IrishCentral art - b5cc3275d518416eacb61d676e8d84d1

The Gathering inspires Kinsale Arts Festival organisers to invite the world for a cup of tea (IrishCentral)

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 05:23:22 PDT

By: IrishCentral Staff Writers

The annual Kinsale Arts Festival has invited the entire Irish diaspora for a cup of tea.

Dingle doesn’t disappoint with annual Feile na Bealtaine festival of Irish music and arts (IrishCentral)

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 04:34:28 PDT

Lumiere in Seamus Begley's caravanAs I was leaving Dingle town last month, a big May bank holiday festival was just getting underway called Feile na Bealtaine featuring a rich array of music and arts programming which I hope to return to in the future To say it celebrates the cultural diversity and depth to be found in that part of the world inhabited by West Kerry natives and wannabes is an understatement In particular, the link between poetry, song and music stands out, and some of that was brilliantly captured in a CD that I picked up there along with three others mentioned here in this column produced by three resident artistsAdmittedly I am a late catching up with Beal Tuinne, a performance that was recorded back in 2007 in St READ MORE

New York's Aisling Center launches new art contest (IrishCentral)

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 08:49:15 PDT

New York's Aisling CenterThe Aisling Irish Community Center in Yonkers has announced the launch of its new art competitionDesign a Sign The competition is open to everybody from school students to amateur artists to professional designersThe Aisling Center on McLean Avenue is expanding and will be doubling its current space READ MORE

Vince Vaughn movie “Art of Conflict: the Murals of Northern Ireland” to be released on Netflix (IrishCentral)

Fri, 31 May 2013 04:52:17 PDT

By: JANE WALSH

The “Art of Conflict: the Murals of Northern Ireland”, a documentary produced and narrated by Vince Vaughn will launch on Netflix on June 1.

In twilight years and refusing to go quietly - 'These Halcyon Days' at The Irish Arts Center - VIDEO (IrishCentral)

Fri, 17 May 2013 05:03:58 PDT

Anita Reeves and Stephen Brennan star in These Halcyon DaysIt seems that the most vital voices in Irish playwriting currently belong to women For proof stop by the Irish Arts Center in New York this weekend and catch 'These Halcyon Days' by Deirdre Kinahan A lovely, understated marvel about life and loss and finding the courage to keep on going, it features pitch perfect performances by the two leads, Anita Reeves and Stephen BrennanSet in a nursing home (Kinahan’s dramatic instinct takes her to places other writers avoid), we meet the elderly Sean, who has essentially been abandoned by his loved ones, dropped off and completely forgotten READ MORE

Kilkennny Arts Festival to showcase exciting mix of music, theatre, dance and visual arts - VIDEO (IrishCentral)

Thu, 16 May 2013 08:42:23 PDT

By: JANE WALSH

August 2013 will see the 40th Kilkenny Arts Festival bring an exciting mix of Irish and International music, theatre, dance, craft, visual arts, literature and more to the medieval city located in the South-East of Ireland. Ireland’s oldest multi-disciplinary festival is celebrating an unrivalled legacy which has seen some of the biggest names and most exciting newcomers in the arts from around the world flock to Kilkenny.

Waterford artist Seamus Kelly bog art reflects on 13,000 years of Irish history (IrishCentral)

Tue, 14 May 2013 05:49:55 PDT

By: MICHELLE K SMITH

Waterford artist Seamus Kelly makes art out of thousands of years old submerged wood and ancient animal specimens that he finds in wetlands. Taking his inspiration from the Irish bogs, his iconic art gives a modern twist to Irish history.

‘Twilight’ star Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart bought a state-of-the-art karaoke machine (IrishCentral)

Sat, 11 May 2013 05:18:42 PDT

Kristen Stewart and Robert PattinsonThe couple - who rekindled their relationship at the end of last year after splitting following the actress' affair with director Rupert Sanders - splashed out on the singing machine so they enjoy their favourite pastime in the comfort of their own luxury home, complete with a stage and atmospheric lightingA source told The Sun newspaper: "They both absolutely love karaoke They used to go to bars whenever they could, but more often than not they'd get hassled by people"So Rob surprised Kristen with their own machine READ MORE

Irish artist Roy Lyndsay's Art Exhibition comes to US for first time (IrishCentral)

Tue, 07 May 2013 02:18:39 PDT

Lobster Fishermen of SkelligsFor the first time ever in the United States, Irish artist Roy Lyndsay will be exhibiting his work at the Skinners Fine Art Auctioneers in Boston As part of the “American and European Works of Art” show, local art enthusiasts have a chance to view the breathtaking work of one of Ireland’s leading artistsRoy Lyndsay was born in Castlederg, Co Tyrone, Ireland in 1945 READ MORE

New Irish festival GaelFest to showcase music, dance, sports, arts and literature (IrishCentral)

Tue, 07 May 2013 05:20:47 PDT

By: JANE WALSH

On Saturday, June 1st 2013, Claddagh na nGael will present a brand new festival, GaelFest, celebrating traditional Irish culture in all its varied forms and expressions.

Irish Arts Center appoints Nik Quaife as Director of Communications and External Affairs (IrishCentral)

Thu, 02 May 2013 05:37:46 PDT

By: CAHIR O'DOHERTY

Nik Quaife, one of Ireland’s best known arts publicists and the founder and director of Dublin-based Zoetrope Arts Public Relations company, has been appointed Director of Communications and External Affairs at the Irish Arts Center here in New York.

Matt Damon has received the 2013 Harvard Arts Medal (IrishCentral)

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 09:48:18 PDT

Matt Damon has received the 2013 Harvard Arts MedalAlthough the 42-year-old actor dropped out of the prestigious university to pursue his Hollywood ambitions, Matt received the accolade on Thursday for his work with the arts'Third Rock From The Sun' actor John Lithgow - who also attended Harvard - presided over the ceremony, where he spoke about Matt's time at the educational institutionPrevious winners of the Harvard Arts Medal include Tommy Lee Jones, Jack Lemmon, and Yo-Yo MaMatt Damon and his wife Luciana - who raise four daughters, Alexia, 14, Isabella, six, Gia, four, and two-year-old Stella, together - recently listed their seven-bedroom property for $20 million, $9 READ MORE

Roald Dahl's Matilda battles bullies on Broadway (IrishCentral)

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 12:47:59 PDT

Bertie Carvel steals scenes and carries the showThe truth is Matilda isn't one of Roald Dahl's most interesting works Oh, it's a charming and typically dark effort by the old master and you'll certainly find yourself rooting for his bright and put-upon young creation, but there are contradictions in the narrative that make you wonder why it takes the time it takes for the story to end happilyThat's not the case with the Royal Shakespeare Company's absurdly entertaining new musical Matilda based on Dahl's book, now playing on Broadway READ MORE

Dubliner’s Luke Kelly is still alive, alive oh - there’s never been more ballad singers in Ireland (IrishCentral)

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 05:01:05 PST

I have great news for all of you arising from a lovely singing session in the town of Ennis the other night The good news is that the mighty balladeer Luke Kelly of The Dubliners is not dead at all Forget that story Luke Kelly is alive and well and singing away as good as ever READ MORE

A look at Irish books - from comedy and Typhoid Mary to history and more (IrishCentral)

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 05:31:16 PST

Wacky EireBy Geraldine ComiskeyIreland is the acknowledged home of surrealism and Geraldine Comiskey (a roving reporter for the Sunday World) often has occasion to encounter it at its source Having a journalistic resume that includes getting set on fire by stuntmen, dancing on the wings of a World War II bi-plane (well, who hasn’t?) and joining a circus trapeze troupe, she’s clearly ready for anythingIreland in Comiskey’s book is a magical place where all manner of weirdness awaits you down almost very boreen, so in a way her job is an ideal one, scouring the nation in search of funHer book is an eye-popping procession of dodgy faith healers, rural swingers, ghost hunters, GAA players, all of Irish life really READ MORE

Irish playwright Jimmy Kerr's House Strictly Private was a standout of the recent First Irish Theatre Festival (IrishCentral)

Sun, 11 Nov 2012 06:01:07 PST

Irish playwright Jimmy KerrTwo Irish playwrights emerged from the recent 1st Irish Theatre Festival in New York, and it's time to mark their achievements Playwright Jimmy Kerr is already well known to the Irish community here for his successful run of Ardnaglass on the Air, a knockabout rural comedy which played at the Manhattan Theatre Source in 2010, directed by actress Geraldine HughesBut House Strictly Private, a pitch-black comic drama, is an unexpected follow up to Kerr's rollicking festival debut Tackling the subject of an Irish wake, the play at first unfolds with deceptive simplicity READ MORE

Up below we live - The Irish relationship with death and the finest writers, James Joyce and Paddy Kavanagh included (IrishCentral)

Sat, 13 Oct 2012 05:30:27 PDT

Myself and Paddy Kavanagh on the banks of the canal (Photo: Jim Lowney)While heading out the door to a photo shoot recently, Honey Badger asked with a worried face, “Are you alright?”Apart from being awake too early and working on a Saturday morning, I was grand The question and expression were puzzling thoughShe later explained her concern that maybe I was in dark spirits because of my internet postings the night before while she slept One of them was from Samuel Beckett:“Hereunder lies the above who up below So hourly died that he lived on till now READ MORE

Look at books - Irish artists, fiction and history (IrishCentral)

Sat, 22 Sep 2012 06:32:36 PDT

Prodigals And GeniusesBy Brendan LynchThe Irish love a good pub within walking reach and Ireland’s most gifted artists and thinkers have been no exception As Paris has it’s Left Bank and New York has its Upper West Side, for decades Dublin’s bohemian quarter has been centered around Baggot Street and Leeson Street, fringed by the Grand Canal Among it’s familiars were four winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature and nearly every major Irish writer of the 19 century, including Oscar Wilde, WB READ MORE

“It’s not what you had in mind, but what you find!” - getting to know the poet Ciaran Carson (IrishCentral)

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 10:45:15 PDT

Poet Ciaran CarsonThe above quote was spoken to me by celebrated Northern Irish poet, Ciaran Carson, after his poetry reading (Friday, 24th February) at my beloved school, the University of Limerick (UL)Carson’s reading, organized by the School of Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication UL, as part of the Millstream Common Room Writers Series, was nothing short of inspiring Between his stirring poetic readings and his equally moving musical interludes (Carson is an accomplished flutist as well as poet), to merely say that Ciaran Carson held his audience in a state of transfixion would be doing his performances an injusticeHowever, it wasn’t just Ciaran Carson’s evident poetic and musical talent that motivated me that night READ MORE

Studying Irish literature in sunny Galway City - life is sweet for this Gaelic Girl (IrishCentral)

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 06:15:25 PST

Sun shines on Galway BayThe sun came out twice this week I was super excited Thursday was the sunniest day It was sunny all day and It made my day and walk to school awesome READ MORE