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Dempsey, Brian Kerr and Irish actor and comedian
Terry O’Neill (Rope A Dope), alongside musician Niamh Ní Charra and spoken word artist Emmet O’Brien. Drawing on connections to boxing, performance and Irish cultural life, each offers a distinct lens on Donnelly’s legacy. Dempsey, a former amateur boxer turned singer-songwriter, brings the emotional weight of the sport into his music, while Kerr’s lifelong connection to boxing – shaped by his father Frankie Kerr – reflects its deep roots in Irish identity. O’Neill channels his experience as a former Irish international boxer into performance, blending humour with the realities of life in the ring. Ní Charra, an award-winning traditional musician and former Riverdance soloist, connects directly to Donnelly’s story through her acclaimed album Donnelly’s Arm, while O’Brien’s work rooted in Dublin’s inner city speaks to the enduring importance of community, place and shared cultural space. Donal Fallon shares his thoughts on why celebrating Donnelly and his character remains important to the Dublin 8 district up to the present-day, and how we should choose to Camille commemorate boxing’s legacy: “Dublin 8 has a long and prestigious history linking it to boxing, from the prize fighter era of Dan up to the present day and the Stadium. We want to celebrate the Publican Pugilist himself, and perhaps we need a bigger room than Fallons!... The line up should bring boxing in the broadest sense to life.” The Sunday afternoon event will be a tagteam pairing of wrestlers and slam poets, once again inside the ring. With the ring as a stage and the microphone as a weapon, this spectacle will draw a line between 18thcentury prize-fighting bravado and modern spoken-word poetry. A visual, humorous showcase, softening the typical stern nature of both careers and highlighting the curious similarities that exist between them as artistic displays. The winning team will receive a well-earned replica of Dan Donnelly’s arm as their prized trophy. These two events strive to represent how stories of past heroes, such as Donnelly, stay alive – not as history, but as an ongoing narrative that is re-performed, reinterpreted and reinvigorated by each new generation. Grace McEvoy, Creative Director of Culture Date with Dublin 8, explains Dublin 8’s significance as a melting pot of culture and story, and how these features will be highlighted in this year’s theme: “Dublin 8 is a place where stories have always travelled through streets, songs, literature and legend. With Songlines of the City, we’re inviting people to rediscover the neighbourhood as a living map of culture, Culture Date with Dublin 8 is an initiative of Dublin City Council South Central Area Office, in collaboration with curator, Grace McEvoy and their programme partners and supporters. For full event listings go to www.culturedatewithdublin8.ie memory and imagination.” “Marking Gulliver 300, we’re also celebrating Dublin as a city shaped by giants – both imagined and real – from Swift’s fantastical worlds to figures like Dan Donnelly, whose stories continue to resonate across generations.” More on Culture Date Culture Date with Dublin 8 is a place-based, cultural initiative that celebrates Dublin 8 as one of the most historically layered 22 neighbourhoods in the city. CDD8 works year-round with cultural institutions, artists and historians as well as local businesses and community groups to connect people with the stories, significant places and artworks that define and highlight the life of the area. At the heart of the initiative is the annual Culture Date with Dublin 8 festival, which takes place each May. Since its launch in 2017, the festival has grown extensively from a two-day pilot to a seven-day lineup, now collaborating with over 100 programme partners. The festival allows audiences to discover the hidden gems of the Liberties, along with the wider Dublin 8 district, via walking tours and heritage trails alongside concerts in historic cathedrals, markets, workshops and exclusive access to private properties. The first strand of this year’s theme, Songlines of the City, will explore how cities and districts are dually mapped by means of storytelling, music, literature, folklore and place names. Acclaimed Irish poet Paula Meehan will be premiering her new poem, The City of Our Dreaming, in St Patrick’s Cathedral. This poem was commissioned by The Guinness choir to celebrate their 75th anniversary, bringing together poetry, place and music. The Gulliver 300 strand of the Culture Date with Dublin 8 festival celebrates the legacy of author Jonathan Swift. Alongside his widely influential work Gulliver’s Travels, Swift also has tangible roots to the area of Dublin 8, serving as a Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral from 1713 until he died in 1745. A keynote lecture by Swift scholar Dr. Brendan Twomey is set to take place in St. Patrick’s Hospital, alongside a showcase of artefacts that belonged to Swift. St Patrick’s Cathedral will be opening for tours of the Deanery, where Swift once lived. Marsh’s Library will also display original copies of Gulliver’s Travels in an exhibition. Throughout the week, the festival will unfold as a series of interconnected moments across the neighbourhood, from intimate performances and exhibitions to large-scale cultural gatherings. Highlights include an exhibition by local D8 Vietnamese-Irish artist Duc Van Pham and a new ceramic installation by Throwing Shapes Artist in Residence, Camilla Hanney. Musical showcases will also take place throughout the week, featuring a concert hosted by BIMM, Camille O’Sullivan performing in Christ Church Cathedral, alongside a wide-ranging programme of music, storytelling, late-night events and community-led experiences that animate Dublin 8 in new and unexpected ways. Taken together, these thematic strands reveal the deeper idea behind this year’s programme. Cities can be understood more deeply through the cultural memory that is stored within them. There is a story on every street corner if one cares to stop and investigate. Swift’s imagined journeys, Paula Meehan’s poetic reflections and the enduring folklore surrounding figures like Dan Donnelly all remind us that Dublin City has a history that its inhabitants constantly rewrite; a lengthening, continuous tale that is reinvigorated and reenergised with every rendition.