WLR's Aoibhinn Fallon Visits the Heritage Centre

WLR (Waterford Local Radio) is on a mission: to encourage Waterford people to holiday in Waterford. The Breakfast Show's Aoibhinn Fallon is on a voyage of discovery around the county to see what is on offer to staycationers this summer.

Mochuda Camp, the Heritage Centre's summer camp for 5-12 year olds, caught Aoibhinn's eye on www.discoverlismore.com. Snowball fights, science experiments, the trash challenge and the tea party relay tickled the presenter's fancy as we explained that camp will run from 12th-16th and 19th-23rd July. Campers are welcome to join us for just a day or for a five day week for €15 or €65 respectively.

If you would rather have the kids amused en famille try the Heritage Centre Family Fun Experience. We have entertained and educated classes on our school tour nature trail for years and now we are tailoring the outdoor adventure to suit the whole family. Mums, dads and kids, big and small, will be working together and getting their hands dirty to carry out experiments, solve clues and relish a real family day out.

Adults are not excluded from the Heritage Centre's exciting summer programme. Groups have been snapping up The Great Day Out package deal. For just €28.00 per person groups can visit the Heritage Centre, Lismore Castle Gardens, Lismore Castle Arts and enjoy lunch at Lismore House Hotel. Alice, here at the Heritage Centre, will be happy to help your group make your plans and co-ordinate your visit.

Individuals too are always welcome to enjoy The Lismore Experience audio-visual show or a town tour with one of our guides, available daily at 11.00am and 3.00pm. The Craft Shop too is open daily full of souvenirs and gifts for yourself and others!

Aoibhinn's trip to Lismore will feature on the Breakfast Show on WLR on Friday 9th July.

If you would like further information on any of the activities listed above please call Lismore Heritage Centre on 058-54975. Please note that pre-booking is essential for Mochuda Camp, the Family Fun Experience and The Great Day Out

Mochuda Camp Returns to Lismore Heritage Centre this July

Mochuda Camp is Lismore Heritage Centre’s summer camp for 5-12 year olds. Mochuda Camp will be held Monday to Friday 12th-16th and 19th-23rd July 2010. We have so many things planned- all we are missing are you!

Every day at Mochuda Camp comes with its very own theme and activities to suit. We will be grinning like Cheshire cats and dancing oompa loompa style on Alice in Chocoland Day. Sense and Nonsense is dedicated to the science of the senses mixed in with some of the most nonsensical experiments we could find. If your appetite for absolute silliness isn’t satisfied you can return again in week two for an entire day of Silly Science. Drama, Drama, Drama is for your inner drama king or queen with mime, shadow puppets and Superior Shakespeare (a shorter, funnier and even if we do say so ourselves altogether better version of the Bard’s greatest hits).

A wonderful mix of arts and crafts, games, science, drama and all the fun we can imagine fill our days at Mochuda Camp. We will be decorating gingerbread men, getting Suessified on Wacky Wednesday, taking part in the Silly Olympics and much much more.

Camp starts at 10.30am each morning and tired but happy campers head home at 2.30pm daily. Children aged 5-12 years old can join us for a day at camp for €15 or for five days for just €65.

Bookings and enquiries to Arlene or Michelle on 058-54975.

"Who Is Dervla Murphy?" World Premiére

Aged 10 Dervla Murphy got a second-hand bicycle. A week later she decided that as an adult she would cycle to India- so she did. "Who Is Dervla Murphy?" does not begin with the trek- later the subject of Full Tilt, Dervla's first travel book. The new documentary searches through youth and age, home and away for the answer to its eponymous quest. It looks back to a bibliophile grandfather who opted for volumes for his library rather than new trousers to protect his modesty and forward as Dervla's only regret in encroaching age is all the books there will not be time to reread.

To describe"Who Is Dervla Murphy?" as an intimate portrait does not adequately describe the wonderful light that the documentary shines on the writer. There is intimacy borne partly of Dervla's discussions of her relationships as a mother and a daughter in all their raw emotional difficulty. There is also a vivid warmth gained from the inconsequential details of life that are shared: packing for a trip takes quarter of an hour, books are written longhand, typed then corrected by pen and typed again. Breakfast in the Murphy house is an epic affair designed to get the inconvenience of feeding oneself out of the way as soon as possible and heat and comfort are not commodities held in any great esteem.

The iron gates that lead to Dervla's market place home in Lismore appear and are mentioned in the documentary, I pass those gates at least once most days. I expect having seen "Who Is Dervla Murphy?" to change the short journey. The gates will now conjure Dervla cradling a dog, glass of dark ale alongside, glasses around neck and a filling glinting at every smile or laugh. Attending the premiére of "Who Is Dervla Murphy?" in the Heritage Centre as part of the Immrama festival was a privilege. The documentary is a wonderful accomplishment by Mixed Bag Media and the Arts Office of Waterford County Council.

"Who Is Dervla Murphy?" will be shown in Lismore Heritage Centre at 3.00pm on Sunday 13th June. Seats will be allocated on a first come first served basis. For more details please contact 058-54975.

Immrama Events Hosted at the Heritage Centre

The Heritage Centre is pleasantly anticipating playing host to some wonderful events this weekend as part of the eighth annual Immrama festival of travel writing.

The inaugural event of Immrama 2010 will take place in the Courthouse Theatre this evening Thursday 10th June. "Who is Dervla Murphy?" is a documentary by Mixed Bag Media on Lismore's own enigmatic travel writing legend. The premiere of the new documentary, commissioned by the Arts Office of Waterford County Council, is an invitation only event. However due to extraordinary public interest in the production there will be two screenings of the documentary on Sunday 13th June. "Who is Dervla Murphy?" will be shown at 1.00pm and 3.00pm in the Heritage Centre cinema. Places are available for the 3.00pm showing, seats will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

Friday 11th June will herald the start of the festival proper. Pico Iyer will speak in the Courthouse Theatre at 8.00pm. Pico Iyer is the Etonian Oxford-graduate who wrote of thirty years of travels with the Dalai Lama in The Open Road . A self-pronounced "global village on two legs" the author of "Video Night in Kathmandu" whose essays regularly appear in Time, the Financial Times and National Geographic is also the man to whom Leonard Cohen entrusts the composition of the liner notes for his albums. Immrama may be proud that it has some new experiences to offer this worldwide traveller; Pico's appearance at Immrama affords him the opportunity to meet Jan Morris- one of the travel writers whose work he would recommend others, who reads at Immrama on Sunday evening- and also represents his first visit to Ireland. Tickets to Pico Iyer cost €15.00 and are available on 058-54975.

On Saturday 12th June at 11.00am former County Librarian Donald Brady will speak about The Boyle Women in the Heritage Centre. Mr. Brady's presentations on various aspects of his research have become an immensely popular feature of the Immrama programme. Richard Boyle purchased Lismore Castle from the imprisoned Sir Walter Raleigh in 1602. The Castle remained with the Boyle family until it passed to its present owners the Cavendish Family in 1753. While Richard's appointment as Lord High Treasurer of Ireland and first Earl of Cork and his youngest son Robert's scientific genius have ensured that the male members of the family have secured schoolbook immortality, Donald Brady's presentation promises to shed light on the lesser known relations- the ladies of the family. Admission to Mr Brady's lecture is free and also on a first come, first served basis

If you require further information about these or any other Immrama events please visit http://www.lismoreimmrama.com/ or call 058-54975.

The Towers Experience Available to Families for the First Time Summer 2010

Lismore Heritage Centre wants to help you uncover the Towers Woodland Trail. The magical famine-era folly set in lush woodland has been a hit with school tour groups for years. This summer for the first time ever we’re shedding our school caps and inviting families to discover the secret life of the Towers.

Our guides can’t wait to share the nature and science of the woodland habitat with you. Wildflowers, wildlife, flora and fauna all await discovery- not to mention the murderous history that lurks behind the gothic ruins.

Activity packs with maps, mini-beast hunts and open-air experiments mean that families will have to roll up their sleeves and work together.

Family fun trips to the Towers are available all summer. Pre-booking is a must! Please call Lismore Heritage Centre 058-54975.

To see pictures of the beautiful Towers Trail please visit the Heritage Centre's Facebook page by following the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=23852&id=100000122755760&ref=mf