A tribute to Limericks Gateway to Education founder Suzanne Roche

‘Best Costume Goes To…’: Exhibition of Iconic Film Costumes Stays in Limerick

‘Best Costume Goes To…’ Stays in Limerick as Hunt Museum Reopens

‘Best Costume Goes to…’ is an exhibition which explores the relationship between actors, costumes and the growth of the Irish film industry. A joint curation with the Irish Costume Archive Project, the exhibition looks at how costume co-creates the character. On display are 35 iconic costumes from films and TV series like My Left Foot, In the Name of the Father, Michael Collins, Breakfast on Pluto, Tudors, Room, The Favourite and Braveheart.

Due to the restriction on the number of visitors who are allowed entry into the museum at any one time, visitors are encouraged to book tickets and time slots online to avoid queues. 

Exhibition details:

Tue – Sun: 10am – 5pm: Sun 2- 5pm

February 7 – November 14, 2020 

Admission: €7.50 per adult, €12.50 combo ticket (with museum), Kids FREE

For more information on the Hunt Museum, click here 

For more stories on the Hunt Museum, click here

Mandy Parslow exhibition – Described as a ‘wayfaring exploration through ceramics’, the exhibition is the culmination of several years of research by the artist exploring place, our attachment to it and engagement with it through the medium of ceramics.

New Ceramics Exhibition by Artist Mandy Parslow at the People’s Museum

Of Place, a solo exhibition by Mandy Parslow, runs at The People’s Museum of Limerick, 2 Pery Square, Limerick, from 10 to 26 September. Described as a ‘wayfaring exploration through ceramics’, the exhibition is the culmination of several years of research by the artist exploring place, our attachment to it and engagement with it through the medium of ceramics.  

Our connections to place are deeply embedded and fundamentally inform how we perceive our environment. Open to multiple meanings and interpretations, sense of place is something known, but difficult to explain; physical, imagined, spatial, temporal, emotional, sensual. Using Slievenamuck Hill in the Glen of Aherlow, County Tipperary, Parslow aims to uncover and understand the deeply entrenched ways our surroundings are perceived physically and emotionally, consciously and unconsciously.

All the objects in this exhibition are made from materials found on Slievenamuck. Paths are explored, materials gathered, tested and manipulated. Through these organic, ceramic, animal and anthropological elements, primal forms evolve from the place itself, responding to temporal and physical diversities in the gathered materials.

While ceramics is often valued for its resistance to the effects of time, this work instead acknowledges the ephemeral qualities of place. Parslow writes “As place changes each time we encounter it, so these pieces evolve from their unfired to fired forms and beyond, questioning the notion of a ‘finished’ piece and instead embracing change and evolution in all its guises.”

Mandy Parslow is a Tipperary based ceramic artist and lecturer in ceramics at Limerick School of Art and Design/ LIT.

The exhibition is open at the People’s Museum of Limerick, 2 Pery Square, Limerick, 10 – 26 September 2020, Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 4pm.

Please contact [email protected] for further information.  

For more information on the Peoples Museum of Limerick, click HERE

For more stories on Peoples Museum of Limerick, click HERE

Pigtown Festival 2020 event – Launching the Festival on Little Catherine Street Limerick were, Tom Flavin, Executive Chef Limerick Strand Hotel, Eithne Gavigan, LIT, Keith Pigott, Head Chef No.1 Pery Square and Cllr. Olivia O’Sullivan, Limerick Food Group (all pictured above). Picture: Alan Place

Pigtown Festival 2020 Culture & Food Series returns September 17 – October 30

Starting on September 17, the Pigtown festival 2020 will run until the end of October with a host of dining events and more, to celebrate Limerick’s food culture, its food producers, and famous food heritage. Pigtown Festival 2020 event

Developed by the Limerick Food Group and supported by Limerick City & County Council, the theme of this year’s Pigtown festival 2020 is ‘Support Local’ – with many businesses fighting for survival this year, it is more important than ever to support local producers, market traders, and restaurants.

2020 may have seen the cancellation of many events and festivals, but the people behind the Pigtown Culture & Food Series, Limerick’s leading food festival, are determined to give locals and ‘staycationers’ something to enjoy.

Pigtown is organized by Limerick Food Group, a voluntary non-profit group from industry working together to promote Limerick food.

One of the organizing committee and Head Chef at No1 Pery Square, Keith Piggot, explained:

“We had to make some changes to our festival programme this year, obviously we are missing the annual Culture Night Pigtown Parade that would usually kick off the festival, but hopefully that will be back next year. We have a big focus on dining events for 2020 celebrating local produce, with a few online surprises in store too so keep an eye on our social media.”

The festival opens with the Pigtown Dinner at the Mustard Seed restaurant in Ballingarry, Co Limerick on Thursday, September 17.

Other dining events include the Pigtown Dinner in the River Restaurant at the Strand Hotel every Friday from Sep 18-Oct 30; Daily Pigtown Special at 1826 Adare from Sep23-27; Pigtown Dinner at the East Room Restaurant on Thursday September 24; Pigtown Specials at the Cornstore Restaurant every Thursday from Sep24-Oct29; Pigtown Pinxtos at No.1 Pery Square on Thursday October 15; and more to be announced.

For the duration of the festival, The Limerick Strand Hotel is offering ‘The Little Piggy’ Package which features one night B&B and locally sourced Pigtown-themed dinner, and includes a tour of Treaty City Brewery.

The Milk Market would usually play a big part in the festival, hosting cooking demos and food tours, but this year Pigtown wants to remind people that one of the most famous Farmer’s Markets in Ireland takes place every Saturday morning in the heart of our city with its quality food traders and unique atmosphere.  

Along with that, a new second Saturday market has been launched with Crafts and Plants at the Potato Market. On Saturday September 19 at 11am-4pm, Pigtown’s Giant Piggy will visit the Potato Market for Pigtown2020 so families will get the opportunity to see Piggy in this open-air market on Merchant’s Quay.

Inspired by the history of Limerick’s famous bacon industry, the ‘Pigtown Culture and Food Series’ is an exciting programme of themed events in Limerick. Developed by the Limerick Food Group and supported by Limerick City & County Council, the series will focus on Limerick’s unique heritage as a way to showcase the great food available locally, building on our deep-rooted food heritage.

For full details on this year’s festival programme and booking links to the dining events visit the website HERE and look out for updates on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

For more Pigtown Stories, click HERE

#Pigtown2020 #SupportLocal #PigtownLimerick

Limerick Jazz Festival 2020 – Limerick Jazz Festival was launched in the Peoples Park. Pictured above left to right, musicians Aisling O’Grady, Erin Fitzgerald, Hugh Clery Ward and Jamie Lundy. Picture: Alan Place.

Limerick Jazz Festival 2020 Spreads Its Wings with Innovative post-Covid Format

Limerick city will host a redesigned and innovative Limerick Jazz Festival, in September as organisers have adapted the festival to the new world following Covid-19. 

The ninth annual festival runs for the week of September 21 – 27.

The festival has been redesigned in a very innovative way to respond to the restrictions imposed by the need to avoid the spread of Covid-19. 

This year’s highlights include: 

·         The final of Young Irish Jazz Musician 2020 in University Concert Hall, Limerick on the evening of Saturday 26 September. This is the first of what is planned to be a regular event to give a platform to the best of emerging Irish jazz talent. The competition is open to young jazz musicians aged 13 to 18 and details of how to apply can be found HERE  

The Young Irish Jazz Musician 2020 will get to make a professional studio recording, participate in UCH’s Rising Stars Concert, and receive a bursary to take part in an international summer school.  

·         From Monday to Friday we will support the Irish jazz community by hosting online premieres of performances by leading musicians from across the island and abroad. Performers will include: 

o    Lynley Hamilton (Belfast) 

o    Chris Guilfoyle’s Oxygen Thief (Dublin) 

o    Paul Dunlea (Cork) 

o    Matthew Berrill (Galway) 

o    Eddie Lee (Sligo) 

o    David O’Rourke (USA) 

o    John Donegan (UK) 

·         On Sunday 27^th Dolan’s Warehouse will host a great afternoon of live music featuring the Joe O’Callaghan Trio, Michael Buckley’s House of Horns, Christine Tobin and Phil Robson and a first Limerick Jazz Festival appearance for Mary Coughlan. 

For more information and full listings, click HERE

For more stories on Limerick Jazz Festival, click HERE

Make Way Day 2020 – Councillor Abul Kalam Azad Talukder, Deputy Mayor of the City and County of Limerick pictured with wheelchair users Eileen Bourke and Beverly O’Connor, Irish Wheelchair Association Staff Margaret Quinn and Geraldine Cross and Kerry Blake from Headway at the launch of Make Way Day which takes place this Friday 25 September. Picture: Don Moloney

Make Way Day highlights issues with mobility for Disability groups

Make Way Day is a public awareness campaign that brings the disability and wider community together to consider the needs of people with disabilities in the public spaces we all share.

Groups working with the disabled or those with mobility issues in Limerick are calling on people to think about the needs of others when advertising their companies, parking on footpaths, parking cars or even not picking up after your dog. 

Make Way Day, organised by the Disability Federation of Ireland is taking place this Friday, September 25 in Limerick and across the country highlighting issues affecting those who have mobility issues such as using wheelchairs. 

For wheelchair users, the elderly, people with mobility issues, parents with buggies and children, having to navigate around a car or van blocking the footpath unnecessarily puts them on the road where they are being put in additional danger. 

The day will draw attention to the challenges posed by things left on the footpath. This includes sandwich boards along a city street, cars parked on the footpath, or a wheelie bin left out other than on collection day, which result in those in a wheelchair or a parent walking with a buggy, having to go onto the road or street to get around the obstacle. 

The scourge of dog poo on footpaths is also being highlighted by wheelchair users who are left with poo on the wheels and on their hands by the selfishness of certain dog owners who refuse to clean up after their dogs.

As part of Make Way Day 2020, Limerick City and County Council will be taking part in a virtual meeting with disability groups at 11am where people will highlight access issues from their lived experience of disability. To join the meeting click HERE and follow the instructions. 

Anyone who sees an obstacle on the footpath can tweet it to @MakeWayDay and by using the hashtag #MakeWayDay or #MakeWayLimerick 

For other stories about Disability, click HERE