An Incredibly busy week at An Grianan Theatre

Yes as the headline would have it its an incredibly busy week at An Grianan Theatre! First up is the wartime sea Drama, Lifeboat on Tonight (Tuesday) and tomorrow night. In September 1940, a ship set sail from Liverpool for Canada carrying ninety young evacuees from the relentless bombing of Britain. Four days into the crossing the ship was torpedoed and sank, killing all but eleven of the evacuees. Two girls spent 19 terrifying hours in the water on an upturned lifeboat. They willed each other to survive. The two girls, now elderly women, remain friends to this day.
Then on Thursday its Eamonn McCann’s take on the events surrounding the Bloody Sunday Inquiry in Heroes With Their Hands In The Air. Friday brings us the The Irish Pink Floyd who do exactly what they are supposed to: play Pink Floyd music perfectly, and then on Saturday it’s the David Kitt gig. Busy busy week! Sure we’ll be relieved to have Pat Shortt in the building for a whole week from the 12th! And for those who like comedy don’t forget Jason Byrne will be coming up on 22nd February....

Flight of The Earls

If you don’t know by now that its the 400th Anniversary of the Flight of The Earls you must be hiding under a rock. There was a very good documentary on it on BBC last week, which is a 3 parter, and all over the country from Kinsale to Rathmullan to Cookstown people are getting ready to celebrate it. Here’s my quick summary: Basically what happened brought about the end of Gaelic Rule and the start of what became English Rule and Law over the Northern part of Ireland. Various Irish chieftains, including Hugh O’ Neill, refused to recognise Queen Elizabeth the first’s dominion over Ireland but after 9 years of fighting, with the support of the King of Spain, and realising that their resistance was futile they left Ireland on a ship, from Rathmullan, settling in many places across Europe.
Hope I got all that right now: History was never my strong point at school! There’s loads and loads more at the Donegal County Council site at www.flightoftheearls.ie. Incidentally Brian Friel’s play about these events will be playing in many of the most relevant areas of Ulster throughout March, shipping up in Derry, Armagh, Coleraine and Cookstown after it opens in An Grianan on 14th March.