NATIONWIDE WEEK 11
MONDAY 16TH MARCH
PRESENTER BLÁTHNAID NÍ CHOFAIGH
This evening's Nationwide focuses on music and tradition as the team visits a Wicklow village where the residents have been reaching out to the descendants of locals who emigrated to the America's over the centuries. Plus, in County Cork the craftsman who makes Bouzouki's in his music workshop at his home.
The story of Irish emigration is a rich tapestry woven from individuals’ records and accounts. Nationwide meets a man from Parkbridge, County Wicklow whose love of music and history has helped revive connections between Ireland and America.
The bouzouki is a relatively new addition to traditional Irish music, but it’s become a firm favourite in sessions across the country. For instrument maker Ultan Walsh, every bouzouki begins long before it’s played, in carefully chosen pieces of wood that will shape the sound. Nationwide met him in County Cork to see how each instrument takes form.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/UltanBouzoukis/
Website: www.folklore.ie
WEDNESDAY 18TH MARCH
PRESENTER BLÁTHNAID NÍ CHOFAIGH
UNRAVELLING SHANE MACGOWAN – THE NEW TIPPERARY TOUR
Tipperary was part of Shane MacGowan's psyche, born in England to Irish parents, he spent all the summers of his childhood visiting his mother's Tipperary home. Rural life on a farm was a marked contrast to the vastness and grittiness of London, and Shane romanticised everything about Ireland which he always regarded as home. 'Unravelling Shane MacGowan' is a new tour in Tipperary which honours The Pogues frontman. Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh sets out on the tour where she meets up with Shane's only sibling, Siobhán MacGowan as well as other friends and locals to get an insight into Shane's beloved Tipperary.
Website: www.unravellingshane.com
FRIDAY 20TH MARCH
PRESENTER ANNE CASSIN
KERRY AFRICA CHARITY
Nationwide meets Tralee woman and Kerry Person of the Year 2024, Louise Quill, who first visited Africa when she was 21, having just graduated from University College Cork.During the twenty years since, she has devoted herself to the children of Tanzania, revolutionising thousands of lives through the charity she founded - Tír na nÓg.
She’s built a sanctuary, a state-of-the-art children’s village and a cherishing family environment for orphaned and abandoned children, as well as nurturing children from the wider community through primary, secondary and third level education, all inspired by her motto - 'changing one child’s life at a time’.
Website: www.tirnanogchildrensfoundation.com
