Ireland 100, a three-week festival of Irish arts and culture, was launched in Washington DC on Tuesday night, as part of US commemorations of the 1916 Rising.
The event was officially opened by US Vice President Joe Biden and Taoiseach Enda Kenny at a special concert at the John F Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in the US capital.
Fiona Shaw is Artist-in-Residence at Ireland 100
Irish actor Fiona Shaw is the Artist-in-Residence for the festival and the director of Tuesday night's gala performance.
Among the events taking place over the next three weeks in Washington are an Abbey Theatre production of The Plough and the Stars and readings and discussions from writers Colum McCann, Paul Muldoon, Anne Enright and Eavan Boland.
Ahead of tonight's festival opening at the @kencen Fiona Shaw speaks to me about Irish arts @rtenews @IrelandEmbUSA https://t.co/bCIYsA4ZRB
— Caitriona Perry (@CaitrionaPerry) May 17, 2016
Musical performances come from The Gloaming, Anthony Kearns, and Camille O'Sullivan amongst others. As well as the opening performance, Shaw will also perform an evening of poetry from WB Yeats and Emily Dickinson, with Shaw describing Yeats as the "greatest poet of the heart" and Dickinson as the "greatest poet of the soul".
