Little John Nee at the Honeyfitz Photo by Ita West

It's all over for 2010, but what a spectacular weekend! The 16th Storytelling festival was a huge success and included Sean Keane, Miriam Lambert, Terence Andrews, Con Fada O'Drisceoil, Little John Nee, Orla Harrington, Mike Glynn, Sorcas Beag, Little lyts drama and the local Lough Gur amateur dramatic society.

The 2010 Lough Gur story telling festival ran from Friday Oct 22 to bank holiday Monday inclusive. The impressive line up included Sean Keane along with Miriam Lambert, of the incredible Lambert family fame, Galway Circus with their Sorceas Beag performance and an enviable line up for the Saturday night which included Brian O'Keeffe and Brian Blackwell, as winners of the Junior and Senior category national school competition, share their winning stories to an enthralled audience. Mike Glynn was MC for the night, introduced the amazing Little John Nee, Con Fada O'Drisceoil and Orla Harrington dancer and violinist. The night was absolutely brilliant and went on late into the night.

It was unfortunate that the Karl Spain gig was cancelled and we do hope to have Karl with us in the near future.

Karl Spain

Lough Gur Development regret to announce that the Karl Spain gig planned for Sunday evening at 8pm in the Honeyfitz Theatre has been cancelled. We hope to reschedule it later in the year or early in 2011. Should you have tickets booked please contact the Honeyfitz Theatre at 061 385 386 or 087 285 2022 for a refund.

Sean Keane

Seán Keane from County Galway is decribed as the `greatest musical find of the 90`s` by `The London Independent`.  Traditional Irish, folk and even country and blues songs all lend themselves to his unique style and unforgettable voice. 

After a short flirtation with the theatre he played  in the Druid production of the `Midnight Court` and the Abbey Theatre`s `Sheep`s Milk on the Boil`, Seán embarked on his solo career in 1993.  `All Heart , No Roses` received rave reviews and was chosen as `Debut Folk Album of the Year` by Q Magazine. In the years following, success continued with Meteor Award nominations, `Best Male Folk Performer` from Irish Music Magazine  (three times) ,a similar award  from the London `Irish World`,as well as numerous Irish accolades. `A Portrait`, a collection of Seán`s songs, is a multi-platinum Irish seller. All of his solo albums are platinum sellers and remain in constant demand.

Six solo albums later, Seán Keane continues to delight audiences all over the world with his live performances and recorded work. He tours regularly with his band in Ireland, Austria, Germany, the US and Canada as well as appearing at major festivals world-wide. Sean will perform at the Lough Gur story telling in the Honeyfitz Theatre on Friday October 22nd 2010. Bookings 087 285 2022. Tickets €20

Little John Nee

Little John Nee

Nee was born in Glasgow but returned to his parents home in Oldtown, Letterkenny, County Donegal at the age of twelve. He was educated at St Eunan's College in the town. He currently lives in Tuam, County Galway

Nee was given his stage name by his father who was a Little Richard fan. He founded the first punk band in County Donegal in 1976. They were known as Joe Petrol and the Petrol Bombs. He also spent some time as a labourer on the building sites in London. He later moved to Dublin and began imitating Charlie Chaplin on Grafton Street In 1986 he took up position in a caravan in Barna.

Nee has made appearances in many films such as Neil Jordan's High Spirits. He played the Toupee man in An Everlasting Piece. He was nominated for the Helen Hayes Award for his performance in The Derry Boat. Nee also played the part of Postie in TG4 silent comedy Fear an Phoist. He has appeared at Electric Picnic, Galway Arts Festival and the Earagail Arts Festival. In August 2007, Nee announced his obsession with the ukulele while on RTÉ Radio 1 presenter Dave Fanning's show, Drivetime with Dave.

Don't miss Orla Harrington

Co. Clare Violinist Orla Harrington released her debut solo album "Melting Snow" in 2009. Carrying on a family tradition, Orla learnt music under the tuition of Paula O'Regan and over the years has developed a unique style and sound. She combined this with a successful career in Irish dance. She grew up entertaining locally, at international festivals and as far as Broadway. She has toured as a solo violinist with Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance. More recently Orla has been performing at festivals in Ireland, the UK and Europe concentrating on the more organic style of fiddle playing she grew up with.   
 

Renowned Storyteller Mike Glynn joins us from Sixmilebridge. Mike is a regular performer at the Lough Gur storytelling Festival and never fails to captivate the crowd with his humorous stories of Ireland in the not so distant past. Mike will be our MC on the night.

Galway community circus

Galway circus will facilitate a workshop and performance  for children aged 6 to 96 (yes we welcome all ages!) on Monday Oct 25th 2 - 4pm in the Honeyfitz Theatre.

What’s Galway Circus all about??

‘’Ireland’s first dedicated Youth Circus, Galway Community Circus, has been teaching Circus Arts to young people since 2002. We provide a welcoming, inspiring and supportive forum in which young people aged 8-20 years and adults from diverse backgrounds can learn and share circus skills in a disciplined and professional, but relaxed, non-competitive and fun atmosphere. In our classes we teach skills such as juggling, acrobatics, aerial acrobatics, tightrope walking, clowning and unicycling’’

€5 per attendee