A fitting finale to the Decade of Centenaries
Poet Martin Dyar undertook a Writer in Residence programme at the Jackie Clarke Collection as part of the Decade of Centenaries.
Mayo County Council, in partnership with the Jackie Clarke Collection in Ballina, has announced the official launch of a Decade of Centenaries publication entitled , edited by Martin Dyar. The launch event took place on September 20 at the Jackie Clarke Collection on Pearse Street in Ballina.
The Decade of Centenaries was initiated in 2012 with a focus on the many significant centenaries occurring over the period from 2012 to 2023. These centenaries included the various landmarks of the struggle for Irish independence as well as the start and end of World War II.
To commemorate the Decade of Centenaries, Mayo County Council’s Arts Service, in partnership with the Jackie Clarke Collection, undertook a Writer in Residence programme with poet Martin Dyar in 2023.
The residency enabled Martin to research, develop and present new work in response to the Decade of Centenaries commemoration programme by working with the Jackie Clarke Collection.
Over the course of the residency, Martin engaged with a group of local writing enthusiasts and students from St Muredach’s College. The writers each produced poems in response to the theme of New Ballina Poems. Contributors to the manuscript were Marie Loftus , Catherine Gilmartin, Sheila Garvin, Patricia Greaney, Helen Quinn Dawad, Bertha Cooke, Anne Marie Forbes, Audrey Robinson, Mike Absalom and Bridie McAndrew. St Muredach's College teacher and contributor of a poem, Alan Conmy, and students Jamie Brown, Kian Boland, Keelan Langdon, Ka Paw Say, Liam Moyles, Séamus Clarke, James Brogan, Iarla Dunford, David Newcombe, Colum Clarke also participated in the project.
County Librarian Austin Vaughan said: “This is a fitting end to the Decade of Centenaries, and it fits perfectly with the programme’s goal of commemorating the past in a respectful and creative manner that acknowledges the Ireland of today and the Ireland of 100 years ago.”
The launch of the publication marked the culmination of the residency and the Decade of Centenaries. It is now available at the Jackie Clarke Collection in Ballina.
The project was funded by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport, and Media.
