Éigse Carlow's Festival Director

Traditional musician, Tara Connaghan from Co. Donegal, took up the position in mid February 2009. She is very excited about working with local artists and community groups as well as bringing high quality national and international artists to Carlow for the festival. For the last four years she worked in the Arts Office of Clare County Council as Regional Arts Coordinator and Traditional Arts Specialist so is interested in encouraging and empowering the local community to get involved in Éigse.

She says a huge thank you to everyone who helped out at the 2009 festival and sends her warmest season's greetings. 

Artists selected for Éigse Open Selection 2009:

The Éigse Open Selection and Carlow Artists Selection for 2009 were selected by artist Marie Hanlon. 85 artworks in total were selected for the Open selection exhibition and 12 for the Carlow Artist selection. 

Christopher Banahan

Aisling Dolan

Karen Hendy

Loretto Cooney

Oonagh Latchford

Rebecca Homfray

Helena Dunlop

Saidhbhin Gibson

Mike Fitzharris

Bethan Hodgson

Amelia Peart

Willie Evesson

Mary Butler

Paul Bokslag

Tony Gunning

Cecilia Moore

Maureen Phelan

Marjolein Wouters

Nicola Lynch Morrin

Angela Anderson

Catriona O’Connor

Tara Ní Nuallain

Niamh White

Una Doran

Aidan Flanagan

Noelle O’Keeffe

Michael Sheridan

Gillian Lawler

Eileen McCann

Steve Mynhardt

Pauline Keena

Hilary Elms

Dave West

Thomas Brezing

Andrew Fox

Maria Levinge

Helen G. Blake

Deirdre McCarthy

Liz Mathews

Elizabeth Archbold

Sheila Naughton

Sharanne Long

Breda Morrissey

Kevin Mooney

Jackie Edwards

Bronwen Casson

Joe Dunne

Wendy Dison

Ilsa Thielan

Patrick Horan

Natasha Nullen

Tom Climent 

Laura Butler

Arne Witt

Seamus McCormack

Ann Quinn

Jonathan Curran

Tinka Bechert

Gay Brabazon

Martin Lyttle

Ciara Murphy

Conrado Velasco

Yvonne O’Reilly

Nuala O’Sullivan

Sabina MacMahon

Lynda Reynolds

Oonagh O’Brien

Niamh Boyce

Susan Montgomery

Carlow Artists Selection 2009

Helen Hiney

Maureen Phelan

Bernadette Scott

Mary Cullen

Maree Hensey

Marie Phelan

Steve Mynhardt

Patricia Murphy

Martin Lyttle

Sean Doran

Calling All Festival Fans!

Éigse Arts Festival will return to Carlow in June 2010 and will shortly be recruiting volunteers to help manage the day to day running of the festival. Whether you are an Arts enthusiast, a festival fanatic or just want to give something back to the community, working as an Éigse Carlow Arts Festival volunteer is just the ticket. While we ask that volunteers are over 18, with no upper limit, we do have a number of exciting projects with youths to design and create their own projects. Contact Tara in the festival office for further information on +353-59-9140491.

Volunteers have a chance to be at the centre of the action in the festival and witness some top live acts and performances. In return Éigse asks for a friendly face to man stands, collect tickets and generally facilitate fun!

Positions and tasks include:
  • Light carpentry work/painting
  • Poster/flyer/programme distribution
  • Visit schools to talk about Eigse
  • General administrator
  • Health and Safety Officer
  • Putting up signs
  • On street guides
  • General volunteers 
  • Visual Arts Tours
  • Airport pick up/drop offs
  • Production assistants
  • Security
  • Door staff
  • Box office assistants
  • Exhibition invigilator
  • Filing in office
  • Ushers for performances
  • Artist liaison-bring to schools/venues

Art on the railings....

During the 2009 festival we encouraged artists nationwide to show their work on the streets of Carlow including the Courthouse railings and along Kennedy Avenue. The entry cost was €30 per artist and we plan to run a similar scheme during the festival in June 2010. Contact the festival office on +353-59-9140491 for further information or sign up to our newsletter where you will be the first to know what's happening at Éigse for 2010.