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Community

Creative Camino Concert – Ferns Heritage Project

Community Project

Creative Camino Concert – Ferns Heritage Project

Ferns Heritage Project are organising a concert to take place in St Edan’s Cathedral as part of Ancient Connections Creative Camino pilgrimage project, which begins its journey from Ferns to St Davids in May 2021. The concert will feature original songs inspired by the music of O’Carolan and will present a premier performance of the first phase of a three-phased suite inspired by the themes of Ancient Connections and written by Melanie O’Reilly. The event will feature local adult and children’s choirs as well as local musicians – Ferns Comhaltas.

Melanie O’Reilly, vocalist and professional music teacher will conduct workshops with the adult choir in preparation for the concert.  The choir will join Melanie and her group in the specially composed piece to be premiered at the concert. Composition of phases 2 and 3 will be inspired by workshops in Ferns and St. David’s taking place after the initial concert.

Date: May 2020 – May 2021

Project Outputs: Community Concert and Workshops

Learn More at: www.melanieoreilly.com

Categories
Community

The MacMurrough Inquiry – Ferns Heritage

Community Project

The MacMurrough Inquiry – Ferns Heritage Project

The MacMurrough Inquiry took place on October 12th, 2019 to mark the 850th anniversary of the arrival of the Normans in Wexford. The event took place in St. Edan’s Cathedral and was part of the 2019 Ferns Conference.

The Inquiry, which was packed with local members of the community and visitors from Wales, used a model of judicial inquiry with real barristers and a real high court judge in modern dress and the key characters from the medieval period dressed in medieval costume. It explored the extent to which Diarmuid MacMurrough was responsible for the Norman ‘invasion’.

Witnesses from the period gave testimony, based on historic facts, and on events leading up to the ‘invasion’. Ancient Connections brought two actors from Wales to play the parts of Strongbow (The 2nd Earl of Pembroke) and Robert Fitzharding, a Bristol merchant. Ancient Connections also arranged for historian Dr Euryn Roberts from Bangor University to set the historical scene for cross-border relationships between Wales and Ireland during this period.

The Inquiry found Diarmuid McMurrough not guilty of causing the invasion.

Date: October 2019

Project Outputs: A Mock Inquiry