27 - 30 June 2024

Hinterland Festival 2021

Fáilte go dtí an cúigú feile Hinterland. Buíochas as teacht agus páirt a glacadh san ocáid agus comhluadar seo.

Welcome back to an unusual Hinterland Festival, but one not as out of the ordinary as the 2020 version. We have moved back from the pandemic-stricken online festival of 2020 to an ‘in person’ event this year. Not a total return to normality but a step in the right direction. This year we have our usual mix of literature, history, music, drama, magic and craic. We’ll be highlighting the music of David Bowie, staging a couple of ambitious theatre projects, meeting some of the hottest new Irish authors as well as some old friends and reflecting on the surreality of the last eighteen months.

Bí pairteach linn, le do thoil.

Hinterland Festival Team

Put next year’s dates in your diary: 23-26 June 2022.

All events are fifty-five minutes in duration and all venues are within a few minute’s walk of each other. 

The Eirgrid Stage is located in the Kells Theatre on Kenlis Place (St Vincent de Paul Hall). The Merriebelle Irish Farm, O'Brien's Supervalu, Meath County Council Stages and Eureka House are all located in the grounds of the old Eureka Convent secondary school on the Navan Road, opposite the Heritage Centre.

You can also find a host of other things to do during the Festival here.

or 

Liz Gillis

The Battle for Dublin

Event  1 
Venue: Church of Ireland

On the morning of 28 June 1922, Dubliners woke to the sound of the National Army shelling the Four Courts, Headquarters of the anti-Treaty IRA Executive. Three days later, the garrison surrendered - the Four Courts lay in ruins, the Public Records Office was destroyed. Historian Liz Gillis will discuss the opening battle (for the capital city) of the Irish Civil War. It was eight days of a war that lasted eleven months but which affected this country for generations.

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Liz Gillis

Myles Dungan

Murder, Reprisal and Execution in the Irish Civil War

Event  2 
Venue: Church of Ireland

After the initial phase of conventional warfare the conflict moved into a chapter reminiscent of the guerrilla/official reprisal struggle of the War of Independence. While Anti-Treaty Republican forces were responsible for atrocities it was the Free State which wreaked most havoc with 77 executions, extra-judicial killings (Ballyseedy) and unsanctioned murder (Oriel House). It was this phase of the conflict that led to the real bitterness that persisted for decades.

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Myles Dungan

Mary McAuliffe

“She’s a Republican Bitch”; Violence towards anti-treaty women by the National Army and the Irish Free State during the Irish Civil War

Event  3 
Venue: Church of Ireland
This talk addresses the violence against anti-treaty women by the National Army and the Free State Government. Deeply apprehensive about the actions of militant women working with the anti-treaty IRA and anxious about the activities of political anti-treaty women or ‘furies’, they dealt with their concerns through an increase in abusive language and physical violence towards women, as well as gendered and sexual violence. The construct by the State of these women as dangerous (mad and/or bad) would have a long-lasting legacy into the post-war State.
Hindsight @ Hinterland
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Mary McAuliffe

John Borgonovo

Battle Fronts and Home Fronts: The Conventional Phase of the Irish Civil War, June – August 1922

Event  4 
Venue: Church of Ireland

After the retreat from Dublin of the anti-Treaty IRA Ireland witnessed the first conventional warfare on its soil since the Williamite/Jacobite war of the late 17th century. Artillery and seaborne landings, briefly replaced ‘hit and run’ guerilla tactics as the two sides tried to take or hold territory. UCC historian John Borgonovo describes this opening phase of the bitter Civil War.

Hindsight @ Hinterland
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John Borgonovo

Padraig Óg Ó Ruairc

“Spies & Robbers Beware!" – The IRA’s assassination of alleged spies in the Civil War

Event  5 
Venue: Church of Ireland

Almost 200 alleged civilian spies were killed by the IRA during the War of Independence and these killings have been one of the most controversial aspects of the conflict debated by historians for decades. By  contrast very little is known about the intelligence struggle between the Republican and Free State Forces during the Irish Civil War. Dr Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc will examine the approximately 20 alleged civilian spies executed by the Anti-Treaty IRA to see what their deaths can tell us about that conflict.

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Padraig Óg Ó Ruairc

TypeTrail Launch

Event  # 
Venue: Church of Ireland

We are Delighted to “Now” be back with you to celebrate the launch of this years TypeTrail in person, come join us as we once again turn the streets of Kells into a canvas of Type. Kells TypeTrail brings together a wide range of artforms highlighting our unique heritage of lettering as a form of communication.

Each year one word is translated into a variety of languages reflecting the diversity of the community in Kells with the aim of providing a means to bring individuals and groups together. This year’s word is ‘ Now’.

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TypeTrail Launch

Marty Morrissey

Up close and personal

Event  6 
Venue: Church of Ireland
Marty Morrissey - GAA broadcaster extraordinaire (and accomplished dancer) is one of the hardest-working people on TV and radio and has been to every corner of Ireland (and a few interesting ones further afield) in his illustrious career. Everywhere he goes, he makes friends and hears terrific stories - and sometimes he becomes a character in them. Now he's sharing them with in a book, It’s Marty, full of his trademark warmth, wit and energy. Marty will be in conversation with Ken Murray.
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Marty Morrissey

Padraig Óg Ó Ruairc

"Where the bodies are" - Forced disappearances in Meath during the Irish Revolution

Event  7 
Venue: Church of Ireland

During the Irish War of Independence and Civil War over one hundred people were 'disappeared' by the IRA and the British forces. These victims were executed in secret and their bodies were hidden in fields, bogs and rivers. Dr Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc's lecture will explore the history of this phenomenon in Ireland with a focus on the IRA victims who were 'disappeared' in County Meath.

Hindsight @ Hinterland
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Padraig Óg Ó Ruairc

Andrew Sneddon

Witches and (real) witch hunts

Event  9 
Venue: Church of Ireland

Dr Andrew Sneddon will plunge you into the world of the European witch-hunts that claimed 50,000 lives between 1450 and 1782, and tell stories of Irish witches and witch trials.  Vividly told with contemporary artwork, we will encounter along the way, wise women, the demonically possessed, and poltergeists, as well as the great Scottish witch-hunter King James VI/I.

Hindsight @ Hinterland
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Andrew Sneddon

Leanne McCormick

Some Bad Bridgets

Event  10 
Venue: Church of Ireland

The Bad Bridget Project tells the stories of those Irish women who emigrated to North America in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and ended up on the wrong side of the law. Hear about the Irish women who were behind bars for being drunk, stealing, fighting and even murder. These are the emigration stories that are not often told, tales of loneliness and despair, discrimination and drink but also of resilience, survival and determination.

Hindsight @ Hinterland
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Leanne McCormick

Damien Shiels

The Andersonville Irish: imprisonment and death in the American Civil War

Event  11 
Venue: Church of Ireland
Between February 1864 and April 1865 some 45,000 U.S. prisoners passed through the gates of Andersonville Prison in Georgia. Almost 13,000 of them never came out again—many of them Irish American. This talk will share findings of the Andersonville Irish Project, established to identify and map the Irish who perished there. Their stories reveal not only the experiences of these men, but also of that their families, and the wider Irish diaspora.
Hindsight @ Hinterland
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Damien Shiels

Prof Diarmaid Ferriter

A century of keeping people safe – commemorating 100 years of An Garda Siochána

Event  12 
Venue: Church of Ireland
Within weeks of the transition to the Irish Free State the Royal Irish Constabulary was disbanded and the fledgling administration had established a new unarmed police force.  UCD Professor of Modern Irish History, Dr Diarmuid Ferriter looks back at the highs and lows, the triumphs and the controversies, of the first century of An Garda Siochána.
Hindsight @ Hinterland
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Prof Diarmaid Ferriter

Michael Brunnock & band in concert

Event  13 
Venue: Courthouse

Award winning singer/songwriter Michael Brunnock returns to Kells with a very special concert of new songs composed in response to the Decade of Centenaries. Inspired by Roger Casement, Ernie O’Malley and Brunnock's own family stories, exploring the Irish experience from the rising through to the civil war. Winner of an Italian Oscar, the David Di Donatello Award, for his work with David  Byrne, on the Sean Penn movie This Must Be the Place, Michael possesses an extraordinary voice, his powerful melodies and harmonies are driven by a strong personal vision drawing the listener in with an authentic vision and Irish soul. Michael will be joined by some very special guests on the night, blending some of Ireland's top Rock and Trad musicians, making this evening of music & song one not to be missed!

Please note this event is being filmed
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Michael Brunnock & band in concert

Jack Horgan-Jones and Hugh O’Connell

Pandemonium: Power, Politics and Ireland’s Pandemic

Event  14 
Venue: Church of Ireland
Ireland’s lockdowns were harsher and longer than almost anywhere else in the developed world. The existential threat from the pandemic led to an unprecedented mass mobilisation of the institutions of the state. Boasting unrivalled access to the key decision-makers and drawing of a vast range of documents and hundreds of hours of  interviews Jack Horgan-Jones and Hugh O’Connell reveal the moves, the power-plays and the—at times jaw-dropping—tactics of a government with the health of a nation in its hands. The authors will be in conversation with Gerry Foley.
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Tony Bucher

Taking it to the streets, Californian music of the 1970s

Event  15 
Venue: Courthouse
From gritty street funk to cracker blues to gay disco divas, from street jams to slick arena rock and punk rock, California in the 1970s had it all. Come and enjoy an era highlights reel with a child of the madness that was post-hippie San Francisco. Featuring some of the greatest sounds in American musical history including the Grateful Dead, Santana, the Doobie Brothers, Fleetwood Mac and Creedence Clearwater Revival.
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Tony Bucher

Rosita Boland

Comrades: companions, friends and fellow soldiers

Event  16 
Venue: Kells Theatre
In this essay collection, award-winning journalist Rosita Boland explores the many friendships that have shaped her life. Surprising and beautiful, she writes about the imaginary friends of early childhood, books that have provided companionship and joy, kindred spirits met while travelling, the friend she hoped might become something more, and also the friendships that become lost over time. Rosita will be in conversation with Deirdre Hurley.
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Rosita Boland

Deirdre Doyle

An Interactive cookery workshop

Event  Y1 
Venue: Eureka House
Join Deirdre Doyle from The Cool Food School, author of newly released children's cookbook ‘Chop, Cook, Yum’ for a fun, interactive cooking class. Kids will enjoy a sensory experience creating their very own simple but delicious tomato bruschetta. Deirdre has been teaching thousands of children to love food and have fun with it since 2018!
Age 6+
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Deirdre Doyle

John Altman

Hidden Man: My Many Musical Lives

Event  17 
Venue: Church of Ireland
In this vivid account of over fifty years in the world of popular music, replete with anecdotes about his relationship with Amy Winehouse, Freddie Mercury, Charlie Chaplin, a Beatle and many others. Altman explains why he is the ‘Hidden Man’, whose scores include such well-known film sequences as ‘Always Look on the Bright Side of Life’ from Life of Brian, which he arranged, conducted (and was one of the whistlers), and the ship sinking in Titanic. In all, he has composed the music for over 50 movies, and won most major film awards in his long and distinguished career. He is also a much sought-after arranger and orchestrator. John Altman will be in conversation with Gerry Foley.
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John Altman

Turtle Bunbury

The Irish Diaspora: Tales of Emigration, Exile and Imperialism

Event  18 
Venue: Courthouse

A whirlwind tour of world history through the eyes of men and women from Ireland, great and otherwise, who have left their indelible mark on global history over the centuries past. As BBC History Magazine put it, Turtle will give people “a new sense of the many ways in which Ireland has interacted with the world beyond its shores, and of some of the extraordinary careers that have resulted.”

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Turtle Bunbury

Tom Dunne

Ziggy at 50

Event  19 
Venue: Kells Theatre
On 16 June 1972 David Bowie copper-fastened his status as a rock God with the release of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. It was somewhere between a concept album and a rock opera and it came with a persona on board, the eponymous Ziggy Stardust, the alien sent to earth to save us all who succumbs to his own ego and proves not to be quite up to the thankless task. In his annual 50th birthday special Tom Dunne tackles the making and breaking of the ‘leper messiah’ and offers yet another reminder of how the world has fallen apart since we lost Bowie.
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Tom Dunne