This article is from page 11 of the 2006-08-25 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 11 JPG
JUST three days into proceedings and this year’s Merriman Summer School has already created it’s fair share of highlights and controversy. The theme of this year’s festival is the life of Michael Cusack and has been organised to commemorate the centenary of the death of the Carron man who founded the GAA.
The Summer School was officially opened by Mícheál Ó’Muircheartaigh at the Spa Wells on Saturday night. This ceremony was followed by the opening lecture of the school which was entitled ‘The Man from Carron’ and delivered by Ennis native Br Seán McNamara.
Mr Ó’Muircheartaigh must have been impressed with what the former teacher from the CBS in Ennis had to say as it prompted him to mention Br McNamara’s belief that Croke Park should have been called Cusack Park during his Radio 1 commentary between Cork and Kerry on Sunday.
Interestingly, Br McNamara has donated one of only two copies of a diary kept by Cusack on a visit to Clare in 1902 to the Burren Centre in Kilfenora. The diary will remain on display in Kilfenora until the Michael Cusack Centre is officially opened in Carron in 2007.
Another early highlight of the Summer School was a lecture by Luke Gibbons entitled ‘Putting in a Good Word for the Citizen: Joyce, Race and Immigration’ which took place on Sunday night.
“It is going very well so far – there is a great buzz going through the place,” said Marian O’Callaghan, of the Merriman Summer School. It is starting to take on a life of it’s own. With the Merriman you go from one highlight to another but I think that the Balloonitics on Wednesday evening will draw a very large crowd so people should make sure to come early.”
The Balloonitics Theatre Company will stage a dramatic performance of the Cyclops Episode from Ulysses on Wednesday evening at 8.30pm. The character of ‘the citizen’ in this episode is widely believed to be representation of Cusack.
Aside from this an exhibition of the work of eight local artists will be opened in the Spa Well today, August 22, at 4.30pm. The former President of the GAA, Seán Kelly, will host a talk entitled ‘Remembering Michael Cusack: Legacy and Commemoration’ on Thursday evening.
Also on Thursday, the founder of the Merriman Festival, Con Howard, will launch a new book entitled ‘There Might Be a Drop of Rain Yet’ which is set in Scariff in the 1920’s.