Connect with us
St Patricks Festival Love Limerick St Patricks Festival Love Limerick

Event News

WATCH Stars line up for St Patricks Festival Love Limerick video 

Published

on

St Patricks Love Limerick video features Dominic West pictured above

WATCH Stars line up for St Patricks Festival Love Limerick video 

A fantastic, diverse line-up of well-known personalities, including actor Dominic West, and actor/writer Malachy McCourt feature in a new video just released by Limerick Civic Trust to mark St. Patrick’s Festival. The St. Patrick’s Festival Love Limerick video captures faces and voices strongly associated with Limerick, including Sean-Nós musician Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin, Richard Lynch of ilovelimerick.com, nu-folk musician Emma Langford, President of UL Kerstin Mey and owners of ‘Dolans’ Live Music Venue and Bar’ Mick and Valerie Dolan. 

St Patricks Festival Love Limerick

Malacahy McCourt, a Limerick legend


advertisement




advertisement




advertisement




advertisement




advertisement



The great affection for Limerick is a theme running throughout the video where these well-known people share their messages of hope and support as they look forward to a better time when everyone can visit again and enjoy those essential Limerick experiences – like a gig in Dolans, a pint or a session in some of the atmospheric Limerick pubs like Nancy Blakes or Mother Macs or seeing the outline of an iconic castle like King John’s Castle or Glin Castle against the skyline. 

Launching the video, David O’Brien of Limerick Civic Trust said; “This video is a celebration of all the fantastic things about Limerick and is a snapshot of this moment in time portraying the artists, creatives and musicians and their take on this much-loved city with its unique character, humour and vibrant cultural scene. While there are no parades or band championships this year, this video puts a spotlight on Limerick and reminds people how fun and vibrant the city is. This video invites them to visit when it is safe again.’ 

Dominic West, known for his roles in several hit TV series including ‘The Wire’,  has strong ties with Limerick going back to 2010 when he married Catherine Fitzgerald, daughter of the last Knight of Glin. In the longer version of the video, he says that he can’t wait to have pints and singsongs again in ‘O’Shaughnessy’s Pub’ in the Limerick village of Glin. Malachy McCourt is a famous New York-based actor, writer and politician and brother of renowned Limerick author Frank McCourt. Malachy features strongly in Frank’s famous depiction of Limerick in Angela’s Ashes and fondly recalls all the great laughs the family had in Limerick and said that ‘there’s hardly a native of Limerick who doesn’t have a song in them’ before he himself bursts into a hearty rendition of ‘Limerick is Beautiful’ (longer video). The People’s Museum of Limerick run by Limerick Civic Trust will feature the Frank McCourt exhibition later this year. 

Publicist and producer Richard Lynch from the video has done wonders for his hometown, from developing the annual LGBTQ+ Pride festival into a week-long event to promoting and celebrating the positive image of Limerick through Ilovelimerick.com.  

Professor Kerstin Mey is a German academic who in 2020, assumed her role as President of the University of Limerick, making history by becoming the first woman to be President of a University in Ireland. What better person to showcase the Irish language in the video than Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin talented musician from Limerick, best known for his Sean-Nós singing. 

One of the areas everyone is missing right now is brilliant bands and live music and Limerick are known for its buzzing live music scene and is home to great new musical talents like Emma Langford (featured in the video) and award-winning rapper and spoken word artist Denise Chaila. Everyone who knows music knows Mick and Valerie Dolan and the amazing platform for new artists their renowned warehouse – Dolans Live Music Venue has become since it opened in 1998. Dolans, in normal times, is home to touring live artists from across the globe and hosted iconic bands like Aslan, Snow Patrol and Franz Ferdinand. This St. Patrick’s evening Dolans invites you to experience a virtual musical celebration – ‘Wild Atlantic Edge’ at 7 pm from Limerick with performances from a number of musicians including Sharon Shannon, Hermitage Green and Emma Langford.  

Limerick St Patrick’s Festival features some world-class musicians and a host of online events – for the full line up check out HERE

Personalities in the St Patricks Festival Love Limerick video 

  • Richard Lynch: Richard is a presenter, producer, publicist, community activist, and actor. Richard was born and raised in Limerick city centre, and as the face of I Love Limerick, there is no better person to speak positively and send a message of love from Limerick.  
  • Malachy McCourt: Malachy is an actor, writer, and later, politician. Born in New York to Irish parents, Malachy was raised in Limerick and despite some difficult years, Malachy has great admiration for Limerick. He is a member of the famous McCourt family associated with Frank McCourt’s famous book Angela’s Ashes. 
  • Mick and Valerie Dolan: In 1994, Mick and Valerie Dolan moved to Limerick with the vision to create a pub that celebrated traditional Irish music every night, a pub that created a platform for local musicians to showcase their talent. They did this and more, as Dolans is now a venue that has become recognised as one of Ireland’s leading music venues. 
  • Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin: A talented musician from Limerick, best known for his Sean-Nos singing. The son of musician parents, singer Nóirín Ní Riain, and composer and pianist, the late, Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin. Micheal brings a unique aspect to the video, as well as showcasing the Irish language with his cupla focal. 
  • Emma Langford: Emma Langford is an award-winning nu-folk songwriter and performer. In 2018 Langford was named Best Emerging Folk Artist by our national broadcaster, RTÉ Radio 1, and in 2020 was shortlisted for the Best Folk Singer award in the RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards. Emma presents a podcast called The Limerick Lady Podcast alongside Ann Blake, where they discuss issues around gender, art and representation. 
  • Dominic West: Dominic West is a Hollywood actor, best known for his roles in The Wire, Chicago, 300, and Collette to name a few. West’s connection to Limerick goes back to 2010 when he married Catherine Fitzgerald, daughter of the last Knight of Glin. The couple spends much of their time at Catherine’s ancestral home, Glin Castle, a Georgian country house and national heritage site located along the River Shannon in Glin, County Limerick. 
  • Kerstin Mey: Professor Kerstin Mey is the President of the University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland and as the Chief Executive Officer is ultimately responsible for all of the operations of the University. 

  About Limerick Civic Trust 

Limerick Civic Trust is a self-funding charity, which initiates and undertakes a programme of projects for the general improvements of Limerick’s environment in conjunction with local authorities, state agencies and other interested parties. It is an independent non-profit making voluntary society and is registered as a charity. The People’s Museum of Limerick at No.2 Pery Square is run by Limerick Civic Trust and aims to reflect the diverse lives of the people, buildings, and streets of the city. It showcases the eclectic and fascinating collection of items in the care of Limerick Civic Trust, as well as artifacts that are visiting from elsewhere. St Patricks Festival Love Limerick 

For more stories on St Patricks Day go HERE 

Richard is a presenter, producer, songwriter and actor. He was named the Limerick Person of the Year (2011) and won an online award at the Metro Éireann Media and Multicultural Awards (2011) for promoting multi-culturalism online. Richard says that the ilovelimerick.com concept is very much a community driven project that aims to document life in Limerick. So, that in 20 years time people can look back and remember the events that were making the headlines.