It would have been Leonard Cohen’s ninetieth birthday if he’d lived a little longer, and even then, Galway’s Library service would have had a decade on him – but marking the bedsit balladeer’s big birthday provided a perfect synergy to celebrate the service’s centenary one more time.

This was the latest chapter in Galway Public Libraries’ Centenary – a wonderful evening of music and performance titled At War with Mercy, held in the Church Gallery Ballinasloe Library to celebrate Leonard’s 90th birthday.

At War with Mercy is a collaborative work between the late Canadian songwriter and poet Leonard Cohen and the writers John McKenna and Angela Keogh.

Cohen and McKenna worked together on the requiem Between your Love and Mine in the months before Cohen’s death in 2016. The idea for At War with Mercy was mooted at that time and now has come to fruition.

“Angela Keogh and myself took some Cohen songs, including Story of Isaac and A Singer Must Die, and some ideas from his Book of Mercy and developed them into theatrical pieces, which sit side by side with the music,” explained John, himself an author and former RTÉ Radio producer.

“The production is a musical and dramatic exploration of war, peace and mercy through 16 Cohen songs – including one never released by the famous singer”.

County Librarian Jo Vahey described the performance as ‘a unique and emotive 90 minute show filled with painful stories, monologues, haunting Leonard Cohen songs and  featuring the incredibly powerful and moving voices of Katie Jacques and Shane Sullivan and the percussion work of Dave Day’.

“It seems both apt and timely that this new show At War with Mercy should reach audiences now as we all grapple with the horrific pictures, sounds and sights of modern-day war shown on our TVs every day,” she said.

“This show with its music, characters and words reflect on the brutality of war and the healing power of peace and mercy,” she added.

Angela Keogh describes At War with Mercy as ‘a tonic for the mind, soul and body and an affirmation in theatre and music of Leonard’s lifelong commitment to mercy and peace in the world’.

The event in Ballinasloe was the West of Ireland premiere of At War with Mercy and a 90th birthday celebration for Leonard Cohen; a night that will be remembered by all who attended not only because of Leonard’s wonderful birthday cake but for a show that was a life-affirming journey, echoing with hope, warmth, haunting music, powerful words and healing.

Pictured: John MacKenna cutting the cake to mark Leonard Cohen’s 90th birthday with the help of nonagenarian Mary Mannion from Moylough, joined by Mary’s daughter Galway County Librarian Jo Vahey and the cast and crew from At War with Mercy.