Liverpool Irish Festival, the UK’s largest Irish arts and culture led multidisciplinary festival, has announced the release of a song commissioned to mark the Liverpool Irish Famine.
Its first public airing will be held at the Liverpool Irish Famine Memorial, Sunday 27 Oct 2024, one of the closing events of the annual festival.
The festival, a highlight of the UK cultural calendar, celebrates ‘departures’ as its core theme this year. Considering migrancy, displacement, changes in thinking and the rejection of shame, the range of events span children’s activities to rich historical Irish heritage. The line-up includes an array of Irish artists and contributors from across the worlds of theatre, film, spoken word, visual arts and academia. Each connects with ‘departure’– whether focussed on the displacement of people or the advent of a new philosophy. The Liverpool Irish Famine story is intrinsically linked with these themes.
Having received funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund last year, the festival has conducted a range of projects to expand the Liverpool Irish Famine Trail. This includes The Walk of the Bronze Shoes (May 2024, giving rise to this year’s vigil) and the commissioning of a new song, The Ullaloo (© I Cantwell, M Snape, 2024) to be unveiled at the official Liverpool Irish Famine memorial. The memorial will be attended by Ireland’s Ambassador to the UK, Martin Fraser and Consul General Sarah Mangan, alongside Liverpool’s Lord Mayor Richard Kemp. There will also be key attendees from the Strokestown National Famine Park Museum, National Famine Way, Roscommon Solstice Choir, Irish Heritage Trust, Conradh Na Gaeilge Learpholl, Liverpool’s Great Hunger Commemoration Committee and Quinnipiac University (CT, USA).
The Ullaloo will be sung here for the first time by the Liverpool Irish Centre Choir, led by Amy Housley, using a score and arrangements completed by Chris Matanlé-Mockridge. The song was selected from a strong set of public submissions, based on its connection with the brief and its ability to engage audiences that would be stood at the Irish Famine Memorial at St Luke’s Bombed Out Church on an October day.
Songwriter Ian Cantwell says:
“I first heard the word ‘ullaloo’ on a radio programme about terms that have long since fallen out of use. It is a haunting expression that rolls off the tongue. An ancient ritual lament to the dead. I had been researching my family tree and learned that my great-great grandparents William and Rose had fled the ravages of the Great Hunger – or An Gorta Mór – setting sail for Liverpool in 1850. Words in the history books became flesh and blood, and the story of my great-great grandparents struggle became the inspiration for the song The Ullaloo. It is an honour and a proud moment for Marty and myself to have our song chosen and we cannot wait to hear it performed by the choir”.
These events precede an Irish Heritage Trust talk on The Poor Helping the Poor, led by Professor Christine Kinealy from Quinnipiac University (28 Oct). Expanding on this work — and linked directly to ‘departures’ — the Revealing Trails and Postcards from a Pilgrimage exhibitions offer a poignant look at contemporary views on An Gorta Mór, whilst a new self-guided trail app, reflects on Irish migration, settlement and legacy. The brand new, state-of-the-art in-browser GPS triggers interactive content either at trail sites or on your device, wherever you are in the world. Launched on 17 Oct, it’s been developed in partnership with Gazooky Studios and sister company Second Stride.
All events are public and subject to suitable weather conditions. We invite everyone to remember the 1.3m Irish Famine poor that came through Liverpool and the 300,000+ that stayed to build Liverpool into the city we know today. We thank St Luke’s Bombed Out Church, National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Irish Government’s Emigrant Support Programme and Liverpool City Council’s Culture and Arts Investment Programme for their support with this event.
Liverpool Irish Festival CEO & Artistic Director, Emma Smith says:
“As in previous years, the Liverpool Irish Festival brings Liverpool and Ireland closer together using arts and culture. ‘Departures’ allows us to consider ideas and philosophies that are core to the Irish experience. As the third largest migrant community in England, the Irish are aware of how challenging (and damaging) assumptions can be.
“Having undertaken The Walk of the Bronze Shoes earlier this year, 2024’s vigil and memorial have taken on additional meaning to us — as an organisation — and to me as an individual. I cannot help but draw comparisons to today’s issues of small boats arriving on our shores, full of those in need, and politically driven economic hardship. We must remember famine is not inevitable. Remembering the Irish Famine should drive our commitment to resolving issues by showing us the horror of that hardship”.
Dr Ann Hoskins, new Chair of the Liverpool Irish Festival, states:
“I’ve been around the Liverpool Irish Festival since its inception. I’ve watched it become a significant cog in Liverpool’s annual cultural machine. I’m proud to support the work as Chair. Though I’m originally from Belfast, I’ve built my family life in Liverpool. I can see how the festival connects the culture of the city with the island of Ireland. I’m excited by this year’s programme and look forward to being challenged, stimulated and enjoying the events”.
Sarah Mangan, Consul General of Ireland, follows with:
“The northwest contains many thriving Irish communities. Here at the Consulate, we’ve been invigorated by the work of the festival, particularly events that treat the diaspora as a progressive and changing community and, especially, the commemoration work around Irish Famine and the city”.
Categories: 2024
