Across the UK, Irish organisations have been affected by the Covid-19 crisis, with many of them finding it difficult to provide the valuable services and support that they offer the Irish community in Britain. However, many have risen to the challenge that social isolation restrictions pose, by finding alternative ways to reach out and support their members, and the Irish community in general. From 'Trad Sessions' to 'Irish classes', here is an overview of some of the cultural resources that are currently available online and that can be accessed from anywhere in the world.
We will continue to add to this list so remember to check back to see what's new!
Safe Home Ireland
Safe Home Ireland will be hosting a Facebook Live Concert on Saturday 2nd May, involving a fantastic line-up of singers and performers from right around the world and all performing for FREE. You do not need to have a Facebook account to enjoy the concert. However, if you do already have an account, we would be delighted if you could like and share our page with your friends, family, colleagues and other networks!
Acts will include Ciaran Cannon TD, Minister with responsibility for the Diaspora, who is also a renowned musician, together with performers from New York, London, Inverness, Glasgow, Kerry, Galway, Laois, Cork and Mayo! We hope that this event will help us to spread the word about Safe Home, allow us all to feel connected in a time when we must stay apart and provide a great evening of 'Ceol, Caint agus Craic', along the way.
Ceol, Caint, agus Craic – 2nd May 2020 (8-9.30pm). Click here for facebook details.
For further information contact Safe Home directly via Tel: + 353 86 059 4538, Email: info@safehomeireland.com Website: www.safehomeireland.com
Friends, Families and Travellers
Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month (GRTHM) celebrates the diverse ways in which the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities add to the vibrancy of life in the UK and recognises the varied contributions that these communities have made to British Society historically and today.
Since 2008, GRTHM has been celebrated throughout the UK over the month of June. GRTHM shares the history, culture and language of Gypsy, Traveller and Roma communities, as well as other Travelling communities including Showmen and Boaters. Through celebration, education and raising awareness GRTHM helps to tackle prejudices, challenge myths and to raise the voices of Gypsies and Travellers in wider society.
Schools, libraries and museums around the UK throw their support to GRTHM each year providing activities and information which support the aims of challenging stereotypes and supporting community cohesion.
For a full list of digital resources, click here.
The Irish Cultural Centre
The Irish Cultural Centre, Hammersmith was established in 1995 as the premiere centre dedicated to promoting Irish art and culture to the UK. Since its establishment, it has undergone a modern refurbishment and offers the most extensive and diverse artistic and educational programme outside of Ireland. Known as the home of Irish Culture in the UK.
Since the outbreak of Covid-19 the Irish Cultural Centre has launched to great success ICC Digital, with links to films, concerts, readings, and photography. While on Facebook dedicating a week to a theme with the help of the RTE archive.
Sign up to their newsletter online to receive weekly updates and check out their website with all their links here: www.irishculturalcentre.co.uk.
Irish in Britain
Don’t feel alone with songs from home: Irish songs from our living rooms to yours.
Irish in Britain created this music video project to help all of us overcome the isolation we may feel in our own.
'Songs from home' was created by harpist Maev McDaid, a volunteer with Irish in Britain’s Cuimhne project, which promotes support for people living with dementia. Maev contacted musicians across Ireland and beyond who each filmed a performance from which a short film was created with highlights of all the artists’ performances, as well as videos of each in full.
Performers include Beoga playing from living rooms across Ireland, Mairéad Carlin singing Danny Boy from her home in Dublin as well as a duet between Maev herself in London and Greta Svabo Bech in the Faroe Islands.
Maev is working on the next musical collaboration, if you would like to take part, please email comms@irishinbritain.org
Click here to visit this music video project
Family Cèilidhs
Based in Inverness in the Highlands of Scotland, the duo Brian Ó hEadhra | Fiona Mackenzie perform songs from the Gaelic tradition as well as newly composed material drawing inspiration from music and cultures primarily from the North Atlantic fringe.
Brian is originally from Dublin, Ireland and Fiona from the Isle of Lewis, Scotland. Over the past 25 years, they have performed across the globe and recorded on many albums with acts such as Anam, Cruinn and Mackenzie as well as performing on various projects including international films and game soundtracks.
The duos latest album, TUATH - Songs of the Northlands, is released on the Naxos World label and explores the musical and cultural connections between the regions of Northern Europe.
Click here to see our cèilidhs to date.
"Brian Ó hEadhra and Fiona Mackenzie are two extraordinary artists... Both are outstanding singers and songwriters and some of the best voices in the world of Gaelic language."
World Music Central
The Irish Arts Foundation
The Leeds -based Irish Arts Foundation was established in June 1998 and is supported by a number of public and private funders in Ireland and Britain. The charity’s objectives are to provide access to and participation in traditional Irish music and arts through classes, workshops, access to materials, resources, promotion and performance.
One of the flagship projects, 'Untold Stories: The Irish Community in Leeds', is a community archive project which looks at experiences of the emigrant Irish community in Leeds in the second half of the twentieth century, particularly their settlement patterns and cultural traditions such as music, dance, song and sport. Click here to visit Untold Stories.
We are following all currently available advice on best practice to protect our staff, freelance workers, artists and volunteers. As a result have postponed all of our projects, events and community activities to ensure people’s health and well-being is not compromised. New dates will be notified when it is safe to do so. During this period we will be focusing on our online presence and sharing some of the best Irish traditional music and arts digital content and resources available. Visit our facebook page to enjoy, and join in.
Great Famine Voices Roadshow 2020
The National Famine Museum at Strokestown Park and the Irish Heritage Trust have launched the Great Famine Voices Roadshow 2020 “Famine Heroes” virtual events season of documentaries and online lectures.
Click here to visit online Roadshow
These “Famine Heroes” virtual events provide uplifting stories about coping with epidemic and pay tribute to caregivers, both in the mid-nineteenth century and today. They are funded by the Government of Ireland Emigrant Support Programme.
Our next documentary, The Famine Irish and Canada’s First Responders, explores Canada’s compassion in welcoming the 109,000 Irish emigrants fleeing the Great Famine in 1847.n This film visits Grosse Ile, Montreal and Toronto to understand how the memorials to the Irish Famine help to tell the story of courage and compassion on the part of Canada’s First Responders.
See it here and join us for an online post-show discussion on Sunday, April 26th, at 7pm in Ireland and the UK.
Live Q&A - Great Famine Voices Roadshow in Liverpool
Liverpool’s inaugural Great Famine Voices Roadshow goes digital. On Friday May 2nd, from 1pm to 4pm, join online presentations and a live Q&A focused on Ireland’s Great Famine.
Before the break out of Coronavirus/Covid-19, the Irish National Famine Museum at Strokestown Park and the Irish Heritage Trust planned to bring The Great Famine Voices Roadshow to Liverpool. It would have been a UK exclusive. However, moving with the times, we are now bringing together Irish migrants, their descendants and multi-generational Irish communities virtually. The event has been adapted to a curated online presentation series and discussion concerning Ireland’s Great Famine and the migration it created. This will be open to the public via social media.
Registration will give you priority access to the concluding live Q&A session. Depending on demand we may have to limit the live Q&A to preregistered participants only. However, the video presentations will be accessible to all for free and with no registration required. They will be introduced on -and linked to from- the Institute of Irish Studies‘ Twitter account, which can be viewed for free and without registering.
The Roadshow is for
- anyone with family memories or stories of migration from Ireland to share
- Irish migrants and multi-generational Irish people living in Liverpool
- Irish dual-heritage individuals living in the city (particularly those from the African, Asian, Arab, European, Irish Traveller, Roma, Sinti and other diverse communities). Please help us share this invite with these communities
- those aiming to learn more about migration from Ireland to Liverpool.
Details of registration for this event can be found here.
Are you part of an Irish-interest organisation that has online resources to share at this time? Perhaps you know of a digital initiative that would be of Interest to our IrelandXO community at this time? Please get in touch at info@irelandxo.com to let us know!
We hope you have found the information we have shared helpful. While you are here, we have a small favour to ask. Ireland Reaching Out is a non-profit organisation that relies on public funding and donations to ensure a completely free family history advisory service to anyone of Irish heritage who needs help connecting with their Irish place of origin. If you would like to support our mission, please click on the donate button and make a contribution. Any amount, big or small, is appreciated and makes a difference.