Arts / Culture

Four fun-filled, family-friendly, festival-atmosphere days are guaranteed for Waterford’s St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.

Waterford City and County Council, in association with Fáilte Ireland and EveryEvent, is delighted to announce a jam-packed four-day programme of events from Friday, March 14^th to Monday, March 17^th. The theme for this year’s festival is Saints & Scholars – A Celebration of Waterford’s rich heritage and will be marked by parades, performances, carnivals and music right through the Bank Holiday weekend.

While the festival is a celebration of Waterford’s people and communities, its culture and heritage, its diversity, and its musical and artistic talent, there will be tribute paid to St. Patrick and to Waterford’s very own Scholar, Luke Wadding, a 16^th Century academic, author, historian and Franciscan.

Mayor of Waterford City and County, Cllr. Jason Murphy, “You can’t beat St. Patrick’s Day in Waterford and year on year the celebrations keep getting bigger and better.

“The success of the festival, and particularly the Parade, is down to the enthusiasm and dedication of our community, sporting, entertainment, voluntary and business groups, who take part.  The pageantry, colour, vibrancy and diversity that they bring to the weekend is always spectacular.”

Johnny Codd, Festival Director, Waterford City and County Council said there will be some great new acts to be announced shortly.  “The festival continues to grow each year, and we are really excited about some of the new acts that will form part of the programme in 2025.

“We are particularly proud of FireDance, a phenomenal show that has been created in Waterford especially for St. Patrick’s Festival and will feature the best local and national musicians, singers, dancers, designers and fire performers.

“This is one of the new acts to be added to the programme and locals and visitors to Waterford over St. Patrick’s weekend can expect a real eclectic mix of music, entertainment, arts, culture and history.”

The entertainment programme will take over the city centre with music and dance stages in the Apple Market / John Roberts Square and O’Connell Street and will also include historical talks, tours, wobbly circus and theatre. The city centre fair ground will return to the heart of the city with food markets offering something for everybody.

John Grubb of EveryEvent added, “The events going on throughout the weekend will have something for everyone, including a medieval reenactment, an Irish dance and hip-hop mash-up, a city centre funfair, interactive workshops, and as a new event this year there will be a public lecture in honour of Waterford’s most renowned scholar, Luke Wadding.”

He added, “The highlight, the Parade, is a fantastic opportunity for groups of all genres, ages and sizes to showcase what they do best. So, we’d love to see as many people as possible getting out there and supporting the largest community event of the year.”

With the final touches being put to the four-day programme all will be revealed in the coming weeks.

However, in the meantime, if your group would like to take part in the St. Patrick’s Day parade on Monday, March 17^th, you can register at www.stpatricksfestivalwaterford.com

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Embedded Images:  Free to use – Patrick Browne

The Old Market House Arts Centre, Lower Main Street, Dungarvan is currently showing ‘Before the Shutter’ by Noel O’Donoghue, a self-taught artist who grew up in Cappoquin, Co. Waterford.

Noel has been sketching and painting for as long as he can remember.  Strongly influenced by the nature on his doorstep, he has several landscape based works in his portfolio. As a teenager Noel sketched using pencil and now he works in oils and acrylics. He freely moves from portraits to landscapes as he believes this experience of painting portraits gives him a more critical, detailed eye when executing landscapes.

During the Covid lockdown Noel embarked on a project to select and paint historical icons. He then moved to include modern icons and he has completed numerous portraits of family and local people over time. Each portrait is selected to express an emotion or experience, of which Noel said, “I believe this form of painting is endangered by modern technology and needs to be nourished to survive.”

A selection of Noel’s portrait works is now on show until Saturday, February 8^th 2025.

The Old Market House Arts Centre is open Tuesday to Friday 11am to 5pm (lunchtime close 1.30pm to 2.30pm) and Saturdays 1pm to 5pm. Admission is free and all are welcome.

Opening on 5^th December, 6:30pm, BODIES will showcase artworks including new commissions from the Waterford Art Collection inspired by the human form. The exhibition will feature life drawing, carved marble feet, a glass hand as well as paintings from the likes of William Orpen and Mainie Jellett. There will also be more recent works and new acquisitions to the collection by Áine Ryan, Eamon Gray & James Horan, Cúan Cusack, photography by HK Stuart, and, most auspiciously, the launch of the newly OPW and WC&CC commissioned portrait of Dr. Mary Strangman by Una Sealy RHA. Sealy, based in Howth, Dublin, has previously been awarded for her portrait of local artist, Caoilfhionn Hanton.

Dr. Mary Somerville Parker Strangman (1872 – 1943) was born in Waterford, enrolled at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 1891, and received her licence in 1896. After training and lecturing in Britain, Mary Strangman became the second woman to earn the fellowship of RCSI in 1902. Establishing a practice in Waterford, Strangman also volunteered at various local women’s charities and published several research articles on alcoholism and morphine addiction. Her increasing activism in women’s health, particularly combatting tuberculosis, as well as women’s suffrage led her to being elected Waterford’s first woman Councillor in 1912. Retiring from public office in 1920, Strangman continued in general practice and as physician at Waterford County and City Infirmary.

Also launching at the same time will be GROUND (two-unfold) by Susan Connolly. It is the first iteration of Connolly’s exhibition GROUND (100+one), originally commissioned by the F.E. McWilliam Gallery and Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council. This body of work reflects and reappraises 100 years of Irish abstract painting and takes its cues from ‘Decoration’ (1923) by Mainie Jellett, considered the first Irish abstract painting.

Originally from Kildare, Susan is now based between Belfast and Waterford where she is a lecturer and Course Leader in the Visual Art Department of South East Technological University. She studied at Limerick College of Art and Design, the National College of Art and Design, Dublin and Belfast School of Art where she was awarded an MFA and PhD. Susan is a member of Queen Street Studios and her work is in public and private collections throughout Ireland including the Arts Council of Ireland and the Office of Public Works.

The exhibition is free, open Wednesday to Saturday, 10am-5pm and is accompanied by a limited-edition art book designed by Alex Synge with texts by Sarah Long, Craig Staff and Riann Coulter.

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