Failte 31oct2024

This program is sponsored by Letterfrack Country Shop. They are hosting a recording from Connemara Sea Week, which includes an arts exhibition and music performances. The event celebrates the 40-year anniversary of the festival and the contributions of Leo and Claire Hallisey. The community has been supportive of the festival and the arts, with many local artists displaying their work. The event also highlights the positive changes in the area, with the growth of music and creativity. The works of art are for sale at affordable prices. The celebration also includes performances by local musicians. The event is supported by various organizations and individuals. This program is kindly sponsored by Letterfrack Country Shop, 095-418-50. Hello, good evening, and you're very welcome to our Thursday evening programs here on Connemara Community Radio. We're broadcasting on 87.8 and 16.1 FM, and we're with you right through up until 9 o'clock PM this evening, and I hope you can stay with us. For our program now this evening, we have a lovely recording for you from Connemara Sea Week, which happened in the Letterfrack area over the last week. The first part of this recording is from the Arts Exhibition, which took place in the Wild Goat Cafe, and it was introduced by lovely music from Billy Carey and Kevin Holmes, and then Tanya Gray introduced Leo Hallisey, who was there to officially launch the Arts Exhibition on the evening. I'm not sure if you'll see the stars tonight Expected tomorrow to shine I'll stand my ground, I'll stand my ground I'll stand tall and steady When I hear her story sing Expected tomorrow to shine I'll stand my ground, I'll stand my ground I'll stand tall and steady When I hear her story sing Expected tomorrow to shine I'll stand my ground, I'll stand my ground I'll stand my ground, I'll stand my ground I'll stand tall and steady When I hear her story sing Expected tomorrow to shine I'll stand my ground, I'll stand my ground I'll stand tall and steady When I hear her story sing Expected tomorrow to shine I'll stand my ground, I'll stand my ground I'll stand my ground, I'll stand my ground I'll stand tall and steady When I hear her story sing Expected tomorrow to shine I'll stand my ground, I'll stand my ground I'll stand tall and steady When I hear her story sing Expected tomorrow to shine I'll stand my ground, I'll stand my ground I'll stand tall and steady When I hear her story sing Expected tomorrow to shine I'll stand my ground, I'll stand my ground I'll stand tall and steady When I hear her story sing Expected tomorrow to shine I'll stand tall and steady When I hear her story sing Expected tomorrow to shine I'll stand tall and steady When I hear her story sing Expected tomorrow to shine I'll stand tall and steady When I hear her story sing Expected tomorrow to shine I'll stand tall and steady When I hear her story sing Thank you Pauline, and all the artists who brought their lovely work So, I'm going to hand you over now to Leo the Legend So I hand you over to Leo Hallisey to start the whole thing Before I start, maybe we'll start with a bit of music Sam and Kevin are going to do the business Sam and Kevin are going to do the business Sam and Kevin are going to do the business Sam and Kevin are going to do the business Sam and Kevin are going to do the business Sam and Kevin are going to do the business Sam and Kevin are going to do the business Sam and Kevin are going to do the business Sam and Kevin are going to do the business Sam and Kevin are going to do the business Sam and Kevin are going to do the business Sam and Kevin are going to do the business Sam and Kevin are going to do the business Thank you Today, I think has been a really good day For me, there was such great energy around the place And so much creativity as well, and positivity I'm really pleased about this project, because this was one of my pet projects And we're celebrating 40 years this year And I was just checking there, I'm really bad on dates So this particular project has gone for maybe 25 years or so It's a project about art, but it's also a project about generosity Because this wouldn't happen without the generosity of the artist When we started the project, say in 1984 Many of the children in the school would have never seen an original work of art And the idea, I would be hearing all the time from the Arts Council about Access to the arts So I thought this was the most special way to have access to the arts Because our own generosity would put up work at a fraction of its real value And I was so pleased to think that in our community That these paintings and all these works of art Found homes in our community, and I thought that was really special And then in the intervening years The GMIT up in Castlebar, they ran an arts course And then people from here went to study art up there And that's a wonderful change That the arts had such a central place in our community One special thing was, one day I remember, one of the years we had The parents and friends of our school, I was a headmaster up at the school there And the parents and friends had their own exhibition And the children had another exhibition, which was mounted as well as the adults exhibition And I thought that was really, really beautiful And it did my heart good to think that creativity and beauty And all of those elements had a place in a small rural community I would always try and say now that Leatherfrack is a special place Where beautiful things are made and restored And I think that's really important for me, for my generation Because this was a dark place, had a dark history And you can either curse the dark or do something about it And I think the community has done great things about it And I'd like to acknowledge the fact that Connemara West bought this place in the 70s And that changed and made a new beginning And that beginning is continuing on because the college is a special place Somebody asked me about the college the other day and it was great that I could say from the heart This is a great school, they have very high standards And there's a positive creative buzz and a good energy around the place And there's an area that Sven over there talks about conserving And protecting and rehabilitating pieces of work Because that kind of tenderness and that kind of stuff is what's needed In an area that had darkness and so forth And that's why the project, the other night and Wednesday night Is called After the Light and it's about chasing the light And chasing the good space and chasing the good energy And there's a tradition of that today here And I am grateful that the committee that are now running Sea Week Are carrying on this tradition and they did so in great style today Congratulations to them and job well done today And tonight as well to Tanya and the gang here As I say it's gone for more than 25 years There's a great variety of work on display, as she said over 50 pieces of work And that's 50 pieces of generosity as well I'm really proud of that, this community And the work is presented anonymously because we were trying to make it That you'd actually buy the painting for what you liked It was your own personal choice rather than checking out who owned it or who painted it To break that kind of cycle So I haven't that much more to say but just to say that I'm really pleased that this is continuing All the works are for sale and they're at bargain prices So I hope that you'll go across the road and there'll be great music And we have two very good musicians here today It's also fantastic to see that when we started In 1984, the music wasn't in a good place in rural Ireland And now to see the amount of young players That are playing up and down the country, it's really exciting Creativity is bursting at the seams So Laz, would you finish this bit now with a couple of tunes And then the buying will start, you'll hear the cash register going Anyway, thanks very much for coming out Thank you You've just been listening to a recording there from the Sea Week Small Works Exhibition Which took place at the Wild Goat Cafe in Leatherfrack Last Saturday evening and that lovely music by the young local musicians Billy Carey and Kevin Holmes Well it was across the road then on Monday evening to Veldens where there was a special Tribute evening going out to Leo and Claire Hallisey And celebrating 40 years of Connemara Sea Week And celebrating the huge contribution that were made by Leo And Claire Hallisey over the years. It was introduced by Dermot O'Donovan from the Connemara Sea Week Committee And Simon Burrows, a long friend of Leo and Claire And indeed of Connemara Sea Week And then you'll hear Leo himself talking as well So thank you so much everybody for coming out There's a special reason why we're all here tonight Number one is we're celebrating 40 years of Connemara Sea Week And secondly we're celebrating the contribution of Leo and Claire Hallisey For commencing Continuing and carrying the weight of that festival That message That culture of bringing art, science Music, madness Together, sport And bringing that to a stage I suppose that raised the profile Of art in this community where maybe there wasn't That opportunity to do it for such a long time And tonight is very much a celebration of Leo and Claire's contribution But equally a celebration of community and the contribution of all The community, all visitors to this festival over the years And many of the other festivals that were part of that legacy So just before I hand you over this evening to Simon Berrows, I just want to acknowledge the support This evening of all of the hosts of today's event Which is Beldon, The Clover Fox And Molly, and hugely supportive of All of our musicians tonight, and specifically to the musicians And friends of Connemara Sea Week, we have people coming from All sides of the universe this evening I've been around three different sessions And just in all of the talent that's been On show tonight, but the talent that has made themselves available Tonight to celebrate Leo and Claire, and I think that's a huge tribute And we should say a huge round of applause for all of them And just specifically we want to thank tonight Also who's contributed, which is Renfrew House Hotel And Giorgio Flaherty, who's got an awful lot of fish I hear, which is going to go round the house tonight So without further ado, I'm going to ask Dr. Simon Burrows, who's also Been a huge friend of the festival over all those years Simon is with the Irish Women's Dancing Group, and Simon is going to say a few words So please could you give a warm welcome to Simon Burrows Do you remember when Leo lit the light We were all in choir, so many people That I used to invite to Sea Week would say Jesus Christ, is this some kind of hippie gig? It was a powerful moment Leo When the light was lit So to be honest, I don't know how I got talked into this I kind of blame Tanya, but it really is a great honour for me I'm not a Connemara man, you can tell by my accent I'm not even that local, so for me to say a few words 30 plus years later To celebrate Claire and Leo, and 40 years to Sea Week It really is a great honour So what a voyage we've all been on with Claire and Leo All of us here have been involved Contributed, and been changed along the way Leo's ability to mix music, poetry, philosophy And debates, I think is legendary How he knew all the best musicians in Ireland All the best people to recite and share their stories and ideas and visions I had no ideas to stay, and remember you young people, this was pre-the internet As well as fun We had some great debates And Leo was able to address really difficult issues at the Sea Week He'd stir it up, he'd challenge us all He'd present different perspectives And when things were getting really heated, I don't know if you remember, but he'd pace up and down He'd pace up and down with his hands held behind his back And he'd say, these are difficult issues They're difficult questions, they're difficult answers And then he'd say, Ida, would you sing us a song? And there'd be Ida, or Deirdre, or someone Who was a bit coarse on the night before, had a bit of a late night And when Leo says, would you ever When Leo would say, would you ever We had no choice, did we really When the song was finished, we all had time to kind of process The thought and the debate To me, that is such a great gift It could have been Connor, you get the nod We're all standing there, Leo gives us the nod, and we know we have to perform Like the monkeys It's funny I always thought that the setting in the National School in Leicester for Africa Was something special You know, we'd kind of squeeze into the school Some of us would be squeezed onto quite small chairs You know, our butt cheeks didn't quite fit in Sometimes we'd be on quite low tables, and we'd be having our soup and sandwiches at lunchtime And you'd look around at the walls of the school Their latest art projects, hanging from the walls And I just thought, what a unique setting And what a great way to keep us all grounded So that we really know why we're doing it, and who's the most important people Of course, the young people Some of those young people aren't so young now, and they're here to celebrate Leo and Claire One thing Leo taught us For me especially Is that musicians should be front and central to what's going on Too often, and Yusef grounds into me The musicians were kind of on the periphery, the token tune Leo has always made sure that the musicians were front and central And I think that's so important He also taught us, and maybe me especially To be a very powerful force, a very powerful voice And I recall nights in the hostel, with Mary O'Malley Or Moira Cannon, or Rita Ann Higgins And Dermot, the GMIT, which is now the ATU It was always the, with Rita And they'd be banging out the poems, and there'd be condensation running down inside the hostel And there'd be condensation, or sweat pouring down our brows And Mary would turn on us and fire out a couple of lines straight to the heart You know, that was fantastic What great teachers Leo and Claire have been, and are still to this day We had some great walks on the shore We'd often stand there listening to Dave McGraw talking about the Sex Life Olympics For about two hours And we were engrossed It was a strange time, but it's still fascinating the way Dave tells it I remember Michael and Erin Gibbons, and they would look at the landscape Or the seascape, and they'd look to see how people had settled the coastline And changed the land and seascape that we were looking at The artists amongst us would look at how the lights were falling on the hills The chevres overlooking Killary And the musicians would be thinking of a gig, a reel, or an air that had been inspired by the sea And we were all in the same place, and we all looked at something completely different And I think that was the magic And Leo and Claire made a place for all of us in that kind of group And I was thinking about tonight And I was thinking of the ones we've lost on the way I was thinking of the garden before we actually leave the foaming And who would pop into mind but the great Sean Tyrrell And I was thinking like that, who else have we lost along the way So I was thinking of Art and Brilliant, I didn't know her very well But I know her as a very close friend of Leo's I was thinking of Colin O'Dailey, yeah, bless Colin To come here with all these mad paintings for the stress of running the bistro in Dublin And of course Angle, you know what a great woman she was She was a stalwart, and so well organised I think it's important for us to think of the people, and there's many many more That I'm sure we've lost I'm not sure it is And of course, behind the madness of Leo Was always the calm of Claire There was always, you walked in, there was always a lovely smile A big hug from Claire, and an even bigger tray of stones And I was lucky, we tied it really well And myself and Frances got some fresh stones today That was fantastic, you know Sabina, do you think it's time to lift your crown? I think so, do you want to? Ok, so we'd just like to crown Claire this evening I'm not sure if it's the same Claire She's the modern day Grace O'Malley I think I feel a bit of a fraud here to be honest But I do feel like the person I always really associated with Stevie Who was the real kind of rock that we anchored a lot of the Steve part of it, was Dave McGrath I've been trying to phone Dave all day, but guess what Leo, didn't pick up But Dave was just such an important part of the whole Stevie And of course my good friend and colleague here Killian Rowden But I'm going to pick up a minute of your time I pitched the West in 1980 And I spent about 10 years working in marine biology Talking all the time to scientists And then one day, sometime in the mid-1980s if I remember You asked me if I wanted to talk about something or other It was the first time I was addressing a group of Musicians, poets, artists, scientists And all of them knew what they were up to And I could hear you were, in many ways you were a prophet there Because in the 30 years since we've seen the whole Conservation movement grow and also the need For it to grow alarmingly, but the one thing we all know there Is no one branch is going to do it by itself You can write as many scientific papers as you want, it will make no difference If you appeal to people's feelings, if you inform Their feelings, then you get action, you get traction And for the record, I think Leo was one of the Big first people in Ireland to talk about it I'm going to say something I can't believe when I asked Connor Connor Kane, I said, Connor would you say a few words on behalf of You know, the really important people in the audience And he said yes Ok, I just want to tell you a quick piece On a little fragment, a little piece You know, it's Inspired by all the years that Leo supported From Ireland The interdisciplinary champion was Leo, there was A mixture of poetry, scientists And musicians So, as you saw Anyway, this piece is nothing like, and I hope you enjoy it . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .