Arts Programme

Saturday 28th July 3pm Masonic Hall

Drawing class for adults with Ruth McDonnell. Ruth is from County Cavan and works as a painter and printmaker in Dublin. She studied at the NCAD and Medway College of Design in Kent from 1968 to 1972. She worked in RTE within the Design Department for many years, while also exhibiting widely as a textile artist.In 1996 she started a Fine Art Diploma in Dun Laoghaire IADT, then went to DIT where she was awarded a Degree in Fine Art in 2002. Since then, she has been awarded a number of bursaries, undertaken residencies both here and abroad and facilitated workshops. She has participated in a diverse range of selected group exhibitions. She exhibited in a two-person show in Dublin '05 and in a solo show at Cavan County Museum'06. Her work is exhibited in galleries in Dublin and Cork and is featured in a number of private and public collections. In a workshop for adults Ruth will facilitate participants confront the phrase 'I can't draw' by learning to look and explore ways of drawing using pencils, charcoal and brush and ink.

Participants are asked to register at the festival box office as places are limited and bring with you an everyday household item to draw for example a cup and saucer/ a plant / jug or kitchen implement. As charcoal will be used suitable clothing or an apron are recommended. No previous experience necessary.

Monday July 30th 7:30 Masonic Hall

A creative writing workshop aimed at teenagers will blend drama and creative writing in a challenging, engaging and fun way. The workshop will include drama games, improvisation, script creation, staging and movement through music. No experience necessary - just a sense of adventure. The facilitator NICOLE ROURKE trained in theatre and workshop facilitation with internationally acclaimed Tmu-Na theatre company, Tel Aviv, Israel. She wrote and performed 'Fragments', (1992) which won an award at a drama festival in Cork. With Tmu-Na, Nicole co-wrote and performed a two hander entitled 'DeadHours', which was well received at festivals in Dublin, London, Edinburgh, Poland, Israel and Singapore (1995-1997). She has a worked as a professional actress for many years and, more recently, as a shortlisted director for The Dublin Fringe Festival. Nicole is an experienced facilitator and has worked on various projects including workshops in storytelling at the Chester Beatty library, drama and creativity at the Gaeity school of acting, and creative writing at the Irish Writers Centre in Dublin.

Tuesday July 31st 8pm, Oldcastle House Hotel

'Sculpting Life' - A film showcasing the life and works of sculptor Rowan Gillespie.

Thursday 2nd - Sunday 5th August Oldcastle Library

Exhibition of art work by Siobhan Rea and Anne McManus. History Painting a series of paintings by Siobhan Rea. In 1999 the 2 room school at Glenahulla, Mitchelstown, Co. Cork was condemned due to the presence of dry rot. Siobhan, who attended the school as a child and taught there as an adult, decided to document its last days before demolition, from the vantage point of the prefabs on site in which school life continued. She made a series of drawings and photographs of the old building and the objects which were abandoned with it, until it was finally demolished in 2001. This exhibition, 6 years later, includes paintings based on this documentation as well as prints of many of the original drawings. The paintings are entitled "History Paintings" because they are an interpretation from source material of the past, which, to the artist, now teaching in a multi-denominational school in Dublin, feels far away and bitter sweet. She hopes that the paintings and prints will reflect some of the character and features of a typical Irish country school which would have felt universal within its community in the 1890s or 1990s. Like many teachers, Siobhan can't resist seeking out an opportunity for learning in almost any activity! An interactive game will feature in the exhibition which will teach you and your four year old to throw, to compare, to tally and to count. Have fun!


Anne McManus is a galway born artist who graduated from D.L.I.A.D.T. and lives and works in Dublin. her very large format watercolours, unique in scale are typical of her work. the use of bold colour and fluid lines are key elements in her paintings. the paintings are moving conversations between artist and paint; letting a pool of colour gather, coaxing it to run in another direction, watching it take its own direction. it is an intuitive relationship with the subconscious, surroundings, paint and knowledge of materials. The resulting painting reveals its view on the inner and outer life untethered by preconception. this gives the work a spontaneous, freshness and allows it to be perused simply for colour, form, feeling, movement, shape, beauty, as one would observe a view or a flower. the pleasure is inherent and also personal. Along with many group exhibition and several solo exhibitions, her work has featured in film and television commercials and in a recent edition of The White Room interior design book. She has work in private collections in Ireland, the US, New Zealand and Europe. To view more work log on to her site www.heartlovesart.com

Thursday Wed 2nd Aug - Literary evening, Oldcastle Library

Following the launch of an exhibition of art work by Siobhan Rea & Anne McManus on Thursday August 2nd at the Oldcastle Library, Le Cheile colloborate with Meath County Council Library and The Gallery Press to present an evening of readings and discussion with a panel featuring artist Michelle Boyle and poets Tom Conaty and Eamon Grennan. The poets and artist will talk of their work and influences with plenty opportunity for the audience to engage in discussion or ask questions.


Dublin-born Eamon Grennan divides his time between Connemara and New York State where, for many years, he taught at Vassar College.He has published books of critical essays and award winning translations. The Gallery Press has published eight collections of his poems which have secured his reputation on both sides of the Atlantic as one of the more distinctive and significant writers of his generation. These books include Selected and New Poems and Still Life with Waterfall, which received the Lenore Marshall Prize in 2003. A new book, Out of Breath will be published on September 13th. The New Yorker has described him as 'a poet of plain-spoken reverence', the effect of whose poetry 'is like afternoon light hitting ordinary objects: it illuminates, clarifies, and directs our gaze towards what it is we love but often overlook'.

Tom Conaty is a Poet and Teacher. He was educated at UCD and St Patrick's, Drumcondra. The role of poetry and language in education is central to his work. Over the last twenty years he has received regular funding from the Arts Council and Poetry Ireland to develop projects in drama, fiction, poetry, dance, community ritual and film. In 2007 he was chosen as a key informant for developing policy around these central themes, in education. A founder member of 'Temenos Theatre' in the 1990s he played lead roles in 'The Glass Menagerie' by Tennessee Williams 1990 (Tom Wingfield),'Oedipus Rex' by Sophocles 1991 (Oedipus), and 'Mother Courage and her Children by Bertolt Brecht 1992 (The Cook). He is a regular contributor to poetry programmes on RTE and is a member of the Board of Poetry Ireland. His first collection is due out in 2008. From Cavan, he now lives in Dublin and has two sons, Davin and Finn.

Michelle Boyle is a self taught artist who works from her studio near Virginia in Co. Cavan. She is originally from Dublin and studied Anthropology and Landscape Archaeology before returning to painting full time. She has exhibited in galleries in Dublin and elsewhere and has recently been awarded the Tyrone Gutherie Bursary and was the recipient of an artists residency to the Cill Riallaig International Artists retreat in Co. Kerry. Her work is in the corporate collections of Microsoft International and The Morrisson Hotel, Dublin. Michelle's work is predominantly landscape based tending towards abstraction. She also continuously sketches from life and believes this to be a vital part of her artistic development and expression.

The public will have an opportunity to see work by the three presenters in advance in the Oldcastle Library during the festival.

Friday August 3rd 8pm, Oldcastle House Hotel

Comedy Theatre production, 'Mr. Punch' is a one man show, written and performed by Dominic Moore, detailing a morning in the life of Jimmy Horgan. Jimmy is a puppeteer whose dream is to perform his new puppet show in the Convent School Hall, and nothing is going to stop him! Travel with him on his quest through the characters and bizarre situations you will only find in a small town in West Cork. Employing magic, puppetry and gags aplenty, Mr. Punch is an edgy, dark comedy suitable for adults and teenagers

Saturday 4th August 11am Masonic Hall

Puppet show featuring the Basher Bacon Roadshow

Sunday 5th August 7pm, St Bride's Church

Hosanna House Choir, winners of best African Choir section at 2007 Cork Choral festival.

Tickets 15 euro with all proceeds in aid of Jack & Jill Foundation which is LeCheile's 2007 nominated charity.

The Arts Programme is supported by Meath County Coucil Arts Office