Eric Lalor and Gearoid Farrelly are two of Ireland’s most in-demand comedians. Headlining across the country and opening for some of comedy’s biggest names such as PJ Gallagher, Des Bishop, Tommy Tiernan, Neil Delamere, Jason Byrne, Maeve Higgins and appearing at comedy festivals far and wide. You might also know Eric from Republic of Telly and Gearóid from The Panel. While they’re both funny chaps, they couldn’t be more different. On this tour they will fight over the music in the dressing room, slag each others driving and say “you’re not wearing that on stage are you?” a lot. Basically they're chalk and cheese. The only thing they agree on is that the audience will have a great night of comedy - two headliners for the price of one. Find out why these lads are being heralded as the next big things in Irish comedy. And it’s not because they like cake!

 Early Bird: €10 (book before 31 Mar 2012)

There were no ipods in the First World War, no music at the touch of a button, no downloads. And yet soldiers sang while they marched, sang while in the trenches and put on makeshift performances in tents to boost the morale of their fellow troops.

Brendan MacQuaile pays tribute to the Irish men and music of the First World War in his touching tribute “March Away My Brothers” , a one man show taken from the book of the same name (also by MacQuaile and published by LonDubh in 2011). It follows the journey of a young lad, Lawrence Kelly – known as Larry to his friends - from Bridgefort Street in Dublin’s Liberties to the Christmas Truce in 1914, somewhere near the Messines ridge in Flanders where many Irish fought and died during the course of this terrible conflagration. Larry’s story is not one of hell and damnation. Let’s face it, he is already dead, blown to bits at the now infamous Battle of Passchendaele and remembered only as an inscription on the Menin Gate. Larry looks back with the excitement of the early call to arms still palpable, the Guinness Pals brigade forming after Kitcheners call to arms and the sheer chaos and melee of new troops arriving in France, gung ho, ready to serve the crown, and do their bit before it was ‘Over by Christmas’.

MacQuaile says: “It is hard to imagine the part that songs played in the lives of soldiers in the First World War. Lacking recordings of any kind, they learned songs from sheet music. Part of the reason for writing both the book and the show, was to understand the role that music had to play in the lives of the troops. Unlike today, musical performances were not available on a personal level just at the touch of a button, soldiers sang to each other in the trenches or billets at night and even on the March.”

Many of the popular songs of the time are included as an integral part of this fascinating tale. Songs such as ‘It’s a long way to Tipperary’ and’ There’s a long long trail a winding’ were popular hits for singers such as John McCormack and Stanley Kirby during the war years and they are sung with gusto in this performance. 

Bealtaine Price: €10

These tours are intended to facilitate the understanding of what your students can see in the gallery and encourage students to explore and to voice their opinions about what the artist is doing, or issues raised by the artists work. If you would like your class to visit please contact Sarah on 01 8852622 to arrange a short tour. Tours are free and where possible can include a tour of the whole building. Class numbers are restricted to 25 students with accompanying teacher.

Born in London, Cathy Henderson grew up in Northern Ireland before moving to Paris and then to Dublin to study at NCAD from where she graduated with a Masters of Fine Art in 1993. She has since exhibited in the UK, Ireland, France and Canada.

This current body of work was made over the last two or three years all around the Irish coast. “The most dynamic and resilient influence on my landscape work is the place where land meets the sea. My aim with these pictures is to capture the transience of the coastal view, the sense of shifting skies and the constantly fluctuating mood of weather.” Cathy Henderson

In addition to her continued fascination with landscape, Cathy also focuses much time on portraiture and figurative work. In 2007 she worked as Artist in Residence in Dublin City Council and in 2009 at St James’s Hospital, Dublin. These residencies resulted in two large scale bodies of work which documented cleansing, maintenance and technical support personnel. In 2010 she joined the Blackchurch Print Studio and in the same year she received an Arts Council Artist in the Community award to fund a visual art project with a group of long-term prisoners. She was recently awarded a commission, jointly with Robert Ballagh, to design a commemorative artwork to celebrate the centenary of the 1913 Lockout and the establishment of the ITGWU. Her work is in numerous private and public collections including the Ulster Museum, ESB and Queens University Belfast.

View Exhibition Video here ... 

Dave West was born in Penclawdd, South Wales and grew up in Swansea City. He graduated from the Carmarthenshire College of Art & Design and is now settled in Balbriggan, North County Dublin. This new body of work has been in progress for the past three years and has progressed to an investigation into the relationships between place, atmosphere, light and the moods or feelings they can evoke.

Dave has held nine solo shows to date including two with the Blue Leaf Gallery. He has exhibited with Eigse Arts Festival, the Royal Hibernian Academy, the Royal Ulster Academy, and in the U.K. with the Royal Society of Marine Artists and the New English Art Club. His work is featured in numerous private and public collections including the Office of Public Works, Texaco Corp. and BP. In 2007 Fingal County Council purchased a series of seven paintings for display in their newly refurbished Balbriggan Library. He is also currently studying towards a BA (hons) in the History of Art.

DAVE WEST IN CONVERSATION
Dave will discuss the exhibition and his art practice with Ian Fleming - artist, lecturer at University of Ulster, and Director of Creative Exchange Studios, on 10 March 2012 at 2.30pm. This is a free event and all are welcome.


View Exhibition Video here ... 

D15 Youth Theatre will shortly be entering into its second term of its first year. Working with Eimear Morrissey, Mark Rogers and Ann Ryan, this talented group of 13-18 year olds meet in Draíocht every Tuesday evening and work on many elements of theatre from improvisation to Stanislavski technique to dance. From March the group will begin to work towards a piece of theatre that will explore what they have learned over the course of the term. If you would like to find out more about Youth Theatre, what it is and how to get involved next year please contact sarah@draiocht.ie or log on to the D15 Youth Theatre Facebook page for updates.