Latest news with #Connemara
Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Times
Look out London and Paris, there's a new fashion week in town
Tweed, tech and a touch of trad — Paul Costelloe is set to headline the first Ireland Fashion Week, describing the event as a 'historic moment'. Not to be confused with Dublin Independent Fashion Week which returns for its third year from September 22, Ireland Fashion Week will run from October 6 to 10 in venues in Dublin, Connemara and the midlands. It will feature three flagship shows, two spotlight events and three mixed showcases, highlighting graduate and professional designers. Costelloe, Sinead Keary, Aoife McNamara and Rashhiiid by Rachel Maguire are among the 54 Irish designers who will be taking part, while Thalia Heffernan will model some of their designs. Costelloe, who turned 80 last month, reported retained earnings of €2 million to the end of August last year through his company Paul Costelloe Design Management. Commenting on his involvement in Ireland Fashion Week, he told The Sunday Times: 'It is a historic moment when Irish fashion steps out of the shadows to be acclaimed and considered. It shouldn't compare itself to Paris or London fashion weeks but base itself on its own culture and creativity.' The event is an initiative by Ashley McDonnell, a Galway-born digital leader in luxury and tech who is the managing director of Puig, a Spanish fashion and beauty business with subsidiaries such as Jean Paul Gaultier, Nina Ricci and Charlotte Tilbury. McDonnell, who lives in Dublin and Paris, said she had a long wish list of designers and models that she wanted to be involved. Thankfully this is now reality. She has also invited Sidney Toledano, a former chief executive of Christian Dior Couture, as well as Jonathan William (JW) Anderson. 'In terms of designers, we also have Bold Golf, a brand that I only discovered during the application process and I'm so impressed by what they have built in a year and a half,' she said. 'For our mixed show, which is under the theme of 'Irish roots', we have ten designers that will do four looks each and are going to tell the story of Ireland through fashion. 'That one is going to be something that blows everyone away because we've got designers who basically graduated in the last year, all the way to Magee which was founded in 1866. We'll also have a couple of models coming over from Paris and London and we'll be able to give their names pretty soon.' McDonnell, 31, said the aim of Ireland Fashion Week was to build a robust, domestic fashion industry that had 'financial accountability and could be self-sustained'. She said: 'One thing I feel that we have struggled with in Ireland is building an actual robust industry where everyone involved is able to be financially independent and where we can pay all the other creatives that need to be involved in a successful fashion business. So that's what the idea behind all of this is. 'The beauty of Ireland Fashion Week is that it's the first one, so we're able to set the standards really high. It was never my dream to create a fashion week but ultimately I want to build the future luxury group of Ireland platform brands and help them go international. I felt that without a really strong platform at home for brands to build that foundation, brands would be limited.' McDonnell said Ireland Fashion Week would focus on authenticity, with Irish themes built into each show. 'Somebody asked me how will it be unique, how will someone look at an image or video from the week and know that it's Ireland fashion,' she said. 'The beauty of Ireland is that I don't think we're going to struggle with that because we are really unique. We lean into our heritage with textiles, our environment and architecture. 'We are producing shows that will be running from themes of heritage and modern heritage to Irish roots, and Irish themes with sportswear and streetwear. I don't think anyone's going to have any issues in identifying Ireland Fashion Week and that that's an Irish designer.' McDonnell believes her event could eventually compete with the likes of London and Paris. 'This is a long-term investment — we have a tech fund of €7.5 million that will be distributed across all of those designers,' she said. 'We have a production budget of €1 million for our events and shows and we are subsidising 90 to 100 per cent of the cost of these fashion shows. 'We are doing this because we see it as a strategic investment to boost the whole creative ecosystem. I hope this will also speed us up in catching up with other countries and cities that have fashion weeks around the world.' Heffernan will host a model boot camp as part of the week, which will aim to find and nurture Irish talent. McDonnell said: 'This was the brainchild of Thalia. She came to me and said, 'I want to be a part of this in a more authentic and valuable way. I want to be able to help spot upcoming talent but also give people the tools they need to be able to succeed.' 'We're going to be hosting a casting day which Thalia will be a part of and then we're going to host the model boot camp where models are able to learn everything from how to walk on the runway, but also how to build their modelling careers.' McDonnell, who dreamt of a career in fashion from the age of 16, began working for Christian Dior in Paris when she was 23. 'Anyone who was with me in secondary school will probably say that they always knew I'd end up working in fashion,' she said. 'I heard about a show that was going to take place in London, showcasing illustrations from Christian Dior. I went to the exhibition and said to my mum, 'I'm going to work for Christian Dior in Paris.' She didn't say that's impossible and she didn't say it's possible either. 'I did my research and realised most people that worked in fashion at Christian Dior studied at HEC Paris [the business school]. It took me a few years but I eventually got there and sure enough, in my first week, we had a recruiter on campus from Christian Dior. Before I even graduated, I had a full-time offer to join the headquarters in Paris as a digital manager.'
Irish Times
4 days ago
- General
- Irish Times
Red Warning - Frank McNally on why Galway fishermen dread foxes
Saint MacDara, whose feast day and associated pilgrimage by Connemara fishermen featured elsewhere in these pages on Thursday, is a rare example of a holy man known only by his surname. This is because his first name was Sionnach, meaning 'fox'. And it has long been a superstition among fishing communities, not just in Ireland but as far away as Brittany, that any mention of foxes on a boat is sure to bring bad luck. Their belief was recorded by the antiquarian R.A.S. Macalister when, making the pilgrimage in July 1895, he pondered why the saint was so known: 'Sinach [as Macallister spelt it] was his proper name; but he is always called after his father, the meaning of that word (a fox) had anything to do with its non-application…we can only infer; anyhow the fact remains that this name was dropped, and the Saint was one of the first to have a surname, for reasons best known to those who applied it.' READ MORE Such was the strength of the superstition that anyone sighting or hearing of foxes while on the way to sea would turn back and abandon the day's fishing. But it wasn't just foxes, Macallister explained. Quoting John O'Donovan, of Ordnance Survey fame, he noted a range of four-legged animals equally dreaded by Galway fishermen: 'They cannot bear to hear the name of a fox, hare, or rabbit pronounced, and should they chance to see either (sic) of those animals living or dead, or hear the name of either expressed before setting out to fish…they would not venture out that day.' This being a big hurling weekend, I'm reminded of an immortal quip from the late Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh, covering a game between Tipperary and Galway in the 1990s: 'Pat Fox has it on his hurl and is motoring well here comes Joe Rabbitte hot on his tail...I've seen it all now, a Rabbitte chasing a Fox around Croke Park.' Well, witty as it was, that's another story you couldn't mention on a fishing boat off Galway, apparently. Down in Kerry, meanwhile, the prohibition extends to pigs. According to the blog sight or mention of anything porcine there was traditionally sufficient reason to give up fishing for the day. If a pig had to feature in conversation at sea, it was by euphemism, as 'the fellow with the curly tail'.' In similar vein, the fox was 'the bushy-tailed fellow' or 'the fellow with the pointed ears'. Even the foxy words 'red' or 'rua' were avoided in boats. Hence a Blasket Islander named Pádraig O Guithin, who was known as Pádraig Rua on land but became Peadaí deaghdhathach' ('brilliant-coloured Paddy') at sea. Getting back to Oileán Mhic Dara, the saint himself had an ominous reputation. In his report on this week's pilgrimage, Simon Carswell noted a tradition whereby boats passing the island dip their sails three times. Not to do so is (or at least used to be) an invitation to trouble. Macallister quotes a story from 1672, about 'a certain captain of the garrison of Galway' who, after passing the island without the usual ceremony 'was so tossed with sea and storme that he vowed he would never pass there again without paying his obeysance'. It was too late. Before the captain had a chance to revisit the island, he went down in a shipwreck. A few years after that, in the case of 'one Gill, a fisherman of Galway', vengeance was swifter and more direct. Refusing to strike his sail at the island, he went 'not a mile beyond' when, on an otherwise calm day, the mast was toppled by a sudden gale 'and struck him on the pate dead'. The comic novelist Mervyn Wall wrote about Oileán Mhic Dara for The Irish Times in 1968. He noted then that the superstition concerning four-legged animals extended to deer. This being so, it seemed a sinister coincidence that there was a 'Deer Island' close to MacDara's, something that had proved very bad luck once for a group of British soldiers. Wall heard from locals the story about how a fugitive named O'Donnell was arrested while disguised as a priest near the village of Carna, but bargained with his captors by claiming to have buried gold on Deer Island, for a planned escape to America. So the five soldiers rowed there with him but made the mistake of getting out of the boat first and throwing him a rope. Naturally, he cut the rope and floated away, throwing himself into the hold to avoid their gunshots. Back on the mainland, he then dissuaded locals from rescuing the troops, who by the time they were found had starved to death. It might have been just a story. But there was a place on Deer Island called the 'Mound of the Strangers'. And an old man in Roundstone told Wall that as a boy, circa 1910, he and friends had dug a little into the mound, finding there a well-preserved belt buckle with the initials for 'Highland Light Infantry'.
Irish Times
6 days ago
- Irish Times
‘Here comes everybody': Connemara fishermen lead seafaring pilgrimage to patron saint MacDara
People from all over Connemara and the rest of the world braved sea journeys to a small island off Co Galway for the annual Féile Mhic Dara gathering on Wednesday. About 85 boats, mostly traditional fishermen's wooden currachs, ferried some 500 people to Oileán Mhic Dara, St MacDara's Island, for the July 16th pilgrimage, when the patron saint of Connemara's fishermen is honoured. But no fishing was done. Local fisherman devoted their time, as they do on this day every year, bringing locals and others to the early Christian oratory that stands like a stone barnacle on this uninhabited rock for the traditional mass. 'People come back from every corner of the world. They come back for Christmas and for St MacDara's Day,' said Fr Shane Sullivan, the parish priest from nearby Carna and, like his new boss in the Vatican, a native of Chicago. READ MORE Tides and weather set the rhythms of fishing and life out here. A morning high tide and overcast but calm day allowed people to make the 11.45am mass. Fr Sullivan said people in Connemara feel a 'strong sense' of heritage, place and community. He described the 'rough and ready' tradition of travelling to the island by various seafaring crafts as an 'awesome chance' for everyone to gather. 'It's a bit like James Joyce said: here comes everybody,' he said. 'It is a great pilgrimage for the boatmen and for fishermen. Their work is very dangerous so they come here and they have a sense of wanting a blessing.' He ended the hillside mass – said over a wooden altar that could be broken up into three to fit on a currach – with a blessing for the men and their boats. Fr Shane Sullivan, parish priest from Carna, Co Galway, celebrates mass on St MacDara's Island for the festival. Photograph: Chris Maddaloni Fishermen first like to circle the island to honour the sixth century saint who fished, survived and built a wooden church on this windswept location. One fisherman, Johnny Cloherty of Muighinis, dipped his hand in the water passing the island on John Ó Flatharta's boat Golden Adventure to bless himself. 'It is a big day for the fishermen,' said Cloherty. Fisherman Johnny Cloherty journeys by boat to St MacDara's Island for Lá Fhéile Mhic Dara. Photograph: Chris Maddaloni/The Irish Times Locals say, in old days, fishermen dipped their foresail passing by in tribute to the saint. 'There is a story that one man didn't dip his sail on purpose,' said local fisherman MacDara Breathnach, who was named after a grandfather who was named after the saint. 'The mast broke and fell down on top of him and killed him dead in the boat. They are just stories. We would respect it.' Sitting on the island, well-known Connemara actor Páraic Breathnach, a pilgrim to the island for most years of his life, said people here still have a 'pre-Christian faith'. 'They believe in superstition and when are you dealing with the sea and the weather and the wind and the vagaries of the ocean you have to believe in something and MacDara is a great man to have on your side,' he said. For many, the day is a time to catch up, as generations mix over post-mass picnics and flasks of tea. Mairtín Barrett has been visiting the island for over 80 years. Photograph: Chris Maddaloni/The Irish Times Mairtín Barrett (92) said the day 'hasn't changed a lot really' in all his years. Margaret Mulkerrin (76), who returned from Boston, said her first MacDara's trip was 72 years ago: 'It was a very windy day. We were kind of afraid; there were nine in the boat.' It is a first visit to Ireland for her grandson, Michael Frazier Jr (12). 'It is a really fascinating experience to see something that has been here so long and is still standing,' he said, looking up at the oratory. This is Fr Sullivan's fourth MacDara's as the local priest. His father emigrated to Chicago from this parish in the 1970s. Shane returned in 2008 and was ordained in 2012. 'I really wanted to come here and be a priest – it felt like a calling,' said Fr Sullivan, who was motivated by 'how few young men were going forward to the priesthood'. Serving in a Gaeltacht meant learning Irish over three summers in Carraroe. His mass on the island was said in a strong American Irish. 'People get a laugh out of it because I still do sound like an American,' he said. 'Try to speak Irish with this accent – it's a bit strange.'
The Guardian
12-07-2025
- The Guardian
‘You don't get a second chance at a shot like this – horses wander off': Mike Wells's best phone picture
'Scrambling to catch this shot felt like 3D chess,' says photographer Mike Wells. 'My eyes were balancing Connemara's famous mountains, its wild ponies and the stone walls, while my mind computed the variables: the rush to catch the last rays of evening sun, that moment when a sea breeze lifts the ponies' manes, and whichever way they will amble next.' In 1981, Wells won the World Press Photo of the Year for an image shot in Uganda depicting a malnourished boy's hand resting in the palm of a Catholic priest. 'When I was working in the 1970s and 80s, unless you could afford a motor drive for your camera, you often got just one chance at the critical shot,' Wells says. 'You could never tell whether you really had captured the moment until you got back from Africa, or at least out of the darkroom. That image wasn't well lit or well composed, just grabbed in the moment as an Italian missionary priest showed me the hand of a starving boy, one of those they were trying to save by emptying their mission's grain stores.' Sign up to Inside Saturday The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. after newsletter promotion Wells adds that while he is 'older, slower' now, and doesn't often take photos, the familiar electric charge as the elements of an image seem to fall into place remains the same. 'You still don't get a second try at a shot like this: the sun will have set, or the horses wandered off, or both,' he says. 'The difference today is that you get your answer at once – it's wonderful not to have to wait days or weeks to find out if the moment was as special or important as your instinct insisted it was.'
The Guardian
12-07-2025
- The Guardian
‘You don't get a second chance at a shot like this – horses wander off': Mike Wells's best phone picture
'Scrambling to catch this shot felt like 3D chess,' says photographer Mike Wells. 'My eyes were balancing Connemara's famous mountains, its wild ponies and the stone walls, while my mind computed the variables: the rush to catch the last rays of evening sun, that moment when a sea breeze lifts the ponies' manes, and whichever way they will amble next.' In 1981, Wells won the World Press Photo of the Year for an image shot in Uganda depicting a malnourished boy's hand resting in the palm of a Catholic priest. 'When I was working in the 1970s and 80s, unless you could afford a motor drive for your camera, you often got just one chance at the critical shot,' Wells says. 'You could never tell whether you really had captured the moment until you got back from Africa, or at least out of the darkroom. That image wasn't well lit or well composed, just grabbed in the moment as an Italian missionary priest showed me the hand of a starving boy, one of those they were trying to save by emptying their mission's grain stores.' Sign up to Inside Saturday The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. after newsletter promotion Wells adds that while he is 'older, slower' now, and doesn't often take photos, the familiar electric charge as the elements of an image seem to fall into place remains the same. 'You still don't get a second try at a shot like this: the sun will have set, or the horses wandered off, or both,' he says. 'The difference today is that you get your answer at once – it's wonderful not to have to wait days or weeks to find out if the moment was as special or important as your instinct insisted it was.'
