Hear the stories from LIF16 on the festival podcast.
Dr Paddy Hoey has spoken to some of the key speakers at festival events to hear what they have to say about Irish history, the notion of Irish-ness, about new works and stories.…
Archive | News
Traditional Irish music: A short history of
Following conversations between Chris Kelly and the Liverpool Irish Festival, it was apparent that Chris’s knowledge of music was deep and bountiful. In the spirit of offering context to Irish culture and to increasing general understanding about its origins, pathways and future, Chris has drafted a short history on traditional Irish music, which we hope will give people some food for thought, names to look up and a context for why it is still so important to Irish communities today, not to mention its incredible impact on popular music around the world!…
The official #LIF2016 playlist
Over the years, 14 to be exact, Liverpool Irish Festival has welcomed some wonderful musicians to the city. From Rusangano Family to Van Morrison, to Irish sessions in the Cali, to Ciaran Lavery, our appreciation and love of Irish music is as wild and diverse as the music is itself.…
Chavasse: the lesser known story of a hero
A Liverpool writer will explain, in a lecture in Central Library on 17 Oct, how one of the British army’s most celebrated World War One heroes had a cousin who participated in the Easter Rising.
Oxford-born Noel Chavasse ( 1884-1917) was the only British soldier awarded the Victoria Cross twice in the First World War.…
In my Liverpool home
‘The ‘pool feels itself closer to Dublin, New York, even Buenos Aires, than it does to London… it’s very aware of its own myth and eager to project it’, George Melly, jazz musician and artist, Revolt into Style, 1970
‘There is a great love and unity in this city, there’s a great feeling of togetherness which materializes in the Kop, where one thought spreads among the crowd … it’s not just going there to watch a football match it’s really a form of worship of a great city by the people’, Arthur Dooley, sculptor, 1972
The Liverpool Irish Festival celebrates the connections between Liverpool and Ireland through, walks, talks, theatre, film, music and art.…
Brexit: What now for the future of Britain and Ireland?
Britain’s recent months have been politically dominated by the fallout from the referendum which will radically alter Britain’s relationship with the European Union. Its oldest trading partner, Ireland, which was a central pillar of the Empire until 1922 and the Commonwealth until 1949, remains a member of the EU.…
The Artist Centre for Human Rights
A provocation from the Artist Centre for Human Rights, details of its manifesto and why it began in Liverpool
The Artist Centre for Human Rights was set up in Liverpool in the commemorative year of 2016 as an internationalist arts project that is both a cultural organisation and an evolving artwork.…
A Thread of Irishness
In August this year a guest editor of the @Ireland Twitter account received a barrage of racist and sexist abuse. Michelle Marie, a black woman describing herself as a mum and model, came under attack from Twitter trolls who launched the usual sexist, racist and fattist abuse (how sad that we’ve come to expect such an onslaught simply for being black or a woman or anything but size zero), but with the added accusation of ‘not being Irish enough’ to represent the community Twitter account.…
Contextualising the Irish hunger strikes
The harrowing stories of hunger strikes in 1981, pitting Irish political prisoners against the weight of Whitehall and the British Government, are well known. However, the stories, decisions and personalities that generated these actions are less clear. In this article, Stuart Borthwick helps us understand the process that drove these hunger strikers, providing 66 Days viewers with a context for Bobby Sands’ actions and those of his counterparts.…
A spotlight on Liverpool Irish theatre
Liverpool Irish Festival returns this autumn with a celebration of Irish playwriting and theatre, showcasing emerging writers and playwrights, reworked versions of classic Irish works and original productions.
The tradition of Irish theatre and playwriting is a strong element of the island’s culture.…
A tale of revolution – Scadàn
A new production written and directed by three emerging Liverpool Irish artists is to be staged at Invisible Wind Factory as part of Liverpool Irish Festival. Telling the story of a women’s commune in 1914, touching on revolution and the suffragettes, Scadàn will be accompanied by live music, imagery and old Celtic stories creating an immersive and mesmeric performance.…
Self-identity: vanguard or new wave?
A tension rankles between the traditional vanguard and today’s ‘new wave’. Reflected in culture, multiple understandings of history and our communication choices, the struggle to understand generations before and after our own is often at the root of why we create: to tell our story.…