Filmmaker Pat Collins writes for RTÉ Culture about the inaugural Drimoleague Singing Festival, a celebration of song in West Cork, which kicks off in West Cork this weekend.
Last year I was shooting a feature film called Song of Granite about the great sean nós singer Joe Heaney.
We were filming in the Gravediggers pub in Dublin, hoping to recreate something of the atmosphere of O’Donoghues in the mid 60s. Philip King and myself spent many an hour talking about what songs would be best - and who might be best to sing them. On the day of filming Micheál O’Confhaola sang An Tiarna Randall, Damien Dempsey sang Rocky Road to Dublin and Lisa O’Neil sang The Galway Shawl. Others singers and musicians included Seamus Begley, Doimnic MacGiolla Bhridé, Radie Peat and many more. During filming I found myself getting lost in the songs, much like the ‘extras’ who were there to listen.
When you see someone walking down the street and singing as they go, you imagine that all is well with the singer and the feeling is infectious.
A few days later, I was thinking about singing and Joe Heaney and the experience of listening to such great singers and I thought back to my own upbringing in Drimoleague. I thought of all the fine singers that sung in pubs and station parties and many social gatherings - while working, while walking down the street - singing out loud and whistling too. When you see someone walking down the street and singing as they go, you imagine that all is well with the singer and the feeling is infectious. The lightness of the singer radiates outwards. I thought of how our mother sang around the house from morning to night. She still does, thankfully. And I thought of Drimoleague now and how there are fewer opportunities for people to come together and sing - outside of weddings and funerals.
Listen: Pat Collins talks to RTÉ Arena about the Drimoleague Singing Festival.
So I rang my sister Noreen and suggested we start a Singing Festival in Drimoleague. We could stage it on the old Fair Day, which now lives more as a memory than a present reality. Noreen said ‘Let’s go for it’ and she contacted another Drimoleague native, Paul O’Brien, and off we went. Now the whole village is getting behind it. The local sponsorship flowed in, and it allowed us to start calling singers that we would love to hear singing in Drimoleague - Liam O’Maonlaí, Celine Byrne, Lisa O’Neill, John Spillane and Anthony McCarthy (de confidence), Jimmy Crowley, Nell Ní Chronin and many more. Noreen organised a pub singing competition, which has unearthed some great singers. And there will be loads of workshops and singing in all the schools of the parish.
Isn't this just a great photo of Noreen Collins (without whom nothing would happen) with her old friend Philip King at our programme launch? pic.twitter.com/XmchoCbTXD
— Singing Festival (@SingingFest) September 11, 2017
I’ve always thought there’s no point in recreating the past without it having a real relevance in the present - you have to make it a going concern. You can pay homage to the past but it must have relevance in the present or it won’t endure. A major part of the festival for us is the village coming together to stage it and creating opportunities for people to sing. It’s not all about the concerts. It’s for everyone with an interest and love for singing – the act of singing or the art of listening. As the song says We will drink and be merry all grief to refrain /For we may or might never all meet here again. Life is for living. Drimoleague is for singing!
The Drimoleague Singing Festival runs from September 21st to 24th - more details here.
