Below is a list of confirmed events. You can also download this PDF.
Coming Home: Art and the Great Hunger Guided Tours
Guided tours of the exhibition for groups and schools are available on request.
€2 per person and booking is essential.
Booking: Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre at 028 22090 and info@westcorkartscentre.com
Free guided tours of the exhibition will take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1.30pm.
No booking required.
Coming Home: Art and the Great Hunger Discovery Box
A gallery resource for families
Free and no booking required.
Created by artist Sarah Ruttle for parents to use with their children in the gallery, the Discovery Box contains a series of imaginative tools to encourage engagement with the artwork through play and conversation.
Coming Home: Art and the Great Hunger Curator's Tours
A guided tour of the exhibition by Niamh O'Sullivan
Friday 20 July | 11.30am
Monday 23 July | 1.30pm
Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre
€2 per person and booking is essential.
Booking: Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre at 028 22090 and info@westcorkartscentre.com
Niamh O'Sullivan, Professor Emerita of Visual Culture and Curator, Ireland's Great Hunger Museum, will give a guided tour of Coming Home: Art and the Great Hunger. Further tours will be scheduled, contact us for details.
Coming Home: Art and the Great Hunger Schools' Programmes
Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre is running a major Schools Tours Programme for Primary and Second Level schools throughout Cork, in conjunction with Skibbereen Heritage Centre and supported by Scoilnet's curriculum-related digital Resources; The Hunger Times, a short drama on film about the Irish Famine, commissioned by IGHM, aimed at 10-13 year olds, which explores the legacy of the Great Irish Famine and its relevance in a modern context; and an Introductory Video on the famine context produced by IGHM
For booking and further information contact Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre at 028 22090 and info@westcorkartscentre.com and Skibbereen Heritage Centre at 028 and info@skibbheritage.com
We are also running a Primary Schools' Classroom-based Programme, facilitated by Charlotte Donovan, Uillinn Artist in Residence: Learning and Engagement, involving tours of the exhibition, teachers' workshops with West Cork Education Centre, a resource pack for teachers and classroom based development of the work. For more information contact Charlotte at learning@westcorkartscentre.com
Skibbereen Heritage Centre The Famine Story Exhibition Guided Tours
Mondays/Tuesdays/Wednesdays for the month of August | 11.00am
Skibbereen Heritage Centre, Old Gasworks Building, Upper Bridge Street, Skibbereen
€6 adult, €4.50 concessions
For booking and further information at www.skibbheritage.com and 028 40900
Join local historians, Terri Kearney and Philip O'Regan for a guided tour of the Skibbereen Famine Story exhibition on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays in August.
Anáil na Beathe
A new, live, site-specific performance work for Schull Workhouse by Alanna O'Kelly
Saturday 21 July | 9.30pm
Schull Workhouse
€5 per person and booking essential, admittance by ticket only
Booking: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/anail-n-beatha-tickets-46756547091
For further information: Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre at 028 22090 and info@westcorkartscentre.com
Alanna O’Kelly is one of Ireland’s internationally renowned multimedia artists. She works in video, film, sound, photomontage, text and performance, fusing the ritual and the radical in innovative ways. She has a deep interest in place, people, community, our past and its effect on our present, the shaping of our culture, our identity and relationship to the world community and she is drawn to the particularities of place and context. Developed specifically for the Schull Workhouse site, this new performance relates to Alanna's historical work, resonates with the history and legacy of the site, and amplifies the themes explored in the Coming Home: Art and the Great Hunger at Uillinn. Working with a remarkable line-up of artists, including Mícheál Moley O Súilleabháin, Ruah Berney Pearson, Libby Seward and Pól Brennan and with local adults and school children, Anáil na Beathe will be a unique performance event at this highly charged site for a live audience.
110 Skibbereen Girls Walk and Talk
A lunchtime walk and talk with artist Toma McCullim
Wednesday 25 July | 1.30pm
Skibbereen Community Hospital Campus
Free Event
For booking and further information: Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre at 028 22090 and info@westcorkartscentre.com
In 1848, 110 orphan girls left Skibbereen Workhouse and set sail for Australia. Join artist Toma McCullim to talk about the sculpture created to celebrate the bravery of these girls on the site of that workhouse, now Skibbereen Community Hospital Campus. The walk will take in the old workhouse wall and the workhouse graveyard and the stories of some of the girls.
110 Skibbereen Girls with artist Toma McCullim is a year-long art project, culminating with the making of a bronze sculpture incorporating Sydney Sandstone donated by the Australian Embassy. It is a Cork County Council / West Cork Arts Centre / Cork Kerry Community Healthcare Famine Heritage Project, and is funded by the West Cork Municipal District Creative Communities Scheme, Cork Arts and Health, and the National Lottery.
Skibbereen Heritage Centre The Famine Story Historical Walking Tours
Thursday 26 July | 6.30pm
Thursday 02 August | 6.30pm
Thursday 09 August | 6.30pm
Thursday 16 August | 6.30pm
Thursday 23 August | 6.30pm
Free Event
Meet at the Courthouse Building, North Street, Skibbereen
Booking essential and further information at 028 40900 and www.facebook.com/skibbheritagecentre
Join Philip O'Regan of Skibbereen Heritage Centre on an historical walking tour of Skibbereen. Skibbereen is synonymous with the Great Hunger and many of the buildings and streets in the town have direct links to this tragic time. There are numerous stories associated with each location and Philip will use these stories to give an outline of the main events of the Great Famine.
Skibbereen Heritage Centre Famine Panel Unveiling
Launch of new Famine Panels at the Steam Mill
Thursday 26 July | 8.00pm
Free Event, no booking required
The Steam Mill, Ilen Street, Skibbereen
Further information: 028 40900 and www.facebook.com/skibbheritagecentre
New informative famine panels will be unveiled at the site of one of the first soup kitchens during the Great Famine. The imposing four-storey building that was built by landowner Thomas H. Marmion, and stands on the banks of the River Ilen, also holds the distinction of being one of the first mills ever to be established in Ireland. These panels, which were created in collaboration with Ireland's Great Hunger Museum, outline the history of the Famine in Skibbereen. They include the story of Elihu Burritt the “Learned Blacksmith,” who internationalised the 19th-century world peace movement, and brought knowledge of Ireland’s Great Hunger to the American people. Burritt, who was born in New Britain, Connecticut, arrived in Dublin on February 11, 1847, and visited Kilkenny, Cork, Bandon, Skibbereen and Castlehaven. His visit culminated in the publication of A Journal of a Visit of Three Days to Skibbereen, and its Neighbourhood (1847).
Reen Farm Sculpture Garden
A West Cork Garden Trail (WCGT) Celebration Day Event
End July - date to be confirmed
Reen Farm
€15 includes cost of bus from Skibbereen to Reen and light refreshments at Reen Farm
Booking: West Cork Experiences
A reading of the N.M. Cummins letter to The Times, London 24 December 1846; a tour of Reen Farm Sculpture Garden by internationally renowned artist John Kelly; a screening of Alison Glennie’s film Point of Departure; a talk by Susan O’Toole about her famine land art The Tree Sentinels, located adjacent to Reen Farm; and a performance by Jessie Kennedy of a specially commissioned piece of music for the event. Reen Farm on the Atlantic coastline is a spectacular and profoundly poignant setting for this special event which acknowledges the history and legacy of The Great Hunger on the land where John and his family are now living.
Skibbereen Arts Festival Talks
Roimh After
An Artist's Talk in the Gallery by Robert Ballagh
Saturday 28 July | 12 noon
Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre
Free Event but booking is essential
For booking and further information: Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre at 028 22090 and info@westcorkartscentre.com
Irish artist Robert Ballagh is represented in the collection of Ireland's Great Hunger Museum by two artworks, a stained glass piece from 2012 called An Gorta Mór and the painting Roimh After on view in Coming Home: Art and the Great Hunger at Uillinn. Robert will discuss his work in the collection, his work practice in general, and his view on the nature of contemporary are and its audiences.
Skibbereen Arts Festival Music
Chronicles Of The Great Irish Famine
Declan O'Rourke with John Sheahan, Michael McGoldrick, Floriane Blancke, Jack Maher and Chris Herzberger
Tuesday 31 July | 8:00pm
Skibbereen Town Hall view location
€20.00
Booking: Skibbereen Arts Festival Booking Online and 087 1260327
Chronicles Of The Great Irish Famine, the brand new album by Declan O'Rourke was released in October 2017. Fifteen years in the making, this epic song cycle combines the best of traditional Irish music and the heart of modern song-writing to present a series of extraordinary true tales from the most dynamic period in Ireland’s history. Nine of the album's musicians including Mike McGoldrick, Dermot Byrne, Floriane Blancke, Jack Maher, Chris Herzberger, Gino Lupari, Rob Calder and John Sheahan, performed Chronicles around Ireland in December 2017 to a standing ovation each night, and will take it abroad throughout 2018 and 2019.
Skibbereen Arts Festival Theatre
Welcome to the Stranger by Rua Breathnach
Asenath Nicholson’s journey through the Great Famine
Directed by Rémi Beelprez
Wednesday 1 August | 8:00pm (with post-show discussion)
Thursday 2 August | 8:00pm
Skibbereen Town Hall view location
€12.00
Booking: Skibbereen Arts Festival Booking Online and 087 1260327
KEEPSAKETHEATRE presents the world premiere of Rua Breathnach’s Welcome to the Stranger, an original creation based on Asenath Nicholson’s eye-witness account of the Great Famine. KEEPSAKETHEATRE is a new collaboration between Irish playwright Rua Breathnach and Belgian director Rémi Beelprez, whose aim is to make exciting, contemporary theatre inspired by half-forgotten texts and past events that speak urgently to people today. Welcome to the Stranger is the first step in this process. For this unique production, they have brought together a local cast and crew of all ages and backgrounds, some of whom are making their first theatre appearance. In the same spirit of inclusion, the public is invited to a post-show discussion of the contemporary significance of the Famine on 1 August with playwright, Rua Breathnach.
Skibbereen Arts Festival Music
Canon Goodman Concert with Lúnasa
Seán Smyth, Kevin Crawford, Cillian Vallely, Trevor Hutchinson and Ed Boyd
Thursday 2 August | 8:00pm
Abbeystrewry Church view location
€20.00
Booking: Skibbereen Arts Festival Booking Online and 087 1260327
This year marks the release of the tenth album from Lúnasa, the traditional music band from Ireland that have established themselves as one of the most exciting and revered bands playing Irish music today. Entitled Cas, which is the Irish word for Turn, the new CD, featuring vocals for the first time, marks a departure for the band that the New York Times claimed was “the hottest Irish acoustic group on the planet”.The Canon Goodman Concert commemorates James Goodman, Canon of the Church of Ireland, Rector of Abbeystrewry from 1867 until his death in 1896 and Professor of Irish at Trinity College Dublin (TCD). During his lifetime (and in the aftermath of the Great Hunger in Skibbereen and West Cork) he compiled an exceptional music and song manuscript collection which was deposited in TCD Library following his death.
the food, the bad & the ugly
Behind Bars performance by Domestic Godless (Stephen Brandes, Mick O'Shea and Irene Murphy)
Friday 3 August | 6.00pm to 8.00pm
Saturday 4 August | 6.00pm to 8.00pm
Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre
Free Event, no booking required
For further information Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre at 028 22090 and info@westcorkartscentre.com
In celebration of the end of the Domestic Godless emerald tour of Ireland the food, the bad & the ugly will present a selection of dishes from the twilight zone between art and gastronomy. The Domestic Godless are not chefs, however they exploit food as material to irritate notions of good taste, amidst the backdrop of a chaotic world. Drawing from their culinary repertoire and inventing new recipes by foraging, digging and rustling in the urban and rural estates of West Cork, one thing we can promise…. there will be ice cream!
The Domestic Godless: the food, the bad & the ugly was commissioned by the Crawford Art Gallery and supported by the Arts Council Touring Award.
Point of Departure: A Lament
Film Screening and Drama Workshop
For children (7 - 13 years)
Saturday 4 August | 11.00am - 12.30pm
Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre
€5
Booking: Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre at 028 22090 and info@westcorkartscentre.com
A Drama Workshop for children inspired by Alison Glennie's film Point of Departure: A Lament. Alison will facilitate this workshop, following a screening of her short film, in which the themes of Coming Home: Art and the Great Hunger will be explored.
Point of Departure: A Lament
Film Screening
Saturday 4 August | 1.00pm
Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre
Free Event, no booking required
Alison Glennie presents her film, Point of Departure: a Lament. This short film documents the inaugural site-specific, inter-generational performance at Reen Farm Sculpture Garden in West Cork, which took place during Skibbereen Arts Festival 2017. Performers and musicians responded to artworks by internationally acclaimed artist John Kelly and the spirit of this place once ravaged by An Gorta Mór. Members of the cast will introduce the event.
West Cork College Presents
Famished by Cherry Smyth
Poetry reading and talk
Saturday 11 August | 5.00pm
Killeena House Estate, Baltimore Road, Skibbereen
Free Event
Booking admin@westcorkcollege.ie and 0877547665.
See westcorkcollege.ie and cherrysmyth.com
Award winning poet Cherry Smyth will read her long form poem Famished, followed by a Q&A with local poet Jennifer Russell, this is an opportunity to hear moving words in a beautiful location. Famished foregrounds women’s experiences of the Famine and the socio-political repercussions of colonialism on Ireland. It combines historical facts and imagined lyrical voices of the 1840s in a polyvocal style.
West Cork History Festival Field Trips
Famine / History / Art
Friday 17 August
Field Trip 2 - 9.00am to 3.45pm
Field Trip 3 - 10.45am to 5.00pm
Early Bird: €45.00 per person
Regular Price: €50 per person
Price includes tea/coffee at Reen Farm Sculpture Garden
For booking and further information, including detailed itinerary see www.westcorkhistoryfestival.org
This full day, fully guided guided tour provides an unique opportunity to experience a major art exhibition, Coming Home: Art and the Great Hunger, special access to a stunning and thought-provoking sculpture garden, and a visit to Abbeystrewry Graveyard, one of the most moving Famine sites in West Cork.
Discovery Box Workshop for Families
Saturday 18 August | 12noon
Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre
Free event but booking is essential.
Booking: Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre at 028 22090 and info@westcorkartscentre.com
Created by artist Sarah Ruttle for parents to use with their children in the gallery, the Discovery Box contains a series of imaginative tools to encourage engagement with the artwork through play and conversation. On this Saturday, Sarah will hold a workshop for families with young children, using the Discovery Box in the gallery.
West Cork History Festival Talks
19 August | 10:00pm to 1.00pm
Early Bird Half-Day Tickets €20
Regular Price Half Day Tickets €30
For booking and further information see www.westcorkhistoryfestival.org
Dr. Niamh O'Sullivan, Curator of Ireland's Great Hunger Museum presents a talk on Coming Home: Art and the Great Hunger alongside Peter Murray on Victorian painter, geologist and antiquary George Victor Du Noyer and Dr Niamh McNally of the National Gallery of Ireland on artist Margaret Clarke, in an art-related morning at the West Cork History Festival.
Skibbereen Heritage Centre Talks
Illustrated talk on Dr Dan Donovan: Hero of the Great Famine in Skibbereen by Philip O'Regan
Tuesday 21 August | 8.00pm
Skibbereen Credit Union Conference Room, Main Street, Skibbereen.
Free Event
Booking essential and further information at 028 40900 and www.facebook.com/skibbheritagecentre
Dr Dan Donovan was a doctor and surgeon of exceptional ability who was the medical officer at the Skibbereen Dispensary and Poor Law Union Workhouse during the Great Famine. As well as his medical contribution, Dr Dan wrote regularly to the press and medical journals giving harrowing descriptions on the effects of the Famine in the Skibbereen area. His efforts focussed attention on Skibbereen, drawing reporters and other eye-witnesses to the area and helped to raise much-needed Famine relief for the people of the Skibbereen Poor Law Union. The people of Skibbereen owe a huge debt of gratitude to Dr Dan and Philip O'Regan of Skibbereen Heritage Centre will give an outline of his contribution and also an insight into the man himself.
Skibbereen Heritage Centre Talks
Illustrated talk Through a Glass Darkly—West Cork Stained Glass by Finola Finlay
Wednesday 22 August | 8.00pm
Free Event
Skibbereen Credit Union Conference Room, Main Street, Skibbereen.
Booking essential and further information at 028 40900 and www.facebook.com/skibbheritagecentre
The history of West Cork - social, economic, political and religious - can be read in its stained glass. But stained glass is also a thing of beauty, and we have some of the finest examples in Ireland right here. Discover the colourful story of this sumptuous art form.
NATIONAL HERITAGE WEEK EVENTS
Skibbereen Heritage Centre Talks - Mapping the Great Irish Famine
Thursday 23 August | 8.00pm
Skibbereen Credit Union Conference Room, Main Street, Skibbereen.
Free Event
Booking essential and further information at 028 40900 and www.facebook.com/skibbheritagecentre
An illustrated talk by Mike Murphy of UCC, one of the editors of the Atlas of the Great Irish Famine and co-ordinator of The Great Irish Famine Online website, which is a chronological journey using the rich images and maps from the Atlas of the Great Irish Famine. It will also showcase The Great Irish Famine Online recently launched by Tánaiste Simon Coveney at the National Famine Commemoration at UCC. The talk will chart the human and cultural upheaval in Ireland between 1841 and 1851 at Civil Parish and Town level. It begins with the Cromwellian plantations of the 17th century, charting the population and economic pressures in pre-Famine Ireland, exploring the effects of the Famine on Ireland and beyond. The Famine’s aftermath, will be examined, showing how it shaped modern Ireland and the Irish worldwide. The talk will conclude by showing how Famine still casts its shadow over many parts of the world to this day.
Stories of People and Places
Thursday 23 August | 12 noon
Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre
Free Event
Booking: Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre at 028 22090 and info@westcorkartscentre.com
An Illustrated Talk by Artist-in-Residence Seán Gallagher (11 August - 1 September) on his work which shares stories about people through their presentation in symbolic landscapes
Skibbereen Heritage Centre Walks - Lough Hyne from Prehistory
Friday 24 August | 2.00pm
Lough Hyne, near Skibbereen.
Free Event
Booking essential and further information at 028 40900 and www.facebook.com/skibbheritagecentre
A guided walk through 4,000 years of the archaeology, history and folklore of Lough Hyne by Terri Kearney. This area was particularly badly-affected by the Great Famine, losing over 45% of its people and Terri will cover Famine villages, evictions and Famine relief works as part of the walk. The walk starts at the base of Knockomagh Hill at 2.00pm and covers a distance of 5km (with hills), finishing at around 4.30pm.
Grave Matter
Saturday 25 August | 12 noon
Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre
Free Event
Booking: Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre at 028 22090 and info@westcorkartscentre.com
An Illustrated Talk by Artist-in-Residence Tomas Penc (5 June - 31 August) on his residency project researching local stories related to the Great Hunger in Skibbereen and photographing highly charged locations in the area to document and record them for post-production in 3D animation.
A Taste of West Cork Food Festival Theatre
Echoes of Ireland by Skibbereen Theatre Society
Friday 7 September | 6.30pm
Sunday 9 September | 6.30pm
Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre
Free Event
Booking essential: Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre at 028 22090 and info@westcorkartscentre.com
Skibbereen Theatre Society will perform Echoes of Ireland at Uillinn. This moving play by award winning playwright Brian C. Petti, follows the saga of a single Irish family from County Cork in 1860 to present-day New York City. Beginning five years after the end of the famine in Ireland, Echoes of Ireland follows the Conyngham clan through their journey across the ocean to the ports of Manhattan, through the lowly existence of immigrant life in the States, to the assimilation and rebirth of their family as American citizens who never forget from whence they came. The journey is part tragedy, part comedy, part history lesson and all undeniably human. This play, performed surrounded by the art of the Coming Home exhibition is an event not to be missed.
A Taste of West Cork Food Festival Tours
Coming Home: Art and the Great Hunger
Tuesday 11 September | 10.30am
Friday 14 September | 2.30pm
Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre
Cost €2
Booking essential: Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre at 028 22090 and info@westcorkartscentre.com
As a festival special, Uillinn will host two guided tours of this incredible exhibition. Learn the history of the collection and the story of the Great Hunger through the art in this informative tour.
Skibbereen Heritage Centre Music
Friday 21 September | 6.30pm
Skibbereen Heritage Centre, Old Gasworks Building, Upper Bridge Street, Skibbereen
Free Event
Further information at 028 40900 and www.facebook.com/skibbheritagecentre
Join the talented young musicians of Skibbereen Comhaltas Ceoltóirí for a vibrant hour of music and dance in the courtyard of Skibbereen Heritage Centre.
Skibbereen Heritage Centre Film
The Great Irish Famine: Remember Skibbereen by Pat Collins
Friday 21 September | 7.30pm
Skibbereen Heritage Centre, Old Gasworks Building, Upper Bridge Street, Skibbereen
Free Event
Booking and further information at 028 40900 and www.facebook.com/skibbheritagecentre
This 55-minute documentary is Skibbereen's account and also, in the broader context, Ireland's story of the Great Hunger. Made by the award-winning film-maker Pat Collins of Harvest Films, this documentary includes interviews with Professor Joe Lee, Professor Mark McGowan, Dr Larry Geary, Gary White Deer and local historians Gerald O'Brien, Fr. Patrick Hickey, Philip O'Regan and Terri Kearney. The film covers all the major events of the Great Hunger including local Famine relief schemes, soup kitchens, workhouses and mass burials.
Echoes of an Unmourned Hamlet
An Illustrated Talk by artist Susan O'Toole
Saturday 22 September │ 12 noon
Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre
Free Event
Booking: Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre at 028 22090 and info@westcorkartscentre.com
Susan O'Toole will discuss her work including the land sculpture and Great Hunger commemoration The Tree Sentinels and her recent publication Echoes of an Unmourned Hamlet.
A Gift of Stone
An Illustrated talk by writer Maeve Bancroft
Saturday 29 September | 12 noon
Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre
Free Event
Booking: Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre at 028 22090 and info@westcorkartscentre.com
For her residency at Uillinn, writer Maeve Bancroft (10 Sept to 13 Oct) will create new written work for her work-in-progress A Gift of Stone in response to the exhibition Coming Home: Art and the Great Hunger. Maeve's creative practice is informed by history, art, literature, landscape, walking and conversations. Come along to hear Maeve discuss her process, her methods of research and the challenges of writing historical fiction.
Storied Landscapes
An Illustrated talk by artist Richard Holden
Saturday 6 October │ 12 noon
Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre
Free Event
Booking: Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre at 028 22090 and info@westcorkartscentre.com
Richard Holden is a Canadian artist best known for his work in photography and text. He first came to Ireland in 1989 and for the past four years has been returning once or twice a year to Skibbereen to research and create a new series of "storied" landscapes, primarily 360º photographs of sites having association with the history, politics and stories of An Gorta Mór.
Acts of Leaving
A talk by artist William Bock
Thursday 11 October │ 2.30pm
Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre
Free Event
Booking: Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre at 028 22090 and info@westcorkartscentre.com
For his third residency at Uillinn, William Bock (4 Sept to 13 Oct) will continue with his project exploring the themes of emigration and migration in West Cork . This event is an opportunity to get an insight into William's project developed over the past 3 years.
Representing the Unrepresentable: The Ethics and Aesthetics of Atrocity
Saturday 13 October | 6.00pm
Skibbereen Town Hall
Booking is essential on Eventbrite
For further information: Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre at 028 22090 and info@westcorkartscentre.com
Record Numbers visit Coming Home: Art and The Great Hunger in Skibbereen
Bob Geldof, Katharine Crouan, Dorothy Cross, Mick Foley and Peter Murray to close the exhibition with special event in Skibbereen Town Hall on October 13th.
The world’s largest collection of famine related art, currently on show in Uillinn, West Cork Arts Centre, has attracted unprecedented numbers to Skibbereen. Coming Home: Art and The Great Hunger, on loan from Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, constitutes a direct link to the past of almost 6.5 million Irish, and 40 million Irish-American, people. The exhibition, which was seen by more than 58,000 in Dublin Castle, opened in Uillinn in late July and continues there until Saturday, October 13th, before moving to The Glassworks in Derry where it will open early next year.
Ryan Mahoney, Director of Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac said that they were “honoured to have brought Coming Home: Art and The Great Hunger to Skibbereen. It has always been the goal of Quinnipiac University to bring the collection back to Ireland. To include Skibbereen on the tour, an area that is synonymous with the Great Hunger, was important to all involved with this project.”
More than 18,000 visitors have viewed the exhibition in Skibbereen since it opened. There has been a marked increase in visitors to the West Cork Arts Centre from the US and elsewhere abroad, many of whom travelled specifically to see Coming Home: Art and the Great Hunger. 50% of visitors mentioned it as the main reason they had travelled to West Cork, with a high proportion of families, and interest groups making the trip to Skibbereen. Local businesses have seen an uplift coinciding with the exhibition. On one of the busiest days, Uillinn hosted over 900 people. A quick look at the visitor book shows how unique an experience it has been with comments like: “our family is in West Cork for a week and this has been the highlight of our visit” and “wonderfully presented and curated work: would hope to return for future exhibitions.”
Coming Home: Art and The Great Hunger will come to a close on Saturday, October 13th at 4.45pm and there will be a very special event at Skibbereen Town Hall which will include guest speakers; musician Bob Geldof, art historian Katharine Crouan, artist Dorothy Cross and journalist Mick Foley, hosted by former director of The Crawford Art Gallery, Peter Murray.
