Posted on

St Alban the Martyr

I have blogged about my Irish grandparents so for balance, a few words inspired by my English ones, Alice and Len Foulger.

I recently attended Mass with my mother, on Zoom, at St Alban the Martyr, in the ecclesiastical parish of St. Alban and St. Patrick, Highgate, Birmingham. This meant a lot to me as my grandparents are buried there, under the church. Len was in their church choir for sixty years. His brother Ralph was also in the choir, as was my uncle Steve. My grandparents were remembered at the Mass, for All Souls Day, as well as Ralph and his wife, Maud.

St Alban’s was founded by (my inverted commas) “a pair of Pollocks” in the 19th Century – James and Thomas Pollock, brothers of Irish extraction. It is a Grade II* listed Parish Church of St. Alban the Martyr (listed building ID 1290539), a Victorian Gothic masterpiece of architect John Loughborough Pearson.

Happily, I was present in person, with my family at the 150th anniversary Mass of the foundation of the church in 2016. It was also the anniversary of St Alban, England’s protomartyr.

Alice Bosworth and Leonard Foulger on their wedding day.
Posted on

Arts in Schools Programme

This is a really worthwhile initiative of The Arts Service of Louth County Council – Celebrate Pipes – a series of four videos featuring local Uilleann Pipers Brendan McCreanor and Patrick Martin. 

From Drogheda Life: “Funded by Louth County Council and the Arts Council, the video was commissioned by the Arts Office as part of its Arts in Schools Programme, to recognise the inclusion of Uilleann Piping on the UNESCO list of Intangible Culture Heritage in 2017.

Originally designed as live workshop visits to schools, the programme could not proceed this year and the content was filmed instead for use in the classroom. “The Celebrate Pipes video link will be circulated to secondary schools in Louth and will be of particular interest to second level music students” said the Council’s Acting Arts Officer Mary Capplis.  “It has great potential for use as an educational resource for music teachers, as it will link in with the curriculum covering traditional arts. While it is not the same as a live visit by musicians, it will create an awareness and understanding of the art of Uilleann piping, in addition to showcasing excellent musical performances from two Louth musicians.

Here’s the link to the series: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvlsCHDsX-EQsFitqCZW0zA/videos and below is the first of the videos in that series.

Patrick Martin & Brendan McCreanor
Posted on

Lockdown in Dundalk

I have just submitted a Covid Diary online to Louth County Council Archive. Here is an extract:

Late March
There is a big tree enclosed far behind a fence with a notice attached from the council: This mature Horse Chestnut is diseased, and we are trying different treatments before we would give up on it. We want children to refrain from playing on the tree, as it is not safe. The tree is like the rest of us in the park: giving a wide berth. It has tested positive. I pray it can be saved. It has been there a long time. I wonder if even it will outlive me, now. I never thought I would be facing my mortality at this age (the Bay City Rollers were at number one when I was born). There are other trees which are still a little stark. The grass here is dark green. There are yellow daffodils and yellow celandines. And painted in yellow on the ground at the gates, arrows marking 2 meters. (St Helena Park).

Here is where you can donate your own diary:

https://www.louthcoco.ie/en/services/archives/our-louth-diary-project/

Posted on

Ireland’s Own Anthology

I am delighted to have my piece, “Moving Things, An Emigration Story,” in the 2020 Ireland’s Own Anthology. The 11th Ireland’s Own Anthology of Short Stories and Memories is only available at www.irelandsown.ie. It features 40 writers from all over Ireland drawn from over 500 entries to the magazine’s writing competitions which have been running now for nearly 40 years.

The book contains 40 stories and memories, never previously published, covering a wide range of very interesting subjects.

The Foreword this year is contributed by popular TV presenter and author, Mary Kennedy, and she writes:

‘It’s been a very unsettling time and my wish is that this year’s Ireland’s Own Anthology will restore some confidence and provide some comfort to readers, reminding us that the tradition of storytelling continues as strongly as ever in this country, championed by the Ireland’s Own magazine which began in 1902 and has been going strong ever since.’

A golden age of instrumentals
Posted on

An Táin Virtual Exhibition

I was honoured to be a part of An Táin Dundalk’s Virtual Gallery:
https://artspaces.kunstmatrix.com/en/exhibition/1358742/how-we-live-now

The twelve of us artists took part in a Zoom presentation on the launch night, 19th June 2020:

My piece is a drypoint, one of an edition of five, entitled “Lineswoman.”

Posted on

Smoke it and Croak it

I won a bike for this, which I still have, second-placed nationally when I was 17. I was awarded my prize by the presenters of Jo Maxi at a ceremony in Dublin. I travelled up on the bus with my family. This poster was still on a door in the Louth Hospital in recent years. I am still a passionate anti-smoker.

Posted on

Eve Revived

This is a blast from the past. Whilst I was in NCAD I was selected to design the 1997 Marsh’s Library annual exhibition poster. A limited edition were printed in the print workshop, then stamped with the Marsh’s Library stamp. The theme that year was literature related to women.

Posted on

Emer’s Ghost

This is my copy of ‘Emer’s Ghost,’ presented to me in Shelagh School in 1985, as a prize for designing a bookmark during Louth Libraries’ Book Week. Catherine Sefton is the pseudonym of Martin Waddell, from Newcastle. Co. Down, so I felt some local interest.

This was the first prize that I won outside school, so it convinced me that one day I could become a great artist! Prior to this, my only award was a box of chocolates for a painting of Zacchaeus up a tree, when I was seven in England. To my chagrin I found that I was expected to share these with the whole class!

The book was quite scary, me being ten, but I was intrigued to see the heroine was on first name terms with her local RUC officer, something I did not feel would happen in my neighbouring South Armagh.

My winning bookmark was in the shape of an elongated, opened out book, with the slogan ‘Just one little look, will make you read this whole book.’ I see from the frontispiece that I only came second! But I was very chuffed.

Posted on

Jimmy Smyth Award

This is me receiving the Jimmy Smyth Perpetual Trophy for my Inter-Certificate Art Results. I was in the Louis, and this award was for the highest grade in Art in the Dundalk area. I was disappointed to give the trophy back after a year! But I was chuffed to win.

Posted on

Slógadh

This is a winning poster in the 1992 Slógadh in Dundalk. I was in the Louis at the time. It was made into a shop sign (ar oscailt means open). Years later a neighbour told me he got a kick out of seeing an English girl winning an Irish language competition. I was chuffed that he remembered it. For more information about Slógadh, visit: https://www.gael-linn.ie/en/about-us/history