In the cathedral-like Guildhall civic center at the heart of Derry-Londonderry, an exhibit on the history of the city invites visitors to scribble questions or opinions on pieces of paper at the main displays. This seems a genuine effort at inviting dialog, at prompting a community forum, a discussion. The written comments mostly seemed to […]

Michael from Dancing at Lughnasa serves as the narrator in this play and he is one of the characters that I followed the most while reading this piece. Michael comes off as someone who is able to understand the tone of his family while taking certain instances to remove himself from the story. Friel skillfully places the […]

The BBC Broadcast House in Belfast welcomed us like family. It was not at all the bunker I complained about in an earlier post as being today’s position of most news organizations – and this, in a city that was full of bunker defenses not long ago. It’s an old building, with “The British Broadcasting […]

Kate in Dancing at Lughnasa by Brian Friel seems the most actively repressed of the sisters in the play. She has existed as a church school teacher, under the thumb of many rules and the watchful eye of the local people. Kate is the first to attempt to stop something improper, from Rose’s escapade with […]

These are the photos I have managed to take of the Armagh Gaol so far. I have held off on returning to take more because I am being allowed inside the prison tomorrow, where I plan to take much more photos of both the inside and the outside of the building. There will be much […]

Some of my research for my feature story on microbreweries and beer in Ireland was to attend a pub crawl hosted by CAMRA NI, the ‘Campaign for Real Ale in Northern Ireland’. It was one of the craziest reporting experiences I think I have had so far, and was absolutely brilliant. Luckily enough, I had […]

I had the chance to visit the Armagh Cider Company a few weeks ago to get some material for my story. These are just a few of the many pictures I got from that visit. Photo credit to Kelly O’Brien and Clare Bonnyman.

Hi all   Just to let you know I’ve uploaded the power point presentation I would have given you on Friel at the Irish Writers Centre, but for time running out on us … you’ll find it in the Armagh Students 2014 dropbox folder. It might be useful before tomorrow night’s session on Dancing at […]

Tomorrow night, Tuesday, 22 July, at 7pm in Common Room of the hostel, we’ll read Brian Friel’s 1990 play, Dancing at Lughnasa. Placed in August 1936 in the fictional town of Ballybeg, the play is loosely based on Friel’s mother and aunts when they lived in Glenties in west Donnegal. The story takes place around […]

Something Left is a short dramtic piece dealing with the questions of death and sacredness in the aftermath of a pub fight, fire and death.