The building that houses Galway Arts Centre was once home to Lady Gregory’s family. She left her mark on Irish culture and this space continues to explore social issues in a creative way as it supports artists and writers. Its director Megs Morley tells JUDY MURPHY about exciting times ahead.

Megs Morley didn’t grow up in a political house – not with a capital P, at any rate, she says. But politics and social awareness were always part of her life. Megs, the director and curator of Galway Arts Centre, is originally from Mayo but her late mother, Rosemary, was born in Belfast, from where the family was forced to flee in the early 1970s due to the sectarian violence that erupted there.

They settled in Manchester and it was in England that Rosemary met Megs’ late father, Joe, who was working there.

When they moved to his home county of Mayo, Rosemary was “like an exotic flower”, says Megs. But this socially aware woman became central to her community.

Like mother like daughter.

Megs, who has a degree in fine art from Limerick School of Art and Design, and a Masters in Visual Arts Practice from Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art and Design, applied for the job as Director of Galway Arts Centre two years ago for one simple reason.

“Because I care about it,” she says. “It’s a great place. So many people have such fond memories of it and so many people have been supported by Galway Arts Centre in the past. It’s had an important role in the West of Ireland for more than 40 years.”

The Centre – headquartered at 47 Dominick Street in the city, with a performance space at nearby Nuns’ Island – is somewhere Megs was familiar with before she took on the positions of director and curator in September 2021.

She’s lived and worked in Galway for more than 20 years as an artist and curator, so she knows the worth of this space, which was set up in 1982.

“It’s there to support and foster artists and help them develop their careers,” she says. “It’s so important and that’s why I wanted to take it on.”

The Centre is also home to Galway Youth Theatre, headed by Andrew Flynn, and the Cúirt International Festival of Literature, whose director is Manuela Moser, so it’s a real hub of creativity, she says.

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.