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Dunleer Community Arts Project highlighted in new publication by DkIT Researcher

20 January 2025

DkIT researcher Dr Daithí Kearney has published his reflections on a community arts project that was developed in Dunleer in the latest issue of the academic journal Culture Crossroads. 

The project, which was developed in 2021, involved a variety of groups and individuals in mid-Louth including the local church choir, St Brigid’s Primary School, the Men’s Shed group, Lolo Robinson School of Dance, and Scoraíocht Lann Léíre. Daithí’s paper reflects on his own artistic practice and details how collaboration and participation in the arts has benefits for the local community.



Daithí was prompted to write the paper following an interview with presenter Gerry Kelly on LMFM radio and sought to share his reflections so that future projects could expand on the learning from the project. Funded by Louth County Council under the Creative Ireland initiative and undertaken during COVID-19 restrictions on social activities, the project sought to develop a sense and pride of place and community through participating in an arts-based project that focused on local themes. 

The project, Songs of Lann Léire, involved the recording of two songs, one written by Daithí and the other by local singer Pat Roche. Daithí’s song, ‘Brigid’s Cloak’ drew on the associations of Dunleer with St Brigid and was initially composed for the choir there. Pat’s song, ‘Wee Dunleer’, was inspired by the locality and its people and demonstrated a sense of pride of place, reflecting Pat’s own prominent role in the community over many years.

For the project, Daithí created a number of resources including scores, tutorial videos and backing tracks that were shared online, inviting people to learn the songs and submit recordings of themselves performing. To complement the songs, photographs and video of the town were compiled. The recordings were mixed and edited by DkIT graduate Stephanie Caffrey and shared with videos edited by another DkIT graduate Luke Malone. The project could not have been undertaken without the support of then parish priest Fr Michael Murtagh and the leaders of the various groups involved, including the schoolteachers.

Songs of Lann Léire invited participation from across the community, raising awareness of what was present in that community in terms of the arts, and reflecting the need to create connections within the community, particularly in the context of social restrictions imposed in response to a pandemic. While we are no longer facing restrictions, it is important that we continue to develop social interaction, particular across sectors in our communities. Participating in musical activities is a wonderful way to achieve this.

This issue of the Latvian-based Culture Crossroads (Vol. 25) offers analysis on a wide range of topics, from mentoring in the cultural and creative industries to hate crimes as a cultural phenomenon, and from libraries in the modern world to the reflection of Britain's power in language and politics. The authors are international scholars from Latvia, Estonia, Ireland and Spain who write about community arts, multi-sensory accessibility in museums, the synergy of science and art in engaging audiences.

The latest issue of Culture Crossroads is available here

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