Music and entertainment for young and old!



1.30pm
Irish Air Corps Pipe Band (Parade & Recital)

2.00pm
Musical Parade through Ranelagh Gardens Headed by Flower City Chinese Dragon and including performances from Ma Samba Youth Group, Percussion and dance groups from local national schools, The Eymard Choir and many more.

2.30pm
Samba Dance and Percussion
Children from all four Ranelagh national schools will perform Samba dance and percussion.

2.50 pm
MaSamba Youth Group
They dedicated to collective music making and creating opportunities for other to experience Latin-American music in a fun and creative way

3.10pm
The Eymard Philippino Choir
This is a Philippino group in traditional dress and much more.

3.30pm
Independent Theatre Workshop
Local Theatre Group for Young People, perform some theatrical classics

4.00pm
Battle of the Bands
Local Bands battle it out to win this competition!

5.00pm
Dublin City Workingman’s Band
Formed in 2003, this 5 piece band have been dubbed the "the Dubliners for the noughties". (The Irish Times Ticket). They are a high energy band with a large repertoire of Irish ballads.
Website Link

Other Attractions:

- Chinese Dragon, watch out he eats cabbage!

- Traditional games organised by Dublin City Council

- Face Painting / Clowns

- Dress up corner and lots more.

Host: John Keogh
Special guests: Peter Adler, Henry McCullough, Ditch Cassidy, Brian Harris, Noel Bridgeman, Frank Boylan, Jimmy Faulkner and James Delaney Musical Director: Anto Drennan

Event conceived and managed by: Terry Connaughton

Showbands inevitably spring to mind when most people think of popular music in Ireland in the 1960s. But away from the imposing ugly dancehalls, where neatly groomed line-ups blandly covered the chart hits of the day, lay an altogether more alternative scene. If you paid a visit to a suburban tennis club on a Saturday night or stumbled down the slippery stairs to the subterranean No. 5 Club on Harcourt Street, you would have come across a booming underground movement that thrilled

Irish kids with a fervent heady mixture of soul, R&B, beat and rock ’n’ roll. A dynamic, lively and youthful music scene rapidly developed in Dublin during the mid-1960s, jolted into lifeby the earth-shattering impact of The Beatles, Rolling Stones and other R&B and Merseybeat groups. Kids picked up guitars, banged on drums, hollered into microphones and became part of a musical era that has been almost forgotten in the history of Irish rock and pop. To celebrate this unique scene, some of the finest musicians of that time will revisit one of their spiritual homes — Mount Pleasant Tennis Club — for a very special one-off performance.

Musical director for the evening will be Anto Drennan and the show will be hosted by John Keogh Keogh, pianist with the Greenbeats, the trailblazers that were most responsible for kicking off the whole beat scene in Ireland. Joining him on stage will be one of Ireland’s finest rock guitarists, Brian Harris Harris, who played with The Creatures, a hugely popular act that toured the USA in 1966 after tasting

domestic success with their controversial single Turn Out The Light. Ireland’s answer to James Brown, the legendary Ditch Cassidy will be on hand to belt out a selection of his ground-shaking soul classics. Noel Bridgeman Bridgeman, of progressive rock pioneers Skid Row, will take the drummer’s stool for the night.

Travelling from slightly further afield to re-unite with their pop contemporaries for the evening are two of the beat scene’s most fondly remembered characters — blues maestro Henry McCullough McCullough, erstwhile guitarist with soul band The People (which subsequently developed into psychedelic popsters, The Eire Apparent), and ultra-hip man of cool, Peter eter A Adler dler dler, who strutted devilishly around stages in dark shades with Bluesville, The Action and the Next-in- Line. A memorable evening is guaranteed for all.

Text by Daragh O’Halloran, author of Green Beat: The Forgotten Era of Irish Rock Rock, to be published in November 2006 by Brehon P Press

'Traditional Music Night,' once again featuring Ciaran Tourish, best known as the nimble fingered fiddler from Altan, one of East Donegal's most celebrated musical exports, recognised by fellow musicians worldwide as an unusually gifted player. To be singled out amid the hotbed of traditional music in Donegal, is no small accomplishment. Tourish grew up surrounded by Irish traditional music's best.

He will be joined by legendary guitarist Arty McGlynn, the great Sean’Og Potts on pipes and Jim Higgins. Last year as a very special guest Ciaran was accompanied by the marvellous Paul Brady and he tells us that this year he will be joined by another distinguished performer.

Featuring:
The Cullenswood Singers, the DSO Chamber Group and Charles Pearson

Programme: DSO Chamber Group
- Serenade No. 13 Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
- A selection from Mozart's Chamber
repertoire

Cullenswood Singers, accompanied by
Charles P Pearson earson
- Ave Verum
- Laudate Dominum KV 339 - Mass in C Major (Great Credo Mass) KV 257

2006 marks the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth and the Ranelagh Arts Festival will honour this musical genius with a performance by the Cullenswood Singers, accompanied by organist Charles Pearson and featuring the DSO Chamber Group.

The Cullenswood Singers were formed in 1997 by Ranelagh musician Liobhán Boylan. The choir has performed in various venues, including Knock, St. Ann's Church in Dawson Street, the Fleadh Cheoil in Ballina, the Sligo Choral Festival and the Ranelagh Arts Festival 2005. The choir sings a range of classical, modern and sacred choral music. The choir's annual Christmas Carol Concert in Beechwood Church is one of the highlights of Christmas festivities in the Ranelagh area.
The DSO Chamber Group is made up of members of the Dublin Symphony Orchestra (DSO). The DSO was established in 1967 and has performed extensively throughout Ireland.

Charles Pearson is one of the most sought-after organists in Dublin. He has performed throughout the country and made a number of recordings with the Palestrina Choir.

Fí an dúchais choitinn: Caint agus taispeánadh le Gary Hastings agus Brian Mullen

Tá a fhios ag go leor daoine gurb ionann fonn don amhrán Carrickfergus agus do Do bhí Bean Uasal. Níl ansin ach sampla amháin den dóigh a bhfuil traidisiúin cheoil agus amhránaíochta na hÉireann, sa dá theanga, fite le chéile le fada an lá. Bhéarfaidh Gary Hastings agus Brian Mullen léargas suaithinseach sultmhar dúinn ar an mhuintearas seo. Is Feirsteach é an Canónach Gary Hastings, Reachtaire Chathair na Mart, cáil air mar fhliúiteadóir tradisiúnta, taighde déanta aige ar cheol na nOráisteach agus na Ribíneach. Tá aithne ar Bhrian Mullen ó Dhoire mar chraoltóir agus DJ, agus mar amhránaí tradisiúnta. Tá eolas fairsing aige ar thraidisiúin cheoil i nÉirinn agus thar lear.

Our entwined heritage: A talk and demonstration by Gary Hastings and Brian Mullen

The musical culture of this island is a complex interweaving of Scottish, Welsh, English and Gaelic influences, not to mention American and continental Europe. Ulster’s turbulent history complicates the whole business even more. Gary Hastings and Brian Mullen explore the layers of musicality in the north of Ireland, usually hidden beneath simplistic Orange and Green masks.

Brian is a well-known traditional singer and songcollector, as well as being a presenter with the BBC. Gary is the Church of Ireland Rector in Westport and a traditional flute player. Their talk will be illustrated with live music and song in English and Irish. They will speak mainly in Irish, but will provide the necessary links in English for those whose Irish is rusty.

A Chinese-Irish Karaoke Night, hosted by Zhang Ning – otherwise known as Andy – one of the best-known Chinese people in Ranelagh and a big hit with the patrons of Birchall's and Smyth's pubs!

'A Taste of Ranelagh Art' is a group exhibition by some local artists, coordinated by Mello Bleahen. The two-day exhibition will feature many artistic genres and influences, including portraiture, urban landscapes, still life, abstracts, landscapes and illustrations.

The local artists featured in this exhibition are:

Cian McLoughlin
Rosemary McLoughlin
Caroline Canning
Aine Clinton
Molly Browne
Noel Lewis
Gerhardt Gallagher
Imelda Healy
P.J. Lynch
Mark Ryan
Marie Hennesey
Yoko Akino
Michael Wolfen
Simon Legge
Simon O’Donnell

The Fanzini Brothers are Italian Kerrymen and they bring us their new show Deathwish, full of family-friendly machetés, beds-of-nails, axes, hair-raising pogo-sticking and the eye-popping Wheel of Death. This is a 40-minute interactive, comedy circus skills show. Do not miss these heroes of the Irish circus scene!

Gavin Ryan was born in Cork in 1974. He became interested in drumming when he was about 10 years of age, playing all the usual clichés - pots and pans, biscuit tins and plastic buckets. He joined a local pipe band, St. Finbarr's, where he learned the rudiments of percussion. He played with the band for 3 years, before eventually buying his own drum kit. Gavin is heavily influenced by Virgil Donati, Grant Collins and Thomas Lang, and has played many gigs with different bands all over Ireland and the United Kingdom.

A humorous, enchanting and sparkling memoir, this is the story of a young boy who grew up in Dublin in the 1940s and ’50s, first on the banks of the Grand Canal and later in Ranelagh. It is also everyone’s story of the joys and pitfalls of growing-up, told with delightful and infectious humour. The boy, confused by everything, as only the first-born can be, romps through the first 13 years of his childhood like a bockety bicycle that won’t quite go where it’s steered. His early playground is the Grand Canal bank where, in the company of his friends — some more bockety than others — he goes crashing through the reeds, fishing nets flapping, in search of pinkeens.

Washing consisted of being sluiced down by your mam in a tin by bicycles, of a boy who hid behind the door and listened as the magnificent mams gathered and smoked and talked, after scrubbing the granite doorsteps until the flecks in them sparkled in the sunlight like silver.

In those days, a trip out to the seaside at Booterstown on the crossbar of your dad’s bike was as good as a trip to Spain. It was the days of Cleeve’s toffee and Nancyballs and Sailor’s Chew and Honey Bees and Fizz Bags and Gobstoppers. And a little later there was the terrible confusion of girls.

Bockety is a heart-warming story about a world and a time long gone — but not forgotten.

All in the Blood is a memoir compiled and edited by Honor O Brolchain from the writings of her grandmother, Geraldine Plunkett Dillon (1891-1986), daughter of Count Plunkett and sister of Joseph Mary Plunkett, one of the executed 1916 leaders.

Geraldine Plunkett Dillon (‘Gerry’) wrote extensively about her family and ancestors, including Patrick Plunkett and Patrick Cranny, who were builders and developers in Rathmines, Donnybrook and Ballsbridge in the 19th century. She also depicted growing up in chaos at 26 Fitzwilliam Street and various other houses with her six siblings, her whimsical violent mother and quiet scholarly father.

Her story tracks through the new National University, where she studied Chemistry, events before and during the Rising (she was married on Easter Sunday, 1916 and watched the beginning of the Rising from the window of the Imperial Hotel in O’Connell Street) and through jails, raids, births and deaths, to the terror of Galway in Black and Tan times.

She writes with a unique style — blunt, entertaining and unsentimental — giving her story more the feeling of a novel than a piece of history.

To coincide with the publication of her book, Honor O Brolchain will talk about the rich, revolutionary but decidedly eccentric family, the Plunketts. Signed copies of this fascinating contribution to Irish family and political history will be available.

All in the Blood is published by Ranelagh publishers, A&A Farmar.

‘Celebrating Maeve Brennan’ will be an evening of music, readings and performance, inspired by the work of Ranelagh-born writer, Maeve Brennan. In 1934, Maeve Brennan’s father was posted to New York as part of the Irish diplomatic corps. The family settled in New York, where Maeve spent most of her life. In 1949, she joined the staff of The New Yorker, to which she contributed for more than 30 years. Between 1954 and 1981, she wrote for ‘The Talk of the Town’ column, a series of sketches about life in Manhattan, which she later compiled into a book called The Long Winded Lady. The New Yorker also published many of her short stories in a collection entitled The Springs of Affection.

After her death in 1993, an unknown novella, written by Brennan in the mid- 1940s, was discovered among her papers in a university archive. This novella, The Visitor, was published in Ireland, by New Island, to great critical acclaim in 2000.

Her biographer, Angela Bourke, will introduce the programme and there will be contributions from Ranelagh-based writers, Bill Barich, Evelyn Conlon, Aidan Matthews and James Ryan. Renowned local actress Olwen Fouere, will also contribute.

Local jazz musician Anna Jordan will play and sing the music of Billie Holiday, who was a contemporary of Maeve Brennan’s and much admired by her during her life in New York.

One night in the Pub, long after closing time, a brace of segocias — being Dublin men, you understand — and the landlord of the house were risking an endorsement by being there at all at that hour, not to mention the fact that they were also drinking!

Any fears they might have had regarding the endorsement would have been well-founded, for as they sat there that night, a Garda Sergeant was indeed on the prowl and did knock on the panels of the locked front door. The events that followed are the subject of a play, Thirst, which being staged in licensed premises throughout Ranelagh for the duration of the Arts Festival is, naturally, deeply suspect!

It will be directed by Niall Henry, who made the mistake of suggesting the idea to Brendan Ellis, who will play the landlord. Seán Gormley and Finbar Byrne have agreed to allow themselves to be transplanted from their normal haunts to inhabit this imaginary bar as Jem and Peter for the duration of the performances, while the Garda Sergeant will be played by Desmond Ellis, visiting his native Ranelagh from the dry wastes of Toronto for the launch of his new book, Bockety.

Friedhelm Arntz, meanwhile, will cast a cold eye on props and costumes for the performances. Written by one of Ireland’s great literary geniuses, Flann O’Brien — a man renowned for his sharp wit and biting satire — Thirst promises to give you a completely different take on your regular visit to the pub.

Date, Locations and Times

Thurs 28th Sep
Russell's pub 9.15pm

Fri 29th Sep
Corrigan's pub 7pm

Sat 30th Sep
Humphrey's pub 2pm

Sat 30th Sep
Russell's pub 6pm

Sun 1st Oct
Humphrey's pub 1pm

Sun 1st Oct
McSorley's pub 7pm

Sun 1st Oct
Birchall's pub 9pm
Last event of the Festival!

This is a Free Event

This is an opportunity to recite or sing a poem of your choice, either your own or that of another poet. The Speakeasy is
your chance to 'have your say' in a well-known Ranelagh pub. The event will be hosted by Macdara Woods, a renowned Irish poet who lives in Ranelagh.
All are welcome.

Presented by Dr Elaine Sissons

Patrick Pearse's school, Scoil Éanna (St. Enda's), founded in Cullenswood House on Oakley Road in 1908, has been called Pearse's most radical experiment. So child-centred was the school that it has been described as a 'child republic'. It fostered the individual talents of each child through a holistic education - which started with digging the garden.

The school became the centre of the cultural Nationalist Movement and a hub for artists of the day, including Jack B. Yeats, William Butler Yeats, Beatrice Elvery and Sarah Purser, who created an original stained glass window for the school. The house, probably Ranelagh's most historic, still boasts some Celtic Twilight wallpaper. Appropriately, it is now home to Gaelscoil Lios na nÓg.

Dr. Elaine Sissons, standing where Pearse probably stood to teach, presents her fascinating illustrated lecture on events within these historic walls during the Pearse years, when Ranelagh was the crucible of Irish cultural nationalism.

Lecture by veteran politician, Ruairí Quinn

Ruairí Quinn is a former leader of the Labour Party and author of Straight Left, his political biography. He is a sitting TD in Dublin South-East Constituency and has served in various ministerial positions in previous Governments. He is currently the Labour Party's spokesperson on Enterprise, Trade and Employment. He has been involved in politics in this constituency for over 30 years.

Walking Tour of Ranelagh with Sally Corcoran and Marie Carew

The Historical Walking Tour of Ranelagh will begin at the Triangle in Ranelagh (in front of Centra), each group of 25 will have a fascinating guided walk around the village. The tour encompasses the numerous historical sites and important buildings in the Ranelagh area, as well as learning about some of the interesting social aspects of life through the ages.

This tour offers a unique opportunity to visit this awardwinning primary school in the company of its designer, architect and local resident Sheila O'Donnell of O'Donnell and Tuomey Architects. The school, completed in 1998, was awarded the Royal Institute of Architects in Ireland (RIAI) triennial gold medal in 2005 for the best building completed in Ireland during the period 1998-2000.

The school was designed in consultation with local residents and conservation groups, and is a wonderful example of how a modern functional building can be incorporated into an established historic area. The 8-classroom school is made up of internal and external spaces that interlock to make one block of interdependent components. The yellow-brick exterior of the building is particularly sensitive to the colour and character of the surrounding Georgian terraces. It is a fantastic achievement for the architects and a great coup for the village of Ranelagh that the school has won the most prestigious prize for architecture that can be awarded in Ireland.

With Father Paul Freeney

The parish of the Holy Name is 100 years old this year. The tour will concentrate on the history and interior of the Church of the Holy Name. It was designed by architects Messrs. William H. Byrne and Son, and formally opened on 28th June 1914. The interior is elaborately decorated with marble and mosaic, and there are many fine stained glass windows.

With Dermot James

This event will cover the history of the parish of Sandford and its church, celebrating its 180th birthday this year. The tour offers a unique opportunity to view the interior of one of the architectural treasures of Ranelagh and to see the wonderful stained glass window, depicting St. Peter and St. Paul, designed by Harry Clarke in 1927.

For the very first time and exclusively for the Ranelagh Arts Festival, Helen Dillon will open her world-famous garden
and house for free.

Within a walled rectangular garden, typical of Dublin's Georgian townhouses, Helen Dillon has spent the last 34 years creating one of the most beautiful town gardens in Ireland. Set around a newly created canal surrounded in Irish limestone, the mixed borders of shrubs and herbaceous perennials reveal unusual plants and exciting colour combinations.

Exploration unveils a necklace of secret rooms with raised beds for rarities, such as lady's slipper orchids or doubledflowered Trillium. On the sunken terrace, terracotta pots sprout more rare plants. Clumps ofangel's fishing rods (Dierama) arch over the sphinxes and a small alpine house and conservatory shelter the choicest species, including what is considered the most beautiful climber in the world, the national flower of Chile, Lapageria rosea (named after Napoleon's wife). The front garden has recently been paved in pink Chinese granite.

The Dillon Garden is open to the public in March, July and August (on a daily basis, 2pm-6pm) and in April, May, June and September (on Sundays only, 2pm-6pm).

Note: Cinemobile schedule may be subject to alteration. Please check with Festival Office on 085 742 7212 or at www.ranelagharts.org.

A mobile cinema showing films for all ages.

Cinemobile is a large truck which transforms into a 100 seater state of the art cinema, fully heated, air conditioned and with Dolby Surround Sound.

Film Schedule Cinemobile schedule may be subject to alteration. Please check in advance with festival office on 085 743 7212 or on www.ranelagharts.org

This is one of the most-loved and celebrated film musicals of all time from MGM, before a mass exodus to filmed adaptations of Broadway plays emerged as a standard pattern. It was made directly for film, and was not a Broadway adaptation.

Lightning McQueen is a cocky, rookie race car. Speeding on his way to a big race, he crashes into Radiator Springs, destroying lots of the inhabitant’s belongings. In order to make up for what he did, the cocky roadster is sentenced to community service. Though he will do anything to get away from the work, McQueen must learn to respect and bond with the Radiator Springs inhabitants in order to get out of the town and back on the racetracks.

Come early for special 'Cars' face-painting session!

Films that are 7 minutes or less in duration. A panel of well-known judges from the world of film-making, including Michael Dwyer, Redmond Morris, Philip King, Jane Doolan and Daniel O'Hara, has decided on the prize-winners and prizes will be awarded after the screenings. This is an exciting opportunity for the public to see the work of the film-makers of the future!

With full support programme and introduced by a special guest

This film is one of the most significant films made in Ireland in the silent period. Produced by Dr Isaac Eppel in 1926, its release coincided with the 10th anniversary of the Easter Rising. It is a love story played against the backdrop of the War of Independence which ingeniously incorporates newsreel footage of the Black and Tans and the burning of Cork within the dramatised narrative. For decades believed lost, the Irish Film Archive has now restored Irish Destiny – including the painstakingly hand-tinted sequences - to its original glory.

With full support programme

This film is a landmark in modern cinema, launching the French New Wave and turning François Truffaut from a critic into one of the world's most distinguished film makers.

12-year-old Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud ) lives in a tiny flat with his mother and stepfather, who are poor and generally inattentive. A ruthlessly domineering teacher makes life at school more unbearable than at home. His only escape from the shackles of everyday life is to bunk off school with his one friend, go to the fairground, or visit the cinema. His problems deepen as frustration, desperation, and loneliness lead to his expulsion from school and subsequent running away from home.

Come at 7.40 for a cheese and wine reception!

European Mobility Week is a campaign to encourage young people to walk, cycle and use public transport to get to school. Administered by Dublin City Council, the campaign is asking each of the national schools in Ranelagh to hold an art competition and exhibition based around walking and cycling. In return, Dublin City Council has promised three new state-of-the-art bicycles to each participating school as prizes for the competition. This is a great opportunity for the three winners in each school to get brand new bikes. We are grateful to Dublin City Council and, in particular, to Community Arts Officer, Ronan O'Donnell, for this generous offer.

Dublin City Council, Cultural Department, will hold a digital photography course in Ranelagh during November at a venue to be announced. There are approximately 20 places on the course, which will take place over a weekend. This is a fantastic opportunity for residents of Ranelagh to improve their photography skills. If you are interested, please call the Festival office at 085 743 7212 or contact a committee member. Places will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

It's a Basic Introduction to Digital Photography Course with emphasis on Creativity and Digital Technology. The tutor will run through the technical aspects of the camera (resolution etc.), how to download, work on the image, printing etc. and then deal with composition of the picture, how to take better photos, improve images, tips etc.

The very raison d'être of the Ranelagh Arts Festival is to interact with the community and to involve as many aspects as possible of community life in the various events organised. In this regard, we are pleased to announce that a number of artists have agreed to hold masterclasses and workshops in local secondary schools. Among those who have agreed to take part are legendary fiddler Ciarán Tourish and guitar maestro Anto Drennan.