Vincent Woods
Vincent Woods’s plays include At the Black Pig’s Dyke (Druid Theatre Company, 1992); Song of the Yellow Bittern (Druid Theatre Company, 1994); and A Cry from Heaven (Abbey Theatre, 2005); and for radio, The Leitrim Hotel, The Gospels of Aughamore and Broken Moon. Poetry collections are The Colour of Language and Lives and Miracles. He has co-edited The Turning Wave: Poems and Songs of Irish Australia, and Fermata: Writings Inspired by Music (with Eva Bourke); and in 2016 published Leaves of Hungry Grass: Poetry and Ireland’s Great Hunger (Quinnipiac University Press). Awards include the Stewart Parker Award for Drama and The Ted McNulty Award for Poetry. For many years he has been a regular presenter of arts programmes and documentaries on RTÉ Radio 1. He is a member of Aosdána.
The Dock, Carrick on Shannon, Co. Leitrim.
Sat 5th & Sun 6th Oct, 2019
The Dock, Carrick on Shannon, Co. Leitrim.
Sat 5th & Sun 6th Oct, 2019
Mary McPartlan
Mary McPartlan is one of the most talented singers to come out of the Irish scene in recent years. Born in Drumkeeran, Co. Leitrim and now living in Galway, she started singing in the early 70s but it wasn't until 2003 that she decided to make music her full time career. She has been working for the last 12 years as producer and director of many music and theatre projects. She developed the concept of the TG4 National Traditional Music Awards, and was co-producer of the award-winning music series FLOSC, also for TG4. As a singer however, Mary, didn't come out of the shadows until January 2004 when she released the critically-acclaimed album The Holland Handkerchief. Her most recent album from Mountain to Mountain was released earlier this year.
Mary McPartlan
Mary McPartlan is one of the most talented singers to come out of the Irish scene in recent years. Born in Drumkeeran, Co. Leitrim and now living in Galway, she started singing in the early 70s but it wasn't until 2003 that she decided to make music her full time career. She has been working for the last 12 years as producer and director of many music and theatre projects. She developed the concept of the TG4 National Traditional Music Awards, and was co-producer of the award-winning music series FLOSC, also for TG4. As a singer however, Mary, didn't come out of the shadows until January 2004 when she released the critically-acclaimed album The Holland Handkerchief. Her most recent album from Mountain to Mountain was released earlier this year.
Shane McCorristine
Shane McCorristine is a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Geography at the University of Cambridge working on a project entitled "Ghost Species". He is an interdisciplinary historian and geographer with interests in what he calls the 'night side' of modern experience - namely social attitudes toward death, dreams, ghosts, hallucinations, and the 'more than rational'. Shane’s research argues that, far from being peripheral, these aspects of life were central in making people feel modern. In looking at these topics he draws on a variety of approaches and literatures from cultural history, human geography, environmental humanities, and medical humanities.
Shane McCorristine
Shane McCorristine is a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Geography at the University of Cambridge working on a project entitled "Ghost Species". He is an interdisciplinary historian and geographer with interests in what he calls the 'night side' of modern experience - namely social attitudes toward death, dreams, ghosts, hallucinations, and the 'more than rational'. Shane’s research argues that, far from being peripheral, these aspects of life were central in making people feel modern. In looking at these topics he draws on a variety of approaches and literatures from cultural history, human geography, environmental humanities, and medical humanities.
Shane McCorristine
Shane McCorristine is a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Geography at the University of Cambridge working on a project entitled "Ghost Species". He is an interdisciplinary historian and geographer with interests in what he calls the 'night side' of modern experience - namely social attitudes toward death, dreams, ghosts, hallucinations, and the 'more than rational'. Shane’s research argues that, far from being peripheral, these aspects of life were central in making people feel modern. In looking at these topics he draws on a variety of approaches and literatures from cultural history, human geography, environmental humanities, and medical humanities.
Shane McCorristine
Shane McCorristine is a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Geography at the University of Cambridge working on a project entitled "Ghost Species". He is an interdisciplinary historian and geographer with interests in what he calls the 'night side' of modern experience - namely social attitudes toward death, dreams, ghosts, hallucinations, and the 'more than rational'. Shane’s research argues that, far from being peripheral, these aspects of life were central in making people feel modern. In looking at these topics he draws on a variety of approaches and literatures from cultural history, human geography, environmental humanities, and medical humanities.
Shane McCorristine
Shane McCorristine is a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Geography at the University of Cambridge working on a project entitled "Ghost Species". He is an interdisciplinary historian and geographer with interests in what he calls the 'night side' of modern experience - namely social attitudes toward death, dreams, ghosts, hallucinations, and the 'more than rational'. Shane’s research argues that, far from being peripheral, these aspects of life were central in making people feel modern. In looking at these topics he draws on a variety of approaches and literatures from cultural history, human geography, environmental humanities, and medical humanities.
Shane McCorristine
Shane McCorristine is a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Geography at the University of Cambridge working on a project entitled "Ghost Species". He is an interdisciplinary historian and geographer with interests in what he calls the 'night side' of modern experience - namely social attitudes toward death, dreams, ghosts, hallucinations, and the 'more than rational'. Shane’s research argues that, far from being peripheral, these aspects of life were central in making people feel modern. In looking at these topics he draws on a variety of approaches and literatures from cultural history, human geography, environmental humanities, and medical humanities.
Shane McCorristine
Shane McCorristine is a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Geography at the University of Cambridge working on a project entitled "Ghost Species". He is an interdisciplinary historian and geographer with interests in what he calls the 'night side' of modern experience - namely social attitudes toward death, dreams, ghosts, hallucinations, and the 'more than rational'. Shane’s research argues that, far from being peripheral, these aspects of life were central in making people feel modern. In looking at these topics he draws on a variety of approaches and literatures from cultural history, human geography, environmental humanities, and medical humanities.
Shane McCorristine
Shane McCorristine is a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Geography at the University of Cambridge working on a project entitled "Ghost Species". He is an interdisciplinary historian and geographer with interests in what he calls the 'night side' of modern experience - namely social attitudes toward death, dreams, ghosts, hallucinations, and the 'more than rational'. Shane’s research argues that, far from being peripheral, these aspects of life were central in making people feel modern. In looking at these topics he draws on a variety of approaches and literatures from cultural history, human geography, environmental humanities, and medical humanities.
Shane McCorristine
Shane McCorristine is a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Geography at the University of Cambridge working on a project entitled "Ghost Species". He is an interdisciplinary historian and geographer with interests in what he calls the 'night side' of modern experience - namely social attitudes toward death, dreams, ghosts, hallucinations, and the 'more than rational'. Shane’s research argues that, far from being peripheral, these aspects of life were central in making people feel modern. In looking at these topics he draws on a variety of approaches and literatures from cultural history, human geography, environmental humanities, and medical humanities.
Shane McCorristine
Shane McCorristine is a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Geography at the University of Cambridge working on a project entitled "Ghost Species". He is an interdisciplinary historian and geographer with interests in what he calls the 'night side' of modern experience - namely social attitudes toward death, dreams, ghosts, hallucinations, and the 'more than rational'. Shane’s research argues that, far from being peripheral, these aspects of life were central in making people feel modern. In looking at these topics he draws on a variety of approaches and literatures from cultural history, human geography, environmental humanities, and medical humanities.
Shane McCorristine
Shane McCorristine is a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Geography at the University of Cambridge working on a project entitled "Ghost Species". He is an interdisciplinary historian and geographer with interests in what he calls the 'night side' of modern experience - namely social attitudes toward death, dreams, ghosts, hallucinations, and the 'more than rational'. Shane’s research argues that, far from being peripheral, these aspects of life were central in making people feel modern. In looking at these topics he draws on a variety of approaches and literatures from cultural history, human geography, environmental humanities, and medical humanities.
Shane McCorristine
Shane McCorristine is a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Geography at the University of Cambridge working on a project entitled "Ghost Species". He is an interdisciplinary historian and geographer with interests in what he calls the 'night side' of modern experience - namely social attitudes toward death, dreams, ghosts, hallucinations, and the 'more than rational'. Shane’s research argues that, far from being peripheral, these aspects of life were central in making people feel modern. In looking at these topics he draws on a variety of approaches and literatures from cultural history, human geography, environmental humanities, and medical humanities.
Shane McCorristine
Shane McCorristine is a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Geography at the University of Cambridge working on a project entitled "Ghost Species". He is an interdisciplinary historian and geographer with interests in what he calls the 'night side' of modern experience - namely social attitudes toward death, dreams, ghosts, hallucinations, and the 'more than rational'. Shane’s research argues that, far from being peripheral, these aspects of life were central in making people feel modern. In looking at these topics he draws on a variety of approaches and literatures from cultural history, human geography, environmental humanities, and medical humanities.
IRON MOUNTAIN 2025
INTRODUCTION
A POWER OF CONNECTION: WRITING AS WITNESS AND CATALYST
Celebrated novelist Colum McCann, acclaimed memoirist Clair Wills, Palestinian playwright Ahmed Najar and the brilliant musician and composer Máirtín O’Connor are among the guests at this year’s Iron Mountain Literature Festival which will run from Friday October 3rd to Sunday 5th at the Dock Arts Centre in Carrick-on-Shannon.
Themes of memory and hidden histories, urgent witness and contemporary politics, and the enduring role of the writer as chronicler and challenger of given narratives will be explored in a weekend of readings, discussions and debates. The festival will mark the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of John McGahern’s controversial novel The Dark with a public reading by actor Barry Ward and a talk on legacies of censorship and new challenges to artistic expression by Fintan O’Toole.
Colum McCann will discuss his brilliant 2020 book Apeirogon which considers loss, grief and forgiveness in Israel and Palestine, and read from his most recent novel Twist, described as ‘a propulsive novel of rupture and repair in the digital age'. Colum is regarded as one of the foremost Irish novelists of his generation; his other novels include Let the Great World Spin, Dancer and TransAtlantic.
Cultural historian and critic Clair Wills will read from and discuss her family memoir Missing Persons: or My Grandmother’s Secrets, winner of the non-fiction Book of the Year at the 2024 Irish Book Awards. Described as ‘part memoir, part national history’, Missing Persons is an essential account of a period of post-independence Irish life and history that has too long been overlooked and simplified. Wills is the regius professor of English Literature at the University of Cambridge and her other books include Lovers and Strangers: An Immigrant History of Post-War Britain.
The shadowy life story and rich legacy of the poet James Clarence Mangan has inspired contemporary writing and music, not least that of Shane MacGowan. Writer Bridget Hourican was moved to write her fine book Finding Mangan: The Lives and Afterlives of Ireland’s National Poet on the strength of a conversation with MacGowan during a late night lock-in at a Dublin pub. She will read from the book and discuss Mangan’s enduring power; while Máirtín O’Connor, accompanied by Cathal Hayden, will play a little of the music inspired by Mangan’s work – and more.
The ongoing tragedy and impasse in Gaza will be at the heart of readings and a discussion with Palestinian political economist, writer and playwright Ahmed Najar, who has had to endure witnessing the deaths of close family members from exile in London; journalist Fintan Drury, whose book Catastrophe: Nakba II considers the history of Palestinian displacement and oppression and the rise of groups like Hamas; and former Guardian Jerusalem Correspondent Bethan McKernan, whose writing from Israel and Palestine shone a light on humanity and horror.
Exciting young writers Naoise Dolan (who has a strong family connection to Leitrim) and Garrett Carr from Donegal will read from their novels of urban and rural life, while Galway-based writer Nuala O’Connor will read from her work in both Irish and English.
The challenges around afforestation, sustainability and climate change will be considered by Eoghan Daltun, author of Author of An Irish Atlantic Rainforest. Distinguished author and Irish Times columnist Fintan O’Toole will consider issues of modern censorship ‘in light of the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of John McGahern’s novel The Dark, while actor Barry Ward, star of That They May Face the Rising Sun and Jimmy’s Hall will read from The Dark and talk about his work and his Leitrim connections.
The winner of the annual John McGahern Award for new writing will be announced over the weekend; and on Sunday afternoon poets Moya Roddy and Pete Mulllineaux will join a gathering of musicians and writers in Skerry Rynn’s bar in Ballinaglera as part of the Iron Mountain Session at the Ballinaglera Traditional Music Weekend.
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