SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY
Novel project urges people to retrace the steps of the heroic Oisín of Tír na nÓg, writes Celine Naughton
INSPIRED by Oisín of Tír na nÓg who is said to have once carried a gigantic boulder through the Dublin Mountains, Ciarán Taylor came up with a novel idea for South Dublin County’s Creative Ireland programme. His project, Rock to the Top, invites people to retrace the footsteps of the legendary hero in a series of walks and gatherings.
Mere mortals are not expected to heave heavy rocks on their backs. However, a large boulder will be placed outside the Rua Red Arts Centre in Tallaght, and participants will break it up and carry pieces through the mountains to build a cairn at the top of Kippure.
“When I heard the call-out from Creative Ireland for radical projects, it occurred to me that the radical thing these days is to slow down,” says Ciarán. “You can drive to Kippure in half an hour, but it’s a stunning three-hour walking route from Tallaght up through Gleann na Smól and Bohernabreena. We won’t always do the entire route, sometimes it will be in stages, and there will often be surprise performances on the way, with music, storytelling and poetry. Local farmers will explain how they farm the land here, we’ll pick blackberries, taste local honey and have picnics on the mountain.
“In today’s fast-paced world, I wanted to provide a way for people to connect with the landscape and each other. Rock to the Top is about observing the seasons, getting in tune with nature, meeting people and having conversations. But it also has a purpose – to get this rock up the mountain.
“I expect it will take a year to transform the boulder at the foot of the mountain to a cairn at the top, mid-summer to mid-summer. We’ve pencilled in June 24 for the first walk.”
This is just one of many innovative ideas to have the backing of South Dublin County’s Creative Ireland programme. Another is Work Songs, a musical portrait of the modern workplace in Dublin devised by singer Fiona Dowling and composer George Higgs.
“I sing with a choir from the Republic of Georgia, where folk songs are still very much alive,” says Fiona. “Work and singing go hand in hand. I’m very touched by the idea of singing while performing tasks involving hard, physical labour.
“People here are often on computers, which doesn’t quite lend itself to making music, but I wondered what kind of songs we could weave into the modern working day in Ireland.
“Having had our proposal accepted, George and I are now in the process of identifying five companies who will take part in the process, and we’d love to hear from any local businesses interested in doing so.
“In Georgia, half of a workforce will often sing in order to energise the other half. We’ll be asking our workers, when do you need to be energised the most? George and I will then create songs around that, which will be performed by the workers themselves. The project will conclude with a concert representing all the businesses involved.”
Writer Nathan O’Donnell is reaching out to a younger audience with his Creative Ireland project, The Mill, inspired by the Clondalkin Paper Mills Action Group, which led a series of major strikes and occupations in 1982-83.
“I will be engaging with young people aged 16 to 24,” he says. “It’s a demographic that’s disconnected from the idea of politics. There’s an apathy there, and this is a way to open up the relevance of politics to young people’s lives.
“When the paper mills closed in Clondalkin, people compared it with the closure of the mining towns in the UK. At the time, Clondalkin was still a village, separate from the city, and this was a seismic event. People still talk of the sense of betrayal, the scale of the loss, and the impact it had on so many families in this one community.
“Locals then showed solidarity and supported the strikers. There are protests in the air today too, people are becoming politically mobilised and that makes this project relevant and timely. It will continue throughout 2017 and culminate next year in a series of workshops for young people in writing, photography, field trips to print museums, and designing and printing their own posters.”
Today, Clondalkin is being promoted as a key heritage centre under the Creative Ireland umbrella. It boasts the largest population of Irish speakers in the county, many of whom gather regularly at a host of events in Áras Chrónáin, a cultural centre set on almost three acres in the heart of the village.
“We have a solid foundation of arts in the county, but the Creative Ireland programme puts an extra focus on community engagement,” says Arts Officer Orla Scannell. “It’s directly connected with the participation in last year’s centenary commemorations. That really resonated with people, particularly in young and culturally diverse communities like ours. It demonstrated how the arts can reflect and even help to bring about social development and political change.”
Under the first pillar of Creative Ireland – Enabling the Creative Potential of Every Child – the council is introducing five awards of €2,000 each to promote drama, dance and
People still talk of the sense of betrayal, the scale of the loss and the impact it had
visual arts in primary and secondary schools, and a single award of €5,000 to support groups or collectives of young artists to develop their work.
“It’s all about supporting creative participation by the public, and it’s going from strength to strength,” says Orla. “One of the key areas we’re focusing on is the development of Tallaght as a cultural and creative hub. We’re fortunate to have exceptional talent and great amenities including the Civic Theatre, Rua Red Arts Centre, and Tallaght Community Arts, one of the longest established community arts organisations in the country.”
In keeping with the Creative Ireland ethos, Maolíosa Boyle, Director of Rua Red, is designing a new programme for the centre which she says will look at social and political issues that affect people and place.
“South Dublin County is currently made up of 120 different nationalities which makes it an incredibly rich and diverse county informed by many wonderful traditions and social backgrounds,” she says.
“Creative Ireland embraces this and celebrates the right of every single person in this county to participate in the cultural life of the nation. It values the wide breadth of vision, experience, skills, thinking and imagining that each individual holds.
“Rua Red will utilise the wealth of cultural and social capital within the county and work in tandem with other arts organisations and venues in the area to create a living, vibrant centre of creativity that is both risk taking and challenging. It’s important, because the arts give us a better understanding of ourselves and the world that we live in.
“We’re very excited about Creative Ireland and look forward to being involved over the next five years.”