Updated Programme – Thomas MacDonagh Weekend, 1-4 May 2015

Cloughjordan Honours Thomas MacDonagh
Thomas MacDonagh Weekend
Cloughjordan, Co. Tipperary 1st – 4th May 2015

Preparing for the centenary of the Easter Rising, we reflect on the influences on the young MacDonagh, growing up in Cloughjordan. People and places featured in Thomas’s writings together with the natural beauty of the surrounding countryside are the focus for this year’s programme.

Friday, 1st May

7 pm:  Official opening of Cloughjordan Honours Thomas MacDonagh

in the Thomas MacDonagh Centre, followed by:
Cloughjordan Primary schools’ May Day Project –
Exhibition on Knocknacree Wood and Scohaboy Bog

9 pm:  Traditional Music in the Railway Bar

Saturday, 2nd May

10 – 1pm: Street Market

Visit the Makery, opposite the MacDonagh Centre, for traditional craft workshops and the Art Galleries of Thomas Wollen, Mary Pickering and Siobhan Leonard.

11 am:  Thomas MacDonagh Summer School; chaired by Dr. Mary McCarthy U.L.

2 pm:  Field Trip:

Caimin O’Brien –Brings his knowledge of archaeology and medieval Ireland to interpret the landscape of Knocksigowna for the afternoon field trip. He is an expert on the areas of North Tipperary and South Offaly, with several publications.

Brian Costello – Traces his family from Denis Costello, Principal in Cloughjordan N.S. and traditionally ‘the man upright’ in the MacDonagh poem of the same name. Denis’ son, Michael J., had a distinguished military and business career. Brian is great grandson of Denis.

Philip Hamell –  Looks back on the Hamell family who ran an extensive business from 1902 until the sale of their bar and grocery in 1977 when it was renamed ‘The Lime Tree’. It stood on the site which is now the entrance to Cloughjordan’s Eco Village.

Two sites of natural beauty Scohaboy Bog and Knocksigowna Hill have been chosen for the afternoon field trip. A guide will introduce the biodiversity and recent developments at both sites. Transport will be provided to these places which were the inspiration for the poetry of Thomas MacDonagh

Summer School Fee: €20 and optional lunch €7. Advance booking is required. (Concession – Cloughjordan Heritage Group members/Centre volunteers)
Contact: Thomas MacDonagh Centre 087 3946862/macdonaghweekend@gmail.com

8 pm:  Bawney and Friends

Local thespian and raconteur Bawney Hayes hosts an evening of music, verse and song with surprise guests in the Parochial Hall. Bawney’s specially invited guests present a programme in a light-hearted gathering of friends. All are welcome to come along, relax and join in. €5 admission includes tea and bakes.

Sunday, 3rd May

1.30 pm:  Literary Cafe

Cloughjordan Writers Group presents new writings by the members.  Visitors are welcome to come along to Sheelagh na Gig Bookshop.

3 pm:  Siúlóid

A bilingual guided walk through Cloughjordan’s Eco Village. The Eco Village is an award winning community based on principles of sustainability and with a low ecological footprint holding lessons for Irish society.

4 pm:  What would Thomas MacDonagh think of the Eco Village as a centre of education?

Talk, given by Peadar Kirby, is at the Resilience Centre in the Eco Village. As a registered educational charity, education is at the core of the Eco Village’s activities. Peadar examines what MacDonagh, the educator, might have made of its approach to education.

8 pm:  Remembering Jeremiah O’ Donovan Rossa

A talk given by Gabriel Doherty, History Dept. U.C.C on the Fenian leader whose funeral in 1915 brought thousands out along the route to Glasnevin Cemetery.  Thomas MacDonagh was Chief Marshall and at the graveside P.H. Pearse gave a stirring oration.

Admission €5

Monday, 4th May

1.30 pm:  Thomas MacDonagh Pipe Band

Following a performance on Main Street the band will set us off on a walk through the Eco Village to Knocknacree Wood.

2 pm:  Knocknacree Wood

A team of guides, pupils of the two local Primary Schools, will share their observations from their study of the wood, arising from the recent May Day Schools Project. This is a special time in the beech wood at Knocknacree which prompted MacDonagh’s 1914 May Day poem: “I wish I were today on the hill behind the wood….”

7 pm:  Joyeux Noel

Based on the true story of the Christmas Eve truce when in 1914 the Germans, French, and Scottish got to know the men who were on the opposite side of a brutal war, in what became a true lesson of humanity.

Film showing in the Thomas MacDonagh Centre, admission €5

9 pm:  Oíche Ghaelach i Grace’s Pub

Chun deireadh a cuir le himeachtaí, Cloughjordan Honours MacDonagh, beidh fáilte roimh gach éinne to an evening of traditional music and hospitality.

Thomas MacDonagh Summer School

The fee for the Thomas MacDonagh Summer School, on Sat. 2nd May, is €20.
This includes registration and refreshments on arrival, morning talks and guided bus trip to Scohaboy Bog and Knocksigowna Hill.
Lunch is optional (special rate of €7 for main course and tea/coffee).
Bookings: Phone: 087 3946862   Email: macdonaghweekend@gmail.com