Lifestyle
Madness, creativity and hope in Druid production of Murphy plays Brigit and Bailegangaire
REVIEW – BRIGIT and BAILEGANGAIRE – Druid Theatre
Tom Murphy’s Bailegangaire, with its larger-than-life central character of Mommo, is one of the most powerful, challenging plays in Irish literature.
Mommo with her stories, her piseogs and her razor-sharp tongue, which is also capable of great tenderness, is as Irish as rain. Her two granddaughters, Mary and Dolly, were shaped in Ireland and could only be products of this country. Yet, their emotions – grief, disappointments, anger, love, hope – are universal. But while Bailegangaire has great humanity, it’s not an easy play either for actor or audience. Druid first staged it in 1985 when, under Garry Hynes’ direction, it was universally lauded. Now director and company have revived it, alongside a companion piece, Brigit, which getting its first stage outing.
Both stand alone, but are also being presented as a double bill, with Brigit offering an insight into the early life of Mommo, her husband Seamus and their grandchildren.
It’s an interesting mix. Bailegangaire, set in 1984 is a play where words flow in torrents, emotions overflow and tragedy lies close to the surface. Brigit, set in the 1950s, is an 80-minute piece; more restrained, and as much about the process of artistic creation as it is about domesticity.
Mommo’s husband Seamus (Bosco Hogan) is commissioned by the Reverend Mother of the local convent (Jane Brennan) to carve a wooden statue of St Brigit. His approach to the project, aided by Mommo (Marie Mullen), generates discussions about the transition from paganism to Christianity in Ireland. At times, it’s almost like a lesson in folklore. On other occasions, the play explores the grip of the Catholic Church on 1950s Ireland, with Seamus standing out from the crowd as he refuses to bow to its dominance. We get glimpses of the couple’s domestic routine as they care for their three orphaned grandchildren Mary, Dolly and Tom (Lily McBride, Ailbhe Birkett and Colm Conneely), but this play is more a vehicle to explore ideas and notions than a drama with real, vibrant characters. There are strong performances from all the cast, including Marty Rea as Fr Kilgarrif. It’s an interesting insight into the playwright’s creativity, but not his finest work.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
1923
Optimistic outlook
The optimism of Mr. P. J. Boland was a refreshing thing at the inaugural meeting of the Galway Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday. He saw great good in Galway: it was a delightful place to live and in a place worth working for.
It possessed the elements of greater good in the future; a prideful local patriotism; a desire to see things better done here than elsewhere.
That was a factor that should be availed of but was not. Why? Because men talked and talked of what should be done, but had no organised driving force to translate their ideas into action. Hence the present effort to establish a Chamber of Commerce.
This optimism is a heartening thing, and it will be justified if the new members enter the Chamber of Commerce in the spirt shown by the chairman of the inaugural meeting.
When the Sligo Chamber was being inaugurated of the 29th December last, a Senator A. Jackson, D.L., who presided, pointed out that there was scarcely an important town in England, Wales or Ireland, and certainly not a seaport town that had not a Chamber of Commerce in existence for many years.
He pointed to the significant, but fairly well-established fact in the matter of projected legislation far more importance was paid to representations from Chambers of Commerce than to representations made by municipal bodies or harbour boards.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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Iomar Barrett has many strings to his bow. A former champion footballer, retired teacher, and part-time auctioneer, the Mountbellew man is also a talented musician and composer. But because he doesn’t write down his tunes, many have been lost. His friends Chris Kelly and Proinsias Kitt were determined to record some for posterity as JUDY MURPHY learns.
During Iomar Barret’s younger years, back in the 1960s, legendary musicians like Paddy Moloney (Chieftains) and music collectors including Garech de Brún of Claddagh Records and RTÉ presenter Ciarán Mac Mathúna regularly visited their family home in Mountbellew. The Barretts had a pub and ballroom where traditional music was played and nurtured, and Iomar has many fond memories of those days and nights.
His father Paddy (PV) Barrett, originally from Killimor near Portumna, was a talented fiddle player who was involved in setting up a branch of Comhaltas in Mountbellew, along with other local Irish music enthusiasts.
But while PV played fiddle and Iomar’s mother, Philomena, played piano, Iomar says that it was his first music teacher, Tommy Mulhaire, who gave him a real grá for the button accordion and the tradition generally.
The legendary composer and fiddle player Paddy Fahey from Kilconnell was another major influence on the young Iomar even if he didn’t realise that until later.
Like Paddy Fahy, Iomar is also a composer and his second CD, Sweet Mountbellew Town, is being launched next week in Galway’s Town Hall Theatre, with the legendary Máirtín O’Connor doing the honours. The event is a fundraiser for COPE,
This album was recorded with conjunction with Mountbellew guitarist Chris Kelly, while Castleblakeney man Proinsias Kitt also features.
Nobody could accuse Iomar of rushing his second album as it’s been 25 years since his debut offering, Fresh Notes, with Chris Kelly having played a major role in its creation too.
Like most traditional musicians, Iomar wasn’t trained to read music and while he composes lots of tunes, he doesn’t commit them to paper.
If he gets an idea for a tune, he’ll pick up the accordion and start composing on the instrument.
“Sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don’t. Sometimes it’s middling and sometimes it’s awful and you throw it out,” he says of his creations. “If something is good enough it’ll stand the test of time.”
By that, he means a tune will remain in his head until he’s familiar with it.
And music isn’t his only talent. In his youth, Iomar shone at sport, playing football at club and county level and winning a Minor All-Ireland football medal with Galway.
His day job was as a maths teacher in Ballinasloe’s Garbally College until he retired, and the family had a hardware business in Mountbellew. These days, Iomar “does a bit of auctioneering”. He never wanted to play music for a living but it has always been central to his life.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Health, Beauty and Fashion with Denise McNamara
Jewellery can be a very difficult thing to buy for anybody else as my husband will duly attest. It’s very hard to turn around and say you don’t like what they agonised over buying you. And to sense that somebody isn’t crazy about what you bought them.
An interesting article came in which purports to help narrow that choice based on astrology.
Probably the greatest load of guff but it makes for fascinating reading. I do happen to agree with their jewellery choice for me, a Leo.
I can never resist reading my star signs predictions if I happen upon them in a newspaper or magazine. And I’m not alone. Last month alone 862,000 people searched for ‘zodiac signs’ across the water.
There has been an 85 per cent increase in searches for zodiac jewellery in the last year, prompted no doubt by the likes of Meghan Markle, Hailey Bieber, Bella Hadid and Rihanna sporting jewellery of their or their loved ones’ zodiac signs.
A Zodiac sign refers to the constellations through which the sun passes and has been used for years by astrologers to predict a person’s personality traits. The 12 different Zodiac signs are spread out across the calendar year and you will fall under the sign if born on a specific date.
Astrologer and celebrity psychic Inbaal Honigman has partnered with British company Hatton Jewellers to zone in on what the best match would be for each zodiac sign when it comes to jewellery.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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