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Tim Robinson’s Connemara: TG4 on 10|06|2020

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Posted by Ciaran Walsh on June 3, 2020 – 5:32 pm
Filed under Ethnography, Film
Tim Robinson’s Connemara with a “Connemara stone” from Ballyheigue Beach.

Things happen in threes, so they say.

Cathy Galvin, a poet and journalist whose family emigrated from Mason’s Island in Connemara, contacted me about Charles R. Browne’s ethnographic study of Carna. Cathy also sent me an essay by Kevin T. James on the meaning of “emptiness” in Connemara.

James built his essay around an entry in the visitors’ book of Mongan’s Hotel, the pub/shop/hotel operated by Martin Mongan in Carna in the 1890s. Mongan is an intriguing character and, as usual, I consulted Tim Robinson on Mongan, Mason’s Island, and the tricky issue of the emptiness of Connemara.

I had just begun re-reading Robinson’s Connemara: listening to the wind (first published in 2006) when I went for a walk on Ballyheigue Beach and found several “Connemara Stones” in the intertidal zone, a favourite haunt of Tim Robinson’s. “Connemara Stones” are erratics, granite rocks that were picked up by a glacier in Connemara and carried south until the ice melted and dropped the stones at various sites in Kerry (see the Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association, 119, 2 (2008): 137-152).

Synchronicity or what?

Tim Robinson 1935-2020 (Photograph: Nicolas Fève).

Then, TG4 announced the screening on Weds June 10, 2020 of a new film that it is broadcasting in memory of Tim Robinson and his wife and longtime collaborator Mairéad Robinson. The film explores the Robinsons’ topographical study of Connemara over thirty years.

Tim Robinson’s Connemara: listening to the wind is an intriguing book that has at its core an environmentalist’s awareness of the tension between emptiness and settlement over several centuries of social, political, and cultural disruption, a theme that he developed in a series of walks through the landscape.

It will be interesting to see what that looks like on film.

EYEBALLING the Pattern Thrashers in Ballyheigue

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Posted by Ciaran Walsh on September 11, 2015 – 5:07 pm
Filed under Film, Photography

The Pattern Thrashers, traditional musicians from Ballyheigue gather for the annual Pattern Day Festival of music, song and dance. (photo: Ciarán Wash of www.curator.ie)

The Pattern Thrashers, traditional musicians from Ballyheigue gather for the annual Pattern Day Festival of music, song and dance. (photo: Ciarán Wash)

 

 

Ciarán Walsh has been working with a group of musicians who have come together to put music at the centre of one of the biggest community festivals in Kerry. Inspired by the legendary “big winds” of September the musicians have organised the “Pattern Thrasher” traditional music festival which takes place on the annual pattern day in Ballyheigue. Walsh / EYEBALL publishing has filmed the musicians with the aim of producing a short promotional video, as well as a short documentary of the festival itself.

 

 

 

 

‘Táimse Im’ Chodladh,’ a short film produced by Ciarán Walsh nominated for TG4 Irish language award at the Fingal Film Festival

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Posted by Ciaran Walsh on September 25, 2014 – 12:22 pm
Filed under art, Film

Taimse Im Chodladh Vimeo(2) from Ciarán Walsh / www.curator.ie on Vimeo.

‘Taimse Im’ Chodladh’ or ‘I am Sleeping’ (2014)  was Directed by London based Kerryman and artist Denis Buckley and produced by me for www.curator.ie. It has been  nominated for the TG4 Irish language award at the Fingal Film Festival

I am very proud of ‘Táimse im’ Chodladh.’ Emigration is etched into heart and soul of West Kerry, it’s social fabric, landscape and its language. ‘Táimse Im’ Chodladh’ is a synthesis of all of that, realised by Denis Buckley, an artist who has experienced emigration for over thirty years. It was made in Kerry, using local talent and resources to achieve a perfectly compact vision or ‘fís.’

From the outset it was an article of faith that this film be made trí mheán na Gaelinne. The script was translated into Gaelainn or West Kerry Irish by Bríd Criomhthain and Bosco Ó Conchúir and recorded as a soundtrack in the Beehive Theatre, Dingle. Bríd Criomhthain, Naoise Mac Gearailt, Jeaicí Mac Gearailt and Nuala Nic Gearailt performed the parts.

More Information: https://www.curator.ie/?p=3259

TV series on photography in Ireland developed by www.curator.ie & Sibéal Teo for TG4

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Posted by Ciaran Walsh on July 3, 2014 – 3:35 pm
Filed under Comment, Film, Heritage, Journalism, Photography

 

Uploaded by www.curator.ie: a reproduction of a photograph of an impoverish family huddled in cabin in Connemara in 1898. It is entitled "A starving Irish family from Carraroe, County Galway." (http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/sadlier/irish/starvati.htm) from an orig. It was traced to a pamphlet published by the Mansion House committee in 1898.

A starving Irish family from Carraroe, County Galway during the Famine . (Source: University of Virginia)

 

About 10 years go I came across this photograph. The caption suggests that it was taken during the Famine of 1845-9 in Ireland.  It wasn’t. True, it is very similar to the scenes recorded in cabins throughout the west of Ireland and graphic illustrations of such scenes were published in illustrated newspapers at the time. There is no record, however, of any photograph of people dying of starvation in the 1845-9 famine.  Indeed a photograph like this would have been impossible in the early stages of photography – invented less than a decade before the famine. As a result he photograph has been dismissed by some people as a fake, the harsh pool of light suggesting a studio staging.

 

I set out to look for the original and test its authenticity. I never found it, but I found the next best thing – the original document in which the photograph was first published.  The photograph is entitled ‘A Sick Family Carraroe’ and is one of 18 photographs that were published in a pamphlet entitled  ‘Relief of Distress in the West and South of Ireland, 1898.’ The photographs were taken in April during an inspection of conditions in Connemara by Thomas L. Esmonde, Inspector of the Manchester Committee. He was reacting to reports of famine in Connemara, what locals call the Second Famine or Gorta Beag. He inspected a dozen houses in which he found people lying on the floor, covered with rags and old sacks and barely able to move from a combination of influenza and hunger.

 

The search for the photograph became the basis of an idea for a TV series on social documentary photography or, to put it another way, a social history of documentary photography in Ireland in the 19th century. I pitched the idea to a producer and a broadcaster in 2011 and funding was eventually secured from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland in 2014 for a six part series based on my research. TG4 will begin  broadcasting Trid an Lionsa or ‘Through the Lens’ tomorrow Sunday 25 October 2015.

 

I haven’t been involved in in the production itself, just the research into historical social documentary photography and the people who work in this area. This material has been “translated into television” by Cathal Watters (Oíche na Gaoithe Móire) and follows the TG4 controversial format of presenter driven, on-the-road info-tainment. (Lost in Translation).

 

I have no idea what to expect. Like a colleague I will be watching from behind the couch … hoping!  It’ll be interesting to see how the balance between a social history of documentary photography and ‘factual’ entertainment works out. The reliance on off-the-cuff interviews rather than scripted narrative is a risky business in general Read Full Article. It suits some formats but I don’t know about a documentary on 19th century photography, with it’s intricate social, political and historical contexts and plots. I know some key “voices” were excluded but that is the unenviable task of a producer. Dropping a key commentator on the history of photography because, apparently, there were already enough English speakers is a bit odd though.  Either way it promises be an intriguing televisual event and, at the very least, it should create an awareness of the rich resource that exists in photographic archives and collections around the country.

 

For more images / Comment see: Ballymaclinton, The Town that Time Forgot

 

‘Táimse Im’ Chodladh,’ a short film directed by Denis Buckley and produced by Ciarán Walsh is premiered in Dingle.

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Posted by Ciaran Walsh on March 21, 2014 – 2:29 pm
Filed under art, Artists, Film

 Как демонтировать пластиковое окно

 

‘Taimse Im’ Chodladh’ or ‘I am Sleeping’ was the winning entry in FÍSÍN 2013, a short film competition. It was directed by Denis Buckley and produced by Ciarán Walsh of www.curator.ie. Colm Hogan was Director of Photography, John ‘Bob’ Brennan was on Sound and Marcus Lamb played ‘Tomás,’ the only character in the film. It was recorded in the Beehive Theatre in Dingle and a disused factory in Killarney, production lasting just over a week and ending in a one day shoot.

 

 

The title is taken from an aisling of the same name. An aisling is a traditional song in which Ireland, in the form of a beautiful woman, appears in a dream or a vision. The aisling is usually loaded with symbolism and/or political comment on the state of the nation. Buckley adapted the idea of the aisling to comment on the experience of emigration, or, economic exile in a contemporary context. The traditional song is replaced by a short film and a radio-play (encountered by chance) replaces the dream as the vehicle for the vision and the political comment that is inherent in it.

Buckley wrote the script which was reduced from 17 minutes to around 7 minutes running time, and re-structured into to a filmscript consisting of a single shot – one continuous tracking shot. It was pitched to a panel consisting of Brenda Ní Shuileabháin, Nuala O’Connor, Marina Ní Dhubháin and Bob Ó Cáthail.

The pitch succeeded and Buckley and Walsh immediately went into production. The script was translated into Gaelainn or West Kerry Irish by Bríd Criomhthain and Bosco Ó Conchúir and recorded as a soundtrack in the Beehive Theatre, Dingle. Bríd Criomhthain, Naoise Mac Gearailt, Jeaicí Mac Gearailt and Nuala Nic Gearailt performed the parts. A set was constructed in the old ‘Pretty Polly’ factory in Killarney, a terrific resource made available by Noel O’Leary, Town Clerk of Killarney Urban District Council. ‘Táimse Im’ Chodladh’ was filmed on 24 August, 2013, wrapping after 10 hours and five takes.

The filmed premiered in Dingle on Monday 17 March 2013, a fitting date for a film that deals with cultural identity in the context of emigration and the profound resonance of economic exile in contemporary Ireland.

 

 

FÍSÍN is organised as part of the Dingle International Film Festival. It involves pitching an idea for a short film in competition for a cash prize of €5,0000 with an additional €2,000 worth of filming equipment supplied by Vast Valley. The winning film has to be completed in time for showing in the festival in the following year.

The idea of the competition is to promote Irish language film making, an idea developed by Ciaran Walsh when he was involved, briefly, in a strategic re-think of the festival in 2010/11. Walsh had managed a visual arts programme in The National Folk Theatre that ran in conjunction with the Festival for a number of years. Maurice Galway, Director of Dingle Film Festival, was employed as the curator of a series of exhibitions that complemented the aims and objectives of both The National Folk Theatre and the film festival.

The idea of ‘FÍSÍN’ developed in this context. The aim was to address the need to promote new work by Irish language or Gaeltacht film makers outside of opportunities created by the Irish language television station TG4. Tor Cotton came on board with sponsorship and ‘FÍSÍN’ (fís meaning vision and the suffix -ín denoting little) was formally launched.

An Daingean (Dingle) is the main town in the West Kerry Gaeltacht, an area in which Irish or ‘Gaelic’ is the primary language. ‘FÍSÍN’ was developed to promote the making of new short films in the Irish Language as part of a wider objective of building a greater Irish language component within the festival, acknowledging that one of its principal funders, Údarás na Gaeltachta (the Gaeltacht Authority) was a primary funder of the festival due to its location in the West Kerry Gaeltacht.

Walsh assesses ‘Táimse Im’Chodladh’ as follows: “My involvement with Dingle Film Festival ended shortly afterwards and, although I had some qualms about pitching in a competition I had devised, Denis overrode these and persuaded me to get involved. I am very proud of ‘Táimse im’ Chodladh.’ Emigration is etched into heart and soul of West Kerry, it’s social fabric, landscape and its language. ‘Táimse im’ Chodladh’ is a synthesis of all of that, realised by an artist who has experienced emigration for over thirty years. It was made in Kerry, using local talent and resources to achieve a perfectly compact vision or ‘fís.”

 

 

‘Is oth linn an briseadh seo.’ We regret the interruption in web-posting due to storm damage

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Posted by Ciaran Walsh on March 21, 2014 – 2:01 pm
Filed under Anthropology, Comment, Film, Heritage, Photography, Research

 reteks.ru

 

Primarily, the period February / March has been taken up with two projects.

The first involves completing the second and final year of the Dioplóma sa Ghaeilge (Dioploma in Irish) with NUI Galway in partnership with Oidhdreacht Chorca Dhuibhne – final exams scheduled for 5 April. Dar fia!

The second involves development work on the ‘Haddon in Ireland’ project with the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge and NUI Maynooth. This includes a paper to be given at the RAI’s conference in the British Museum in May/June.

 

 

 

7 days, 9 hours, 8 minutes and 5 takes, ‘Táimse Im Chodladh’ is filmed in Killarney

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Posted by Ciaran Walsh on September 4, 2013 – 8:09 am
Filed under art, Film

 infolio-rg.ru


P1120440

 

 

On the set of ‘Táimse Im Chodladh’

 

‘Táimse Im Chodladh’ written and directed by Denis Buckley and produced by Ciarán Walsh / www.curator.ie was filmed over 9 hours in the old Pretty Polly factory in Killarney on Saturday 24 August, after a week of prep and set construction. Colm Hogan, Director of Photography, got the 8 min short in 5 takes.

Winner of the ‘Físín’ short film pitch at Dingle International Film Festival 2012, ‘Táimse Im Chodladh’ will be premiered at the festival in March 2014.

 

P1120430

 

 

Winner of FÍSÍN (Irish Language Short Film competition) at Dingle International Film Festival 2013

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Posted by Ciaran Walsh on March 19, 2013 – 11:05 am
Filed under Artists, Film

Denis Buckley (www.denisbuckley.com) performing in Edinburgh. Denis Buckley and Ciarán Walsh have been working together for a number of years but this was the first project that we pitched together. It was written by Denis and its title is taken a the traditional Irish song entitled 'Táimse Im' Chodladh.' It deals with emigration and the experience of economic exile, a recurring theme in Denis' work. Denis constructed the piece around the premise that, although social media may have made the world a much smaller place, it hasn't lessened the distance of exile. Pre-production has started. Denis Buckley will direct, Ciarán Walsh will produce and the film will be screened at Dingle International Film Festival in 2014.

Denis Buckley performing ‘SEARCHING FOR THE UNIMAGINED CONSCIENCE OF MY RACE’ at Edinburgh Art Festival 2012. Image: Meriel Bunney-Gillies

 

Denis Buckley and Ciarán Walsh | www.curator.ie pitched the short film ‘Táimse im’ Codladh’ written by Denis and came away with a prize of €5,000. The film now goes into production and will screened at next year’s festival.

FÍSÍN encourages filmmaking in Irish and has a cash prize of €5,000 plus €2,000 worth of film equipment hire. 5 finalists were selected and invited to pitch their project to the panel during the festival this weekend weekend.

Denis Buckley and Ciarán Walsh have been working together for a number of years but this was the first project that they have pitched together. It was written by Denis and its title is taken a the traditional Irish song entitled ‘Táimse Im’ Chodladh.’ It deals with emigration and the experience of economic exile, a recurring theme in Denis’ work. Denis constructed the piece around the premise that, although social media may have made the world a much smaller place, it hasn’t lessened the distance of exile.

Pre-production has started. Denis Buckley will direct, Ciarán Walsh will produce and the film will be screened at Dingle International Film Festival in 2014.

 

For more on Denis: www.denisbuckley.com

 

 

Standing room only at premiere of ‘Drawing The Water,’ a film by Pauline O’Connell in collaboration with Ciarán Walsh

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Posted by Ciaran Walsh on July 3, 2012 – 4:25 pm
Filed under Film

 

www.curator.ie / 23.06.2012: stills from footage shot by John Kennedy and Ciaran Walsh of the premiere of ‘Drawing the Water’ in Milltown, Co. Kerry on 23 June 2012.

 

‘Drawing The Water,’ a collaboration between artist Pauline O’Connell and www.curator.ie, was officially launched  by Irish arts minister Jimmy Deenihan T.D. in Milltown, Co. Kerry on Saturday 23 June 2012.  The event involved a premiere screening of the film ‘Drawing The Water’ and supporting documentation. There was standing room only in an event that went on long into the night with céilí dancing, tea and buns, reminiscence and chat in the best tradition of gatherings in rural Ireland.

‘Drawing the Water’ is a public art project by artist Pauline O’Connell. It was commissioned under the Per Cent for Art Scheme that is administered by the Arts Office of Kerry County Council. It was filmed by Ciarán Walsh in September, on location in Milltown and in a studio in Ballyheigue. Post production was managed by Ciarán Walsh.

 

Stills by curator.ie and camera work by John Kennedy (FÁS).

 

 

 

Minister for Arts launches collaboration between artist Pauline O’Connell and Ciarán Walsh | www.curator.ie

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Posted by Ciaran Walsh on June 20, 2012 – 11:30 am
Filed under Art, Film

 A still from the shoot by  Ciarán Walsh \ www.curator.ie showing Thomas O'Sullivan carrying steel buckets  on the handlebars of an old bike as he cycles along a rural laneway in County Kerry, Ireland. Ciarán Walsh was shooting ‘Drawing the Water’ for artist Pauline O'Connell, a 5 minute film that deals with the tasks associated with collecting water. “It’s an intense reflection on the importance of water, the rhythm of the task of collecting it and the sensuous quality of washing by hand" says Walsh who spent three days filming the piece.

 

Saturday, 23 June 2012 | Milltown, County Kerry | Ireland

The official launch of  the collaboration between artist Pauline O’Connell and www.curator.ie takes place this weekend in Milltown, Co. Kerry. The project will be launched by arts minister Jimmy Deenihan T.D. in the community centre on Saturday. The event will involve a screening of the film, supporting documentation and a celebratory céilí or dance. It kicks off at 8pm.

‘Drawing the Water’ is a public art project by artist Pauline O’Connell. It was commissioned under the Per Cent for Art Scheme that is administered by the Arts Office of Kerry County Council. It was filmed by Ciarán Walsh in September, on location in Milltown and in a studio in Ballyheigue. Post production was managed by Ciarán Walsh.

‘Drawing the Water’ was inspired by ‘The Spout,’ a public water supply in the centre of the Milltown that was a focal point in the town as local people ‘drew’ fresh water on daily basis. O’Connell developed the piece over a year, collecting stories about ‘The Spout’ in schools and in the community.The film is a 5 minute short / artwork that deals with the tasks associated with collecting water. “It’s an intense reflection on the importance of water, the rhythm of the task of collecting it and the sensuous quality of washing by hand. It’s informed by all the conversations that Pauline has had with people in the town’” says Walsh who spent 3 days filming the artwork for O’Connell. The filming  involved performances by Thomas O’Sullivan of Milltown and Chiara Ghia.

 

Invitation: ‘Drawing the Water’     |     Information: Media Release

 

 

 A still from the shoot by  Ciarán Walsh \ www.curator.ie showing Chiara Ghia simulating the wring of water out of cloth. Ciarán Walsh was shooting ‘Drawing the Water’ for artist Pauline O'Connell, a 5 minute film that deals with the tasks associated with collecting water. “It’s an intense reflection on the importance of water, the rhythm of the task of collecting it and the sensuous quality of washing by hand" says Walsh who spent three days filming the piece. This scene was shot in a studio Ballyheigue where Walsh is based.


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TCD to announce return of ancestral remains to Inishbofin



Blogging resumes on Ballymaclinton: An Irish giant, 24 stolen skulls, one colonial legacies project and a slave owner named Berkeley.



Is the TCD statement on the stolen skulls of Inishbofin a missed opportunity?



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