Night of culture spreads its wings across the county
THIS Friday, 16 September, is Culture Night, an annual all-island public event that celebrates culture, creativity and the arts.
Culture Night has been running for a number of years now (since 2010 in Cork) and is growing from strength to strength year on year. Cultural heritage takes in a very broad part of human experience, ranging from museums and galleries to craft workers and theatres and everything else in between.
One of the main aims of Culture Night is to encourage more people to visit cultural venues and experience culture in their locality and to remind us all of the fantastic cultural facilities and resources that we have locally and nationally.
Here in the county of Cork, there are dozens of events lined up for the night, ranging from children’s entertainment in Baile Mhúirne to traditional Irish music in Charleville and readings from rehearsed plays in Kanturk, to a Culture Night concert in Mallow. For the full list of events taking place in County Cork, with over 30 listed to date, visit www. culturenight.ie.
In terms of events, September has been an extremely busy month thus far, and what with Culture Night this week, it is great to see such a variety of activities on offer. One highlight of this weekend is the 1916/Aud/War of Independence Commemoration Weekend taking place on Spike Island on both Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th.
Activities on Spike over the weekend will include Irish and Crown Forces re-enactors; an exhibition of original artefacts from the period; lists of prisoners and internees, Spike autograph books, photographs of some of the prisoners as well as militaria and book dealers. All are welcome and for further information visit www.spikeislandcork.ie.
For anyone visiting Spike Island on the Sunday, Cobh will also be a great place to visit with a large ‘Remembering Ireland 1916’ Event taking place. The afternoon, from 2pm to 4.30pm on Cobh’s Promenade, is free for all the family and will feature music, song, games, military reenactments and tastes. Organised by Cobh Animation Team with Cobh Tourism, EFSA and Cobh Sea Angling Club. All are welcome to attend.
The County of Cork really does have a wealth of heritage on its doorstep and more and more people are taking their ‘Sunday drives’ to visit the beautiful towns and villages and overall heritage that the county possesses. Two locations, which will undoubtedly see plenty of visits over the weekend include Bantry and Cloyne.
In Bantry, there is a wonderful living history event taking place in Bantry House. The event, which runs from Saturday 17th to Monday 19th, with showings at 11am, 1pm, 4pm and 6pm, will take audiences on a onehour adventure through time. Audiences will experience a full tour of Bantry House while interacting with the main 19th Century character, a young maid by the name of Mary, as she searches for the hidden treasure of the 3rd Earl of Bantry, William Henry Hare Hedges-White.
For tickets contact Bantry House on 027 50047 or email info@bantryhouse.com. Cost: €15.
In Cloyne, there will be a commemorative weekend in honour of Bishop John Brinkley, looking at science and spirituality and indeed the role of Bishop Brinkley in the historic cathedral of St Colman, Cloyne. On the Saturday participants will be able to enter the Stardome Portable Planetarium, which is on tour from Blackrock Castle Observatory.
There are many further events to look forward to next week and indeed in the weeks ahead. From an Irish-American perspective there will be a wonderful symposium in UCC regarding William Penn, who had lived in Macroom Castle for many years in the 17th Century and soon after founded the City of Philadelphia, USA.
Next week the newly reformed Kiskeam Brass Band will be performing on September 25th and full details of this and further events will be featured in next week’s column.