aged four), caring for her elderly mother and managing the family farm in Bective, County Meath. At this stage, Lavin was an internationally established writer, with six volumes of short stories, two novels and a children's book under her belt, but she had only resumed writing the previous year, following her husband's untimely death in May 1954. Lavin's creative hiatus was not due to writer's block but because, as she later explained to The New Yorker, she 'didn't think life itself worth living'. Her Atlantic editor, Edward 'Ted' Weeks, visited Lavin two weeks before her husband, William Walsh, died and witnessed first-hand the devastating effect his illness had upon her. He was doubtful 'that she would have either the time or the energy to write after her husband's death. Certainly, she did not have either now, but the difficulty ran deeper than that. She had lost faith in her ability to write.' As the family's breadwinner, Lavin relied heavily on writing for her livelihood. There was some income from the farm but the bills were beginning to rack up. In the spring of 1956 she had written to her literary mentor, the Anglo-Irish writer Lord Dunsany, about lecturing opportunities in England but he recommended that Lavin consider reading in the US instead as it was more profitable and would be a better fit for her. Dunsany gave Lavin the address for his lecture agents in New York and let her know that Curtis Brown in London could put her in touch with lecture agents in London. That summer Lavin consulted her friend Eudora Welty, the celebrated American writer from Jackson, Mississippi, about the possibility of giving readings in America. Welty advised Lavin to contact Elizabeth Bowen ('you know how she esteems you') about potential opportunities, given that she had embarked on a series of lucrative literary lectures and readings in universities and colleges across the United States. She also thought that Jean Stafford and the Anglo-Irish writer and critic James Stern would be able to give her good advice and she offered to write to the Poetry Center in New York. Lavin was a great admirer of Bowen's work and Bowen was very pleased to have finally made Lavin's acquaintance and grateful to Welty for opening up the lines of communication between them. Bowen informed Lavin that the National Concert and Artists Corporation in New York managed her readings in the US and she had 'no doubt, knowing how your work is admired "over there", that you would have an enthusiastic reception'. Bowen suggested that Lavin contact the firm directly or get Edward Weeks, Eudora Welty, Jean Stafford or James Stern to do so on her behalf. She sympathised with Lavin on the death of William, having lost her own husband, Alan, four years earlier. Bowen invited Lavin to meet her for lunch upstairs in Jammet's, the famous Dublin restaurant, on 13 September: 'I could then tell you far more about America, besides the pleasure of seeing you and being able to talk.' The two women evidently met on this occasion because on 10 October Welty wrote to see how their meeting went and expressed how much she wished she could have been present also. Lavin also reached out to the American novelist and New Yorker contributor Nancy Wilson Ross, who likewise advised her to get in touch with Stern. She raised the possibility of Lavin reading, à la Dylan Thomas, at the Poetry Center where John Malcolm Brinnin was the director. Welty duly contacted the National Concert and Artists Corporation for Lavin but the agency was non-committal about the prospect of taking on Lavin on as a client because it felt that she was not very well known in the US, having had only one book published there. In fact, the Boston publisher Little, Brown and Company had published two collections of Lavin's short stories: Tales from Bective Bridge in 1942, which won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1943, and At Sallygap and Other Stories in 1947. It also reprinted her first novel, The House in Clewe Street, in 1945, which had been serialised in The Atlantic Monthly under the title 'Gabriel Galloway', and published her second novel, Mary O'Grady, in 1950. In 1957 Lavin began corresponding with the renowned American writer J. D. Salinger, best known for his 1951 literary classic The Catcher in the Rye, about potential American markets and publishing opportunities. Salinger and Lavin had never met but they had mutual friends in Eudora Welty, Jean Stafford and the theatre director and playwright John Beary, who likely initiated their communication. Although Salinger revealed to Lavin that he only faintly knew Welty, he passed word to her through friends they had in common that he and Lavin were now acquainted. Lavin was on much more familiar terms with Welty. The two women greatly admired each other's work over the years and they finally met on Welty's first trip to Ireland in 1950, while she was extending her Guggenheim-funded tour of Europe. Welty visited Lavin at her farm and the pair became lifelong friends, sending each other copies of their latest publications. Stafford was also a fan of Lavin's writing and in a letter expressed a desire to meet her on a planned visit to Dublin 'because I admire your work enormously'. She subsequently stayed with Lavin and William in Meath in 1949. Incidentally, Salinger had also been hoping to visit Ireland, but he explained to Lavin that it was no longer possible due to illness in his wife's family and also because he had returned to work that he had begun a few years earlier. Salinger sympathised with Lavin on the precariousness of a literary career and her financial situation and encouraged her to contact The New Yorker, with which he had strong ties, because it paid well. Welty and Stafford were among the many female authors, including Maeve Brennan, Mavis Gallant, Elizabeth Hardwick and Dorothy Parker, who were contributing fiction to The New Yorker at this time. Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of The Catcher in the Rye, made his debut appearance in Salinger's first New Yorker short story, 'Slight Rebellion off Madison', published on 21 December 1946. However, in 1951 The New Yorker had declined to publish an extract from the novel because 'the precocity of the four Caulfield children was not believable, and that the writing was showoffy – that it seemed designed to display the author's cleverness rather than to present the story'. The rejection did not colour Salinger's opinion of the magazine and he continued to submit stories and encouraged Lavin to do likewise. Lavin subscribed to The New Yorker and Salinger was grateful for her praise of his recent story 'Zooey', which featured in its 4 May 1957 issue.
