Birr Vintage Week & Arts Festival
Vintage Luminaries
These Events are free!
Due to continuing restrictions, places at our events are limited, so you do need to book in advance!
All events will take place in line with current Government guidelines.
Get booking now to avoid disappointment:
Saturday 14th 10pm St Brendan’s Old Church
Sataturday 14th 10.30pm St Brendan’s Old Church
Sunday 15th 10pm St Brendan’s Old Church
Sunday 15th 10.30pm St Brendan’s Old Church
Monday 16th 10pm Kid’s Luminaries, Birr Castle
Monday 16th 10.30pm Kid’s Luminaries, Birr Castle
Wednesday 18th 10pm Wolftrap Mountain
Wednesday 18th 10.30pm Wolftrap Mountain
Thursday 19th 10pm Metamorphosis Dance, Birr Castle
St Brendan's Old Church, Market lane
Sat & Sun. showings at 10 and 10.30pm
A selection of the best of St Brendan’s from the past years.
DAVID BICKLEY – NOUMENON
inspired by the Aisling Dream Vision described in the story of Cain Adonmain, a contemporary diorama with atmospheric digital work augmented by an immersive ambient soundtrack takes the form of vaporous spirits intertwining and flowing around the building.
BRENDON DEACY – CAIN ADOMNAIN
Monochrome videos of women of all ages recite selected lines from the transcript of Cáin Adomnáin against slow transitions of contemporary imagery created in paint and print and inspired by the human effects of culture, history, and politics
CAROLINE CONWAY –MACREGOL
In the late 8th or early 9th century when the monastery at Birr was at the height of its power, a scribe named Mac Regol wrote and illuminated an extraordinary manuscript . Unusually he signed it and even added a drawing of himself.
Children’s Luminaries - The Domes at Birr Castle Gardens
Monday 10 and 10.30pm
When Stories become folktales, people stop believing.
In the 1930’s children from all over Ireland were sent into their communities to ask questions as part of a National Folklore Project. In and around Birr one story of troublesome hurling fairies out on the Ridge Road came up repeatedly.
The four Birr Primary Schools, The Mercy PS, St Brendan’s PS, Oxmantown NS, and Gaelscoil na Laochra have worked on images and narratives to bring these stories to life.
Empty Pillars are a Place to Dream
Tuesday 17th continuous loop - Emmet Square, Birr
Wolftrap Mountain - Finn Nichol
Wednesday 18th 10 and 10.30pm
A richly layered visual and audio narrative that weaves our current reality into a reimagined Folklore of the Midlands.Set in the Slieve Bloom Mountains and telling the tale of the Last Wolf in Offaly it draws
on the myths and legends of Ireland, the Annals of the Four Masters (Annála na gCeithre Máistrí), Cas Corach, and the Duchas Schools Folklore Collection.
Metamorphosis Dance - The Domes, Birr Castle Gardens
Thursday 19th screening at 10pm
Erica Borges and Ohr Dance Company.
At the Festival Dome, Erica Borges and Ohr Dance Company will perform a specially commissioned dance, Metamorphosis, that sees the dancers entwining with the stunning projection created with images from Artist Emma Barone (30 minutes)
Preceded by a screening of the beautiful short film I Have Plants In Lonely Spaces by Elsie Van Dam which revolves around the theme of growth and the artist's attempts to navigate through life whilst dealing with everyday struggles of severe social anxiety.
In 697, at the Synod of Birr, Cáin Adomnáin also called the “Geneva Accords” of the ancient
Irish or Lex Innocentium (Law of Innocents) was one of the first-ever laws addressing
human rights issues, particularly the protection of women and children.
The projections by Brendon Deacy and David Bickley, commissioned for St Brendan’s Old
Church, address this Heritage within a broader, contemporary landscape.
David Bickley - Noumenon
David Bickley has been inspired by the Aisling Dream Vision to weave a contemporary immersive diorama. Manipulated with his trademark atmospheric digital work and augmented by an immersive ambient soundtracks and sound design this takes the form of vaporous spirits intertwining and flowing around the building in a sequence that creates a narrative of earthbound people interacting with ethereal beings for the evolution of mankind
Brendon Deacy - Cáin Adomnáin
Brendon’s work uses projections of monochrome videos of women of all ages reciting selected lines from the transcript of Cáin Adomnáin who appear within the windows of the building. The details from the Law of Innocents are conveyed in an easy to understand visual and aural language.
Juxtaposed with these crisp and monochrome ‘real-time’ moving images the contrasting the surface of the stone wall show slow transitions of contemporary imagery created in paint and print and inspired by the human effects of culture, history and politics.
Finn Nichol - Wolf Trap Mountain
Finn has created a richly layered visual and audio narrative that weaves a response to the current pandemic into a reimagined mythology of the Midlands and the tale of the last wolf in Offaly
Finn is a final year student at LSAD and Birr local, having attended Oxmantown National School and St Brendan’s Community School, where he was awarded the Joanne Foley Award for the Arts.
His passion for creativity was nurtured through the Youth Arts provisions of Birr –, Legitimate Bodies Dance Company, Offline Film Festival and the Birr School of Rock, from which he made lasting connections with other creative young people who contributed to the sound-track and filming involved in the piece.
Offline Film Festival presents immersive video mapped illuminations onto heritage buildings in Birr, bringing heritage to life with a modern twist.
