Taking its title from one of Patrick Kavanagh's best loved poems, 'Inniskeen Road; July Evening', the Patrick Kavanagh Centre will host a brand new festival 12th-14th July 2013 as part of Ireland’s Gathering 2013.
Patrick Kavanagh’s work is rooted in the landscape in a unique way. Visitors will be able for the first time to visit many of the sites immortalised by the poet in his native place. They can hunker down in the shade of the orchard wall (‘Spraying the Potatoes’), they will be served tea in Billy Brennan’s barn (‘Inniskeen Road, July Evening’) and will cycle through Kavanagh country in 1920’s costume on high Nelly bicycles (provided by us). The event will feature re-enactments and recitals by actors in period costume. Scenes will be ‘dressed’ as described by Kavanagh – the hedges of Shancoduff will once more become a library for poetry books, horses and men will work the land using period-appropriate farm implements and techniques (a man may be seen ‘shouldering home a saddle harrow’ (‘Peace’)), and the Duffys and McCabes will once again go to war over the ‘half a rood of rock, a no-man’s land surrounded by our pitchfork-armed claims’ (‘Epic’). Events will conclude with a 1920’s-style dance in the Community Centre, on the road to which the sharp-eyed observer may encounter Kavanagh himself sitting on a bank watching the bicycles go by in twos and threes (‘Inniskeen road, July evening’). We will be encouraging people to dress appropriately to the period, and will have costumes and make-up available to those who wish to enter the spirit of the occasion.
This festival will have appeal for everyone and should be of particular interest to students and Kavanagh afficionados worldwide.
NOTE: You should always click on The Gathering Website to check for any change of date, time and/or location - click on the website link on this page to take you directly to The Gathering website.
