The Eco Showboat Mayfly – a vibrantly coloured solar powered boat touring Ireland’s inland waterways for 2 years – will be moored in Mountshannon Harbour for the last week of May.
Join artists Anne Cleary and Denis Connolly at the Market House on Saturday 27 May to hear about their journey, meet a wonderful lineup of eco-artists and scientists and enjoy food and music with Irish-Indian duo IndeCeltic.
On Saturday morning at 11 am join Denis for coffee and locally baked goodies from the Berrytree bakery to hear about some of the challenges Anne and Denis faced on their expedition from Limerick to Enniskillen using only solar power. This is the moment to pick their brains if you are considering sustainable energy yourself. Also meet artist Slavek Kwi, with his incredible recordings of the underwater soundscape of Lough Derg, and local artist and craftsman Paul Berg with the stunning Black Harp of Derrainy Bog, a harp hand carved from 3000 year old bog oak.
In the afternoon, scientist Niall Ó Brolcháin, expert in peatlands conservation, joins the team to tell you more about the exciting opportunity Ireland has to reduce carbon emissions drastically simply by restoring our beautiful peatlands. And as a reward for listening to the science – so essential to our understanding of the changing world we live in – you are invited to join the team for some delicious “Indo-Irish” refreshments (Ireland and India in a single bite), sustainably produced by the IndeCeltic duo, while listening to the poetry of Grace Wells, an award winning Clare based poet who “lends her voice to the urgency of the ecological crisis”.
To wind up a thought-provoking day, the IndeCeltic team, Anna and Maninder will whip off their aprons and treat you to some beautiful folk songs with harp, guitar and voice.
Anne Cleary, one of the founders of the Eco Showboat project said: “This is just what we hoped for with the Eco showboat, to bring people together around ecology in a way that is enjoyable and fun, and show people that it’s not all doom and gloom. We combine climate science with poetry, art, music and good food, to give people beautiful moments where minds can come together and imagine solutions to the climate crisis, as a community.”
The Eco Showboat Journey to the East is a five month arts expedition, from Askeaton to Dublin and including the Barrow and Grand Canal, aboard the Mayfly, flagship of the Eco Showboat project. Last year the Mayfly travelled from Limerick to Enniskillen on the Shannon and Erne, the first time such a voyage has been undertaken on a solar-powered vessel. Brainchild of artists Anne Cleary and Denis Connolly, the project has received the Arts Council Open Call Award for 2021, as well as an SFI Discover Award, a Limerick Arts Strategic Award, and is supported by Clare County Council, Creative Ireland, Waterways Ireland, the Local Authority Waters Programme, local authorities and universities across the country (full list of partners here).
The Mayfly solar boat will be on view from Thursday May 25th to Sunday May 29th at Mountshannon Harbour along with Paul Berg’s musical floating Island “An Crannog Ceoil”.