Sin Scéal Eile

Brendan is a photographer and a dad. Two rolls he excels at and takes very seriously, well, maybe he didn't always take photography incredibly seriously, who would at a rave at 6am in 1997? During the 90s and naughties, Brendan had the wherewithal to take the snaps. These very rare and incredibly fascinating behind the scenes photos from Ireland's growing club culture are now in Brendan's new book "The Only Camera in the Room". Brendan and I sat down to chat about his book, his life, and the twists and turns that it has taken. Since becoming a dad to a little boy with Down Syndrome just 6 years ago, his perspective on life and on disabilities has completely changed, and all for the better. xR

Annie might be a grandmother, but she's never to be confused with a little old lady. She keeps herself busy, on town committees, doing arts and crafts with her grandkids and also a bit of bodyboarding for the craic.She first arrived in rural Ireland in 1987 and was known as the “Mad Australian”. She brought notions of paper plates to communities who were more used to people going rather than coming.Annie endured isolation and culture shock, but has found a happy home in Leitrim.xR

Trevor has got it all figured out. He lives amongst nature, with the sounds and sights of cuckoos, owls and red squirrels from his own living room. He’s spent his life volunteering, sometimes doing 15 festivals in a year, all so that he could find the most perfect route for his life. It led him to Leitrim, conserving native woodlands. xR

Akash moved here from Bangalore 10 years ago and in that time, trad music has changed his whole life. Akash got his Audio Technology masters degree in Maynooth College to pair with his degree in Computer Science. When he graduated, he had a choice, stay in Dublin and face Dublin rents, or move anywhere else. He chose to move to Leitrim! “I had always just driven through Leitrim, never stopping, on the way to other counties. At the time when I moved here, five years ago, not a lot of people were moving to Leitrim. I found an amazing landlady, who is so kind, and I’ve just stayed here ever since.” Akash works remotely, putting his education to great use as he builds plug-ins for music software. But when he’s not at his desk, he’s outdoors, slack-lining, rock climbing and cycling. He loves how close he is to nature at all times in Leitrim. How there’s easy access to any type of outdoor adventure. Whether he wants to take the kayak on the lake or climb a mountain. “Ireland really changed my perspective about the outdoors. You can be outdoors really most of the year, as long as you don’t mind the weather. It really takes living in a place to appreciate the beauty, and Leitrim is beautiful.”Admittedly, all this outdoor adventuring was first done on his own. Akash found it difficult to make connections in his new town. He always had a flair for music, he played in metal and post-rock bands back home in India, however he took a different direction when he landed in Ireland. He bought himself a penny whistle, the cheapest most accessible instrument he could find, and began teaching himself how to play with youtube tutorials. Akash was keen to make new friends and acclimatise to Irish culture, so for months, he’d sit and watch the local trad session. He was too nervous to join in, only knowing about 10 songs himself. He’d watch in amazement as everybody else seemed to know hundreds. “I would always sit at the back and sort of listen to the musicians and be completely transfixed because they would all be in sync. It was quite intimidating at times.”He credits the Joe Mooney Summer School and Trad Festival that happens once a year in Drumshanbo for changing the course of his life. It was there he took some beginner lessons and his teacher told him that the only proper way to learn trad was in a session. “I started to play the low whistle, it has got this very mellow, lovely sound to it as opposed to a high whistle. It meant that I could play really quietly and not get noticed until I built my confidence up.”It wasn’t just tunes that Akash learned from the local trad sessions, but also Irish culture. “The Irish people are very self-deprecating, in a very endearing way. I think people are just funny in a general sense where they don't even know that they're being funny.” Akash is settled in Leitrim, and more importantly, very happy. He’s found his community, and plays in trad sessions 3 or 4 nights a week. “Going to the session was the single biggest factor that changed how I live my life. It meant that I could meet people on a regular basis and I had a way into the community, and a chance to talk to the people who live locally. Before that, I knew nobody, now, I have friends.”Rx

Imelda may not have won the Great British Bake Off when she was there in 2018, but I can unequivocally say she makes the best vegan apple tarts known to man. Imelda is passionate about food, and more precisely, Irish food. She wants us to return to a time where you knew the butcher and the fish monger by name. When the apples in the supermarket came from the orchard down the road, and not South Africa. She wants us to be proud of what we produce here and rescue all the hand written, Irish recipes that are in danger of being forgotten. She showcases old recipes on her online platforms, in the hopes of spreading the love of Irish food throughout the world, but also at home! Rx

What Brian (and his co-directors) have done in Sligo is pretty amazing. Back in his teens, he recognised a need for an arts space in the town. Somewhere young people could hang out, collaborate and make great art. Somewhere that wasn’t centred around alcohol. After a lot of research, site visits and funding applications, The Nest was born. It’s a multi-purpose space that hosts band rehearsals, pole classes, repair shops and soon a cafe. xR