Achill Island Arts Weekend
An occasional weekend event focussing on a specific author or artist who has been inspired by Achill Island. In recent years events have featured artist Paul Henry, writer Ernie O'Malley and Nobel Prize winning author Heinrich Böll. Check back here for details of the next Achill Island Arts Weekend. For reference, and to give a flavour of a typical Arts Weekend, the details below refer to the most recent event:
Heinrich Böll Memorial Weekend2nd - 4th May 2008
Friday 2nd May
7.00pm Cyril Gray Memorial Hall, Dugort
Welcome
Registration for all events.
Fee €60 (Concessions: €40)
Fee for individual readings: €15 each
Fee for individual guided walks (with lunch): €20
(Register in advance using our online booking form)
7.30pm Cyril Gray Memorial Hall, Dugort
Official Opening
Official opening of the weekend by Mr Rolf Stehle, Director of the Goethe-Institut, Dublin. The speaker will announce and present the award to the winner of the Heinrich Böll Memorial Essay, a competition open to second level students.
8.00pm Cyril Gray Memorial Hall, Dugort
Talk by Chris Newton
Author of Hugh Falkus: A Life On The Edge, from Medlar Press - the true story of the troubled adventurer who among many achievements directed the film Shark Island in Achill in 1951.
Hugh Falkus: A Life On The Edge assesses Falkus' achievements as an inspirational writer, broadcaster and instructor and recounts the many adventures and mishaps that coloured his life. The author has interviewed almost every remaining member of Falkus' inner circle, along with his surviving relatives, to piece together his story and explain what made him the man he was. He has also searched newspaper archives and official records. A great deal of new information has emerged, particularly about Falkus' early years.
Chris Newton writes on fishing, particularly on sea trout, for the national angling press. He is one of the many who discovered the magic of night fishing for sea trout through Hugh Falkus' works, and says he took on the challenge of writing his biography because he got fed up of waiting for someone else to do it. A former newspaper and radio journalist, he now runs a marketing communications and copywriting business from his home in the Cotswolds, England.
9.30pm Cyril Gray Memorial Hall, Dugort
Screening of Shark Island, directed by Hugh Falkus, 1951 in Achill. The film will be introduced by Michael Gielty, who will recall the events of the tragic drowning that occured during the making of the film.
Saturday / Sunday
Exhibition
Exhibition of art works from the collection of Mayo County Council will be on display at the Cyril Gray Memorial Hall, Dugort. Open 11am to 5pm.
Saturday 3rd May
10.30am Guided Walk
Guided walk to archaeological sites on Achill Beg guided by Tomás Mac Sheáin, with archaeologist Eoin Halpin. Meet at Cé Bheag, Kildownet. Transfer to and from Achill Beg aboard 'Lady Slievemore'.
2.00pm Lunch Pattens Pub, Dereens
7.00pm Reception at Cyril Gray Memorial Hall, Dugort
7.30pm Lecture by Hugo Hamilton
Focussing on changes in Ireland over the last 50 years.
Hugo Hamilton was born in Dublin of Irish-German parentage. He has brought elements of his dual identity to his novels Surrogate City (London, Faber & Faber, 1990); The Last Shot (Faber & Faber, 1991); and The Love Test (Faber & Faber, 1995). His stories were collected as Dublin Where the Palm Trees Grow (Faber & Faber, 1996). His later novels are Headbanger (London, Secker & Warburg, 1996); and Sad Bastard (Secker & Warburg, 1998). He has also published a memoir of his Irish-German childhood, The Speckled People (London, Fourth Estate, 2003); and its sequel, The Sailor in the Wardrobe (Fourth Estate, 2006). In 1992, he was awarded the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature. He lives in Dublin.
8.30pm Reading by Gerald Dawe
Gerald Dawe is the author of six collections of poetry, including Heart of Hearts, The Morning Train and Lake Geneva. He recently published The Proper Word: Collected Criticism and a memoir, My Mother-City & Bit Parts. Catching the Light, a collection of travel sketches, critical views and interviews, will be published later this year. He moved to Galway in 1974 where he lived for twenty years, writing and teaching at NUI, Galway. A Fellow of Trinity College Dublin, where he is Senior Lecturer in English, director of the Oscar Wilde Centre for Irish Writing and director of the graduate writing programme, Gerald Dawe has given readings and lectures in many parts of the world. He lives in County Dublin. Gerald is the presenter of the RTÉ Radio One programme 'Poetry'.
Sunday 4th May
11.00am Walk
Meet in Deserted Village for readings from Heinrich Böll's Irish Journal. Followed by a guided walk through the archaeology and environment of Caraun Point, The Valley, with archaeologist Eoin Halpin.
1.00pm Lunch Grays Guest House, Dugort
End of Weekend Activities.
For event inquiries, contact John McHugh:
Tel. 098 43414 Email: hbollachill@anu.ie
Or Mary Lavelle-Burke:
Tel. 098 47257 Email: tmburke@eircom.net
Register using our Booking Form.
For travel and accommodation inquiries, contact Achill Tourism.
Achill Tourism provides a comprehensive directory of all types of accommodation providers in Achill on this Web site, along with detailed information on travel to Achill Island.
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