We have just returned from a flying visit to Ireland. We had been asked to perform Her Story for an invited audience, including Dublin’s Lord Mayor, at the Mansion House in Dublin. The occasion was part of, artist-in-residence at the Cascades Female Factory, Christina Henri’s Roses From the Heart project. This involved taking nine thousand calico bonnets back home to Ireland where they will be displayed all over the country. The bonnets represent the Irish women transported to the Colonies in the 19th century. Many of these had been made by, current day, male and female prisoners at two of Dublin’s prisons.
Christina had organised a gala occasion at the Mansion House to showcase the beautiful bonnets (some of which are exquisitely embroidered) and she asked us if we could be present to perform some convict songs and our Her Story play. We are never slow to accept an excuse to travel and neither of us had been to Ireland before so we said “yes”!
The evening was memorable in so many ways; the beautiful Mansion House which is the Lord Mayor’s residence, the warmth and welcome of the audience, the emotion as I sang Take Me Home Christina, the audience joining in the chorus of The Fields of Athenry and the tears in so many eyes as we performed Her Story.
Afterwards, we were invited to perform Her Story at the male and female prisons where the bonnets had been made but that story will have to wait for later!
We loved Ireland and Dublin – any other fans out there?
The Beautiful Mansion House in Dublin
Performing Her Story at the Mansion House
