Events

1916 show in King House tonight

Boyle’s historic King House will be the venue this Friday for the western premiere of Myles Dungan’s new 1916 show – The Count, The Countess & The Tommy.

The show, starring international soloists Simon Morgan and Lisa Lambe – as seen on RTE’s Late Late Show – centres on the life and music of the celebrated Irish tenor Count John McCormack, and features some of the best-known songs of a hundred years ago.

May 13 is the date set for the first-ever performance of the show in the west of Ireland, in a nationwide tour which includes Dublin, Kilkenny, Cavan, Leitrim and beyond. The show is a centrepiece of broadcaster Myles Dungan’s Paths To Freedom roadshow project, a unique package of lectures, presentations and shows remembering the Rising, one hundred years on.

The Count, The Countess & The Tommy is hosted by Roscommon County Council Arts Office & Library Services, as part of the Roscommon Ireland 2016 Centenary Programme.

Fronted by RTE presenter and historian Dr. Myles Dungan, the Paths To Freedom programme brings together a team of broadcasters, authors and key academics with important things to say about the legacy of 1916, plus a cast of international performers, for a special two-part commemoration, comprising…

⦁ A day-long programme of talks and presentations on 1916 and its legacy
⦁ An evening performance of the music of the era, showcasing the songs of John, Count McCormack.

Talks Programme

On Friday, May 20, King House, will welcome a selection of top-class speakers, academics and personalities for a series of presentations on the changing nature of Irish politics, work, class and gender roles in the years leading up to independence, explaining that the Rising was part of a wider narrative, not the whole story.

Schedule

10am Introduction
10.15 Dr. Myles Dungan – Sentenced To Death – The Rebel Courts Martial
11am Catriona Crowe – Ireland Before The Rising
11.45 Break
12pm John O’Keeffe – The Psychology of The 1916 Leaders
12.45 Lunch
2pm Dr. Jonathan Creasy – Writing Ireland: Poetry, Prose and Songs of 1916
2.45 Damian Shiels – The Conflict Landscape of Ireland
3.30 Ian Kenneally – Propaganda During 1916
4.15 Open Forum
Presenter Bios:

Dr. Myles Dungan – Sentenced To Death – The Rebel Courts Martial
(Myles presents The History Show on RTE Radio 1 and is the author of multiple books, including Irish Voices From The Great War (1995), Mr. Parnell’s Rottweiler: Censorship and the United Ireland Newspaper (2014) and How The Irish Won The West (2006).)

Catriona Crowe – Ireland Before The Rising
(Catriona Crowe is Head of Special Projects at the National Archives of Ireland, and manager of the Irish Census Online Project. She can currently be seen on RTE TV’s Ready For The Revolution.)

Damian Shiels – The Conflict Landscape of Ireland
(Damian maps out the changing landscape of Ireland in the years 1914-21, as it was marked by guerilla war, practice trenches, military hospitals, military factories, commemorations and ambush sites.)

Ian Kenneally – Propaganda During 1916
(This talk focuses on the Easter Rising and republicanism, censorship of newspapers, the Irish Independent and 1916, propaganda etc.)

John O’Keeffe – The Psychology of The 1916 Leaders
(A Criminologist and Forensic Psychologist, John is also a broadcaster and journalist. He is a Teaching Fellow in the School of Psychology, Trinity College, Dublin, a regular contributor to TV and radio and is the Deputy Editor of The Garda Review.)

Jonathan Creasy – Writing Ireland: Poetry, Prose and Songs of 1916
(Jonathan is a author, editor, publisher, teacher and musician. Educated at California Institute of the Arts and Trinity College Dublin, he has First Class degrees in English Literature, and is currently completing his PhD.)
EVENING SHOW

King House will also offer a complementary musical show – The Count, The Countess & The Tommy – featuring songs and stories from the era of the Rising, centering on the music of the celebrated Irish tenor Count John McCormack, and also the popular songs of Lena Ford, Ivor Novello, Stanley Kirkby & George M. Cohan.

This show, written by RTE’s Myles Dungan, will be presented at King House on Friday, May 13, at 8pm and will feature headline acts, including…

Simon Morgan: A world-renowned baritone, Simon has performed in venues across Ireland, the UK, Argentina, Chile, Barbados, San Diego, Chicago, New York, Monaco, Florence and Verona.

Lisa Lambe: A singer and actress, Lisa is best known for her work at the Abbey and the Gate, and as a member of international singing sensation Celtic Woman.

Brendan MacQuaile: Brendan is a classically trained baritone who performs widely in Ireland and internationally, and features regularly on TV and radio.
Tickets for both events are free, but booking is essential.

CONTACT:
T: 071 966 32 42
E: [email protected]
W: www.kinghouse.ie
Facebook: /KingHouse Boyle
“The ‘long decade’ of 1912-1923 encompassed massive political change in Ireland, Britain and the wider world. These years saw the militarisation of the Irish question, culminating in the violence of 1916 and of 1919-1923, and also the Great War in which many thousands of Irishmen lost their lives. These developments had profound effects, not only on active participants in military and political affairs in Ireland and internationally, but on the people of Ireland as a whole.”
Decade of Commemoration, Trinity College Dublin

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