In Fairness

Our last episode of the season!This conversation marks the final episode in our Inquire series. This week we are joined by award winning Cavan writer Michael Harding. Michael worked as a teacher, a prison social worker and as a priest before leaving the priesthood and studying buddhism for a few years. Michael is a regular columnist with the Irish Times and has written memoirs, novels, plays, and has toured the country doing live talks on his books. Michael has also worked as an actor on screen and stage, and has performed as the Bull McCabe in the Field. You can listen to his podcast, the Michael Harding podcast, on Spotify, Patreon and Audible.In this episode Michael talks to Molly about work, mental health, theatre, God and masculinity. This is an enveloping and philosophical conversation that gracefully fails to understand what it means to be human, like all good theatre should.You can keep up with Michael’s podcast on Twitter @hardingmichael. You can find his podcast, the Michael Harding podcast, on Spotify, Patreon and Audible, and you can find his columns in the Irish Times. His newest book, A Cloud Where the Birds Rise, is available to buy now from all book shops. This is a collaboration with illustrator Jacob Stack, where Michael’s most memorable musings on the human condition are brought to life by art.Patreon.com/hardingmichael.Thank you so much Michael for coming on to chat and for sharing your wisdom and eloquent musings with us. To mark the end of a spectacular project, we send ye off with a Ru Mew original song, Rose and Star, which he wrote in inspiration of our podcast. IG @rumewsic, patreon.com/rumew,You can find our podcast, In Fairness, on Acast, Spotify and Itunes. You can hear more from us and our interviewees on our Instagram, @infairnesspod, same on Twitter, and In Fairness Podcast on Facebook. Feel free to get in touch on any of these platforms with any questions or suggestions that you may have for us.Thank you again to Roscommon County Council for supporting us to create this series, and to our wonderful mentor Catherine Sheridan for keeping us in check and bringing us both together at the very beginning of our journey.Research questions, sound engineering and co-producing by Molly Mew, Editing and producing by Misha Fitzgibbon. Thank you so much for listening.

Welcome to this week's episode of In Fairness Inquire: Roscommon Artists, a special series of our podcast dedicated to interviewing astounding creative artists that are based here at home in Roscommon. In these interviews we will be talking to actors, theatre-makers, drama facilitators, comedians, writers, directors, poets, producers, a dancer and a weaver. We will discuss how they started in their profession, obstacles they have faced, how they have been impacted by the pandemic, the importance of creativity in their lives, their influences, how they stay motivated to keep creating and most importantly how you, the listener, can support their work. We are keen to make our audiences all around the world aware of the constant stream of Roscommon-based creative work. We also hope this series will encourage some of you to support local art, recognise its necessity and maybe even pursue some creative endeavours of your own. This series comes to you thanks to the generous support of Roscommon County Council who have kindly commissioned this series and endorsed us with the necessary equipment and software to record the interviews safely and remotely during the Summer of 2021.This week Sharon Mannion is joining us for a chat. Sharon is an actor, comedian, writer and facilitator of stand-up workshops from Roscommon now based in Dublin and works frequently with Dublin Comedy Improv group. She started out in Inchicore where she trained in acting, and soon discovered stand-up upon graduating, when she started doing open mic gigs in the International Bar in Dublin. Sharon generously talks us through her journey into the performance life and the empowerment of her role as the comic. Improvisation is the way to Sharon’s heart, and we discuss that fatal moment of getting “stuck” and how to push past it. We discuss gender imbalance in the comedy scene, as well as other difficulties of sustaining a career in the arts, including transferring to online comedy nights with Dublin Comedy Improv group at the beginning of the pandemic, bringing joy and laughter to the actor’s lives and to those all around the world. She also answered our questions on her incredible one woman show ‘the Curse of the Button Accordian,’ a hilarious autobiographical piece recounting her time growing up in Roscommon and her journey to becoming the incredible and fierce woman you hear from today. Sharon recounted how she got the idea from page to stage, including the collaboration of having her own writing directed by someone else. This interview is a great listen for anyone who wants to get into comedy, stand-up, improv and acting, as Sharon gives great advice about starting out, trusting your creative instincts and collaborating with others to network and find your creative troupe. You can see Sharon’s work on ‘Mondays on Zoom’ with Dublin Comedy Improv, you can find them on Facebook, or find her on Twitter @sharonmannion2 , where she posts most often about her work. Blasts from the Past is to come back in 2022, so keep an eye out for that. (update this depending on release day). You can find our podcast, In Fairness, on Acast, Spotify and Itunes. You can hear more from us and our interviewees on our Instagram, @infairnesspod, same on Twitter, and In Fairness Podcast on Facebook. Feel free to get in touch on any of these platforms with any questions or suggestions that you may have for us. Thank you again to Roscommon County Council for their support in helping us create this series, and to our wonderful mentor Catherine Sheridan for keeping us in check and bringing us both together at the very beginning of our journey. You have been listening to In Fairness Inquire: Roscommon Artists, Research and questions by Molly Mew, Sound engineering, editing and producing by Misha Fitzgibbon, thank you so much for listening.

In this episode, Mol returns home to Tulsk to talk to Elaine Conroy and Daniel Curley, two historians from Rathcroghan Visitor Centre, to talk about the area of Rathcroghan; Ireland's Ancient Capital. The three delve into Roscommon's now revealed secrets of pagan warriors, godly queens and deadly folklore around the festival of Samhain. Coming into Halloween, haven't you ever wondered where our spooky and internationally-recognised traditions come from? Rathcroghan plays a key role in some of the folklore around Halloween we recognise today, with Oweynagat being within the many monuments to explore in the area. Oweynagat translates to the Cave of Cats, where the creatures of Halloween are believed to emerge on Halloween night. We also discuss Rathcroghan as the start and end point in the Táin Bó Cualigne epic tale, as the Rathcroghan mound is considered to have potentially been Queen Medb's place of rule. The folks at the centre also talk about the upkeep and goings on of the centre, including constant research and investigation into their surrounding landscape to create a clearer picture of our past.A big thank you to Elaine Conroy, Daniel Curley and to all the staff at Rathcroghan Visitor Centre for their time, generosity and kind welcome today! You help preserve, enhance and celebrate Roscommon's rich history every day and help so many of us have incredible pride in where they're from.Sound engineering, research, interview, editing and producing by Molly Mew. (Misha is currently away on an incredible journey on her film production career. Fair play Love! We miss you loads xx)Music composition by Bernard Delamare. Fair play Bernie.All for now! Happy Samhain.Ig @rathcroghanFB Rathcroghan Visitor Centrerathcroghan.ieIg @infairnesspodFb In Fairness Podcast

Welcome to this week's episode of In Fairness Inquire: Roscommon Artists, a special series of our podcast dedicated to interviewing astounding creative artists that are based here at home in Roscommon. In these interviews we will be talking to actors, theatre-makers, drama facilitators, comedians, writers, directors, poets, producers, a dancer and a weaver. We will discuss how they started in their profession, obstacles they have faced, how they have been impacted by the pandemic, the importance of creativity in their lives, their influences, how they stay motivated to keep creating and most importantly how you, the listener, can support their work. We are keen to make our audiences all around the world aware of the constant stream of Roscommon-based creative work. We also hope this series will encourage some of you to support local art, recognise its necessity and maybe even pursue some creative endeavours of your own. This series comes to you thanks to the generous support of Roscommon County Council who have kindly commissioned this series and endorsed us with the necessary equipment and software to record the interviews safely and remotely during the Summer of 2021.Fregoli theatre company were formed in 2007, and named themselves after the quick-change theatre artist Leopold Fregoli, channelling that same high-energy and adrenaline-filled style of performance. We are joined in this interview by newest member Tara Finn who joined in 2019 as an actor, Jarlath Tivnan, actor and writer and Kate Murray, actor and director who both joined in 2011. After Maria Tivnan and Rob McFeeley performed Disco Pigs by Enda Walsh at the ISDA festival in 2007, they were awarded best actress and best director for their work, and encouraged by Gina Moxley, one of the judges, to continue their work in a theatre company. As the company grew and adapted over the years they have shifted focus to work primarily on original scripts.Thank you so much again to the group for making time in their busy schedule to join us for that amazing chat you can find them as Fregoli Theatre Company on Facebook and @fregolitheatre on Instagram. You can check out their website at fregolitheatre.ie for more info on them or to get in touch. Make sure to keep an eye out for their production of Cross Street later this year. You can find our podcast, In Fairness, on Acast, Spotify and Itunes. You can hear more from us and our interviewees on our Instagram, @infairnesspod, same on Twitter, and In Fairness Podcast on Facebook. Feel free to get in touch on any of these platforms with any questions or suggestions that you may have for us. Thank you again to Roscommon County Council for supporting us to create this series, and to our wonderful mentor Catherine Sheridan for keeping us in check and bringing us both together at the very beginning of our journey. You have been listening to In Fairness Inquire: Roscommon Artists, Research and questions by Molly Mew, Sound engineering, editing and producing by Misha Fitzgibbon, thank you so much for listening.

Welcome to this week's episode of In Fairness Inquire: Roscommon Artists, a special series of our podcast dedicated to interviewing astounding creative artists that are based here at home in Roscommon. In these interviews we will be talking to actors, theatre-makers, drama facilitators, comedians, writers, directors, poets, producers, a dancer and a weaver. We will discuss how they started in their profession, obstacles they have faced, how they have been impacted by the pandemic, the importance of creativity in their lives, their influences, how they stay motivated to keep creating and most importantly how you, the listener, can support their work. We are keen to make our audiences all around the world aware of the constant stream of Roscommon-based creative work. We also hope this series will encourage some of you to support local art, recognise its necessity and maybe even pursue some creative endeavours of your own. This series comes to you thanks to the generous support of Roscommon County Council who have kindly commissioned this series and endorsed us with the necessary equipment and software to record the interviews safely and remotely during the Summer of 2021.Brigid Kavanagh was born in 1926, in Bunnamuca in Co Roscommon. She is a writer and poet whose first book was published in 2020. She started writing regularly in the early 1980s on a typewriter. Ironically, this was while she was recovering from breaking both wrists after an accident. She attended writers’ classes courtesy of Dundrum Adult Training & Education from 1984, and continued to write over the next decade. Brigid had attempted on multiple occasions to get published, but struggled without the representation of an agent. It was in the early 1990s that she submitted insightful recollections of her rural childhood to the Ireland’s Eye magazine. This was followed by contributions to Ireland’s Own and many of her stories have since been published in both magazines. These stories form the basis of her book, in My Mind’s Eye - Walking Amongst Ghosts, intermingled with biographical and historical accounts of people and events mainly connected to Roscommon. Brigid is a long-time member of the Roscommon Association in Dublin and had her first article published in the Roscommon Association Yearbook of 1993. She has made regular contributions to this and to its successor, Roscommon Life. As recently as 2018, one of her stories was included in New Roscommon Writings. Her family helped Brigid collect her work, published and unpublished, under the one roof, so to speak – in My Mind’s Eye - Walking Amongst Ghosts. 95 stories and poems, one for every year of her life so far.In My Mind’s Eye - Walking Amongst Ghosts is available in Strokestown in Dawn til Dusk, Beirne’s and Spar, in Elphin is Glancy’s, in Newsround in Roscommon and Longford town, in Four Mile Community House Shop, in O’Connor’s in Tulsk, in Spar in Kiltoom, in Kelly’s Londis and Boyle Craft King House in Boyle and in O’Briens in Lanesborough. You can also pick it up in Galway in Charlie’s bookshop or in Alan Hanna’s in Rathmines. You can also keep up to date with the book on its Facebook page, In My Mind’s Eye - Walking Amongst Ghosts. You can find our podcast, In Fairness, on Acast, Spotify and Itunes. You can hear more from us and our interviewees on our Instagram, @infairnesspod, same on Twitter, and In Fairness Podcast on Facebook. Feel free to get in touch on any of these platforms with any questions or suggestions that you may have for us. Thank you again to Roscommon County Council for supporting us to create this series, and to our wonderful mentor Catherine Sheridan for keeping us in check and bringing us both together at the very beginning of our journey. You have been listening to In Fairness Inquire: Roscommon Artists, Research and questions by Molly Mew, Sound engineering, editing and producing by Misha Fitzgibbon, thank you so much for listening.

Welcome to this week's episode of In Fairness Inquire: Roscommon Artists, a special series of our podcast dedicated to interviewing astounding creative artists that are based here at home in Roscommon. In these interviews we will be talking to actors, theatre-makers, drama facilitators, comedians, writers, directors, poets, producers, a dancer and a weaver. We will discuss how they started in their profession, obstacles they have faced, how they have been impacted by the pandemic, the importance of creativity in their lives, their influences, how they stay motivated to keep creating and most importantly how you, the listener, can support their work. We are keen to make our audiences all around the world aware of the constant stream of Roscommon-based creative work. We also hope this series will encourage some of you to support local art, recognise its necessity and maybe even pursue some creative endeavours of your own. This series comes to you thanks to the generous support of Roscommon County Council who have kindly commissioned this series and endorsed us with the necessary equipment and software to record the interviews safely and remotely during the Summer of 2021.Frances Crowe is originally from Waterford and studied fine art at NCAD, where she discovered her main craft, tapestry weaving. This unique medium includes weaving materials like wool or silk through a vertical warp of light cotton on a loom. The craft is so unique that one must go to a private school, such as Frances’s studio in Grange, to learn it as it isn’t taught widely in art colleges. Frances came to Roscommon after taking a leap of faith and responded to an ad for the Strokestown craft centre, leaving behind a pensionable teaching job in Ballyfermot. Tapestry weaving is a slow and intricate process, and Frances paradoxically describes herself as a busy and fast-paced person who likes quick results. However, the weaving can bring about a meditative state of mind that comes from the intense focus and methodical approach to the craft. Frances is mainly inspired by current events she hears about on the news, and by the long walks she takes around the countryside she lives in. She writes, draws, thinks and follows a structured plan to build the foundation of her next tapestry, including building the loom and warp on which it is to be made. Once the colour plan is made, the size and scale is decided and the painting is set up behind the warp, then she can begin weaving. Frances talks to us about the material she uses, how she blends threads together to get the tone she’s looking for and how she used to spin her own wool from scratch, using onion skins and berries to dye it. She now teaches this to her students, describing the wool’s journey from the lamb to a piece of clothing like a scarf. Frances describes an awakening she had in 2015 when she started hearing more about the Syrian war. She made the decision then to create strong statements in the work that she made that would provoke something in the viewer to question the world around them. This marks the beginning of her work Displaced, a commentary on leaving home and travelling to safety. Frances worked with Syrian families in the direct provision centre in Ballaghdereen, teaching them to weave and learning about their stories of how they got to Ireland. These, along with a story about a Roscommon family who left for Toronto during the Great Famine, were the inspiration behind Displaced, along with weaving techniques such as Ghosting, in which some of the characters travelling across the tapestry are faceless as they search for a new home. Frances talks us through her other works and the fascinating process of their creation, as well as the international fibre arts festival she set up in Roscommon in 2016. This was to create a hub for weavers like herself, as their craft would not be as commonplace in mainstream galleries as one would expect. Frances has traveled around the world to meet with other like minded artists and continuously strives to make her work fresh, exciting and personal. This is a gorgeous, wholesome chat with one of Roscommon finest artists, Frances Crowe.You can keep up with Frances on her website francescrowe.com, where you can find more updates on the Táin Tapestry, or when her new work Love in the time of a Pandemic will be exhibited. You can find our podcast, In Fairness, on Acast, Spotify and Itunes.You can hear more from us and our interviewees on our Instagram, @infairnesspod, same on Twitter, and In Fairness Podcast on Facebook. Feel free to get in touch on any of these platforms with any questions or suggestions that you may have for us. Thank you again to Roscommon County Council for supporting us to create this series, and to our wonderful mentor Catherine Sheridan for keeping us in check and bringing us both together at the very beginning of our journey. You have been listening to In Fairness Inquire: Roscommon Artists, Research and questions by Molly Mew, Sound engineering, editing and producing by Misha Fitzgibbon.

Welcome to this week's episode of In Fairness Inquire: Roscommon Artists, a special series of our podcast dedicated to interviewing astounding creative artists that are based here at home in Roscommon. In these interviews we will be talking to actors, theatre-makers, drama facilitators, comedians, writers, directors, poets, producers, a dancer and a weaver. We will discuss how they started in their profession, obstacles they have faced, how they have been impacted by the pandemic, the importance of creativity in their lives, their influences, how they stay motivated to keep creating and most importantly how you, the listener, can support their work. We are keen to make our audiences all around the world aware of the constant stream of Roscommon-based creative work. We also hope this series will encourage some of you to support local art, recognise its necessity and maybe even pursue some creative endeavours of your own. This series comes to you thanks to the generous support of Roscommon County Council who have kindly commissioned this series and endorsed us with the necessary equipment and software to record the interviews safely and remotely during the Summer of 2021.This week we will be hearing from Catherine Sheridan. Catherine is a long time inspiration and good friend to both of us, as those of you who have listened to our podcast will know. Catherine is a drama facilitator, artistic director of Roscommon county youth theatre, lecturer, an arts coordinator in schools, a playwright and a master crocheter, to name but a few roles she plays in her career of creativity and discovery. Roscommon County Youth Theatre was born and from there Catherine witnessed the transformations and blossomings of many young participants who went through her training. Catherine even asked us to recall our first day at youth theatre and we reminisced on the last production the three of us worked on together - If I was in the GPO we would have won. This production, written and directed by Catherine, is particularly close to her heart, and id like to take this opportunity to say thank you to Catherine for generously sharing with us her grá and personal inspirations that made the play which in turn made us. In this interview Catherine speaks beautifully about where she finds inspiration and motivation in the people she works with and the world she sees around her every day. She emphasises the importance of taking healthy breaks from work and finding creative outlets that are completely different from your main line of work. You’re in for a refreshing, inspiring and poignant conversation with the most unstoppable drama worker in Ireland, Roscommon’s own Catherine Sheridan.If you’re aged between 11 and 18 or you know someone who is, make sure to get in touch with Catherine at roscommoncoyt@gmail.com or drama.works@hotmail.com, to enrol in the new term of Roscommon county youth theatre which will be starting soon. You can find their page on Facebook and see more updates there @ Roscommon County Youth Theatre, she herself is Catherine Simons on Facebook, catherinesimondrama on Instagram. You can check out the Roscommon County Youth Theatre website or the Drama Works website for more info on Catherine or the youth theatre or to get in touch. You can hear more from us and our interviewees on our Instagram, @infairnesspod, same on Twitter, and In Fairness Podcast on Facebook. Feel free to get in touch on any of these platforms with any questions or suggestions that you may have for us. Thank you again to Roscommon County Council for supporting us to create this series, and to our wonderful mentor Catherine Sheridan for keeping us in check and bringing us both together at the very beginning of our journey. You have been listening to In Fairness Inquire: Roscommon Artists, Research and questions by Molly Mew, Sound engineering, editing and producing by Misha Fitzgibbon, thank you so much for listening.

Welcome to this week's episode of In Fairness Inquire: Roscommon Artists, a special series of our podcast dedicated to interviewing astounding artists who have hailed from Roscommon or who are based here at home.In these interviews we will be talking to actors, theatre-makers, drama facilitators, comedians, writers, directors, poets, producers, a dancer and a weaver. We will discuss how they started in their profession, obstacles they have faced, how they have been impacted by the pandemic, the importance of creativity in their lives, their influences, how they stay motivated to keep creating and most importantly how you, the listener, can support their work. We are keen to make our audiences all around the world aware of the constant stream of Roscommon-based creative work. We also hope this series will encourage some of you to support local art, recognise its necessity and maybe even pursue some creative endeavours of your own.This series comes to you thanks to the generous support of Roscommon County Council who have kindly commissioned this series and endorsed us with the necessary equipment and software to record the interviews safely and remotely during the Summer of 2021.This week we are joined by Mintesinot Wolde, a contemporary dancer, choreographer, teacher, member of Dance Ireland and Artist Panelist for Roscommon County Council. He first started his professional training in Traditional and African Contemporary dance from the African Dance School in Senegal and holds an MA in Contemporary Dance Performance from the Irish World Academy of Music & Dance at UL. He presented a new dance piece ’See you in the Green’ on Roscommon Arts Centre’s website in January and February of 2021. He was awarded dance residencies at Roscommon Arts Centre, Dance Ireland, and Shawbrook in 2020. Mintesinot is based in County Roscommon and established the first dance company in the county where he continues creating dance pieces alongside working with other dance artist associates in Ireland. For the past few years, he worked with IMDT on ‘Dances for Inside and Outside’ and ‘Bloodlines’ directed by John Scott. In this interview Minte talks us through his artistic process of creating choreography through improvisation and different dance styles and techniques he has learned on his journey as a dancer. He shares with us how dance is an integral part of African culture and how he encourages his ensemble to bring their own culture, language, dance style and personality to the performance piece. He talks us through See you in the Green, which captures feelings of loss, loneliness, violence and racial injustice faced by so many around the world in 2020. Minte combined different styles of dance, music, natural sound, lighting techniques, and interesting elements such as ash to create an incredible audience-experience. In this interview we go deeper into what it means to witness dance and to unleash the primal instinct in all of us to move and to express ourselves through movement.You can find Mintesinot on his website at www.mintedancestudio.com . From 3pm today, September 17, you can catch See you in the Green which is available for three days on Roscommon Arts Centre’s website.LINK: https://roscommonartscentre.ie/event/culture-night-21-see-you-in-the-green/ If you’re around Roscommon town tonight, you can see 'At The Castle' at 9 pm at Roscommon Castle. This will be a live performance multimedia show involving dancers, musicians, film, projections and lighting spectacle. LINK: https://roscommonartscentre.ie/event/culture-night-21-at-the-castle/Make sure to tune in next week to hear from Catherine Sheridan, writer, drama facilitator and artistic director of Roscommon County Youth Theatre. You can hear more from us and our interviewees on our Instagram, @infairnesspod, same on Twitter, and In Fairness Podcast on Facebook. Feel free to get in touch on any of these platforms with any questions or suggestions that you may have for us. Don’t forget to rate and review our podcast if you’re listening on Acast or Itunes, it really does go a long way. Share us on your stories and tell your friends about us to help the artists in this series get the promotion they deserve. Thank you again to Roscommon County Council and Rhona McGrath for their support in helping us create this series, and to our wonderful mentor Catherine Sheridan for keeping us in check and bringing us both together at the very beginning of our journey. You have been listening to In Fairness Inquire: Roscommon Artists, Research and questions by Molly Mew, Sound engineering, editing and producing by Misha Fitzgibbon, thank you so much for listening.