Dancing at Lughnasa

(I'm backdating some posts. Photos below if you prefer photos to verbiage :-)

I met a man at church this morning who is an excellent songwriter--a friend had told me of his music and I had read some of his lyrics online. After chatting a bit about my dissertation, he told me about an essay he's working on that has something to do with population control. This is the third person I've met who is publishing pamphlets on topics they find very important. The other pamphlets are on unitary taxation (to prevent the gazillionares from escaping taxation) and on Northern Ireland's power sharing agreement. When Jonathan Swift wrote a Modest Proposal, Dublin was full of people like him writing pamphlets protesting or satirising one thing and another. I find it fascinating that people still do that here. In a time of tweets and Facebook posts and likes and shares, I think it's wonderful that people take the time to write about and rally support for things they believe in.

This afternoon, I saw the Brian Friel play Dancing at Lughnasa at The Lyric. It's about a group of unmarried sisters trying to eke out a living in Donegal in the 1950s. One of them is mentally retarded and their regard for her and protectiveness of her is moving. When a knitting factory comes to Donegal and home knitters are put out of business, two of the sisters (including the mentally retarded sister) take off for London, where they clean toilets and die penniless. Another sister loses her teaching job after their missionary brother, a priest, is found to have gone native, worshipping African deities instead of preaching the bible. It's a classic Irish play because it is tragic and comic and above all poignant without being sentimental.

A few more photos from yesterday's harvest festival:

People compete for prizes for the best dahlia, glad, leek, flower arrangement, parnsips, etc.



9/20