Lit Crawl Sunday 30 June 2024

For more than a year Mick McDonnell was the right hand man of Michael Collins as leader of The Squad, the Dublin IRA's paid assassins. Until he wasn't. In the second half of 1920 he simply disappeared. Some months later he turned up in San Jose, California, working for the Irish-American businessman 'Big' John McEnery. His son, Tom McEnery, two term mayor of San Jose, and Myles Dungan have collaborated in a speculative drama, a two-hander, about McDonnell, The Springtime Assassin. It's a work in progress and Lit Crawl presents a reading with Deirdre Hurley and Myles Dungan.

This talk will discuss the work of advocates over the centuries (Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797), Samuel Whyte (1733-1811), and Mrs Hugo Reid (1815-1902), among others, who developed an ideology supportive of women’s admission to university and which finally culminated in the work of William Graham Brooke. The talk will argue that while the advocates referred to crafted the ideology supportive of women’s higher education and university admission, it was Brooke’s signal achievement to successfully confront those institutions, principally Trinity College and the Royal Dublin Society, which had vested interests in opposing their efforts and ultimately to secure women’s admission to the University of Dublin (Trinity College) in 1903 and the National University of Ireland in 1908.

The Hag with the bag is a fantasy story about Edith Honeysuckle, who has the power to move between the human and animal worlds with ease, thanks to her shapeshifting abilities. She is known throughout her community for her power to cure human and animal ailments alike. Edith, loved her animal friends but not everyone had the same love and understanding of the animal kingdom as Edith, and some even went out of their way to harm them. In this story, it was Edith’s mission, along with an unexpected ally, to change their minds.

Julie Coyle is a psychic medium, healer and Spiritualist living near Kells. She is also a family tree genealogist and historian and has recently published her biography on the world-famous Navan born psychic and trance medium, Eileen J. Garrett. During her five years of meticulous research, she has uncovered many inaccuracies and fabrications contrary to what Garrett revealed in her autobiographies and memoir about her early life in Meath and later in London. “Eileen J. Garrett: Fact or Fabrication?” is a compelling biography which uncovers the truth about who this complex Irish psychic and trance medium really was.

Breathless tells the story of three very different sisters. Are they pulling their weight? Not everything is as it appears to be.Written by Mick Roban, Directed by Andrea Molloy & Jimmy Smith

The inaugural "My Life In Song" will feature well-known local performer & collector of songs, Ollie Clarke who will perform a set of songs that spoke to him from childhood & right through his life. Music is seen by many as the highest form of the arts & the most skilled can conjure the depth of a novel in mere minutes. Expect lots of Dylan, Young, Springsteen, McGowan, Cohen & Kelly. "Best interpreter of Dylan outside of The Band" Peter Ward, Rollin’ Stone

Reading from 'The Springtime Assasin' - Act 2 Refer to Event No. LC. 1 - the Reading continues.

Liam McNiffe will illustrate with famous, and not so famous paintings, what to look-out for, when viewing art: Subject matter, category, composition, perspective, colour, emotional response, period etc. Always remembering that: A little knowledge of painting can make us snobbish. Instead, it should help to open our eyes, not loosen out tongues.

The aSpired Writers Group from Kells is going from strength to strength with some exceptionally talented writers and novelists as their members. Come along to find out what the group is all about and join Mandy Gilsenen as she reads from her soon to be published debut novel ‘One for Sorrow’, Monica McGuinness reads from ‘Crowfield’ and Mary Lynch reads from ‘The Wedding Dress’

‘I imagine this beautiful winged-creature sweeping across the frost-tinged fields from that far-off wild westerly sea. She hovers over this tiny house, and drifts down through its rafters, peering at me here, standing in my kitchen...... a woman, alone in her thoughts.... a woman, she senses, with a desperate plan’ Reading from his forthcoming stage play, A Dangerous Lunatic, Meath-born writer Martin Towey takes back to rural county Roscommon in the winter of 1914. It’s the dead of night, and 37-year-old mother of nine, Bridget, makes the most desperate decision of her life, to leave her beloved husband and children. This results in catastrophic consequences for all involved. Martin will be joined by actor Michael Hayes and musician Fiona Melady for this poignant, yet thought provoking reading which will be followed by a Q&A with members of the audience.

John Grant, a local song writer, script writer and theatre director will be joined by Kathleen Mc Govern, Jeanne Mc Govern and Seamus Ennis all from Kells Musical Society fame, to perform a selection of his original songs which range from, country, pop and rock, and from his album called ‘Trumpet Sounds’. John will also perform classic songs from the 60’, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s to keep us rockin’, dancing and singing along. We’ll welcome the Munterconnaught Ukelele Group as the interval act. They started out in 2019, have 12 regular members, and always on the look-out for new members!

Reading from 'The Springtime Assasin' - Q&A Refer to Event No. LC. 1 - A post-reading Q&A with author Tom McEnery and director Matthew Spangler.

On the side of the hill, beneath the Spire of Loyd, lies Kells Community Allotments. At the allotments, people from varied and diverse backgrounds come together to grow their own healthy organic fruits and vegetables. Andy Bogie will present the story of the Kells Community Allotments and its growth from a simple idea to a multi--award winning resource that benefits the people of Kells and beyond.

The Valley will take you on their first journey in presenting Bits and Pieces, a hilarious short production full of short comedy acts, where our actors bring to life a range of characters that can be found in every community. Through this chorus of colourful eleven characters, as above in the phone, mainly written and directed by Mick Roban, the story unfolds of a misunderstanding that begins in the local village phone box, but to where will it end? …with the the doctor's receptionist having her say… of that peculiar visit to the Graveyard, where we wonder is it the place of solitude we think it is... Or maybe that intense interview but has the correct wedding preparations been made for it?

There are many questions to be asked, but will we get the right answers? Despite this scandal, these delightful comedy highlights celebrate the power of friendship and community within The Valley Drama Group based in Delvin, Co. Westmeath. Directed by Mick Roban