CULTURE Drama at Mulranny Pier

TOUCHING TALE?‘A Famine Love Story’ cast members from the Mulranny community. The outdoor play will be staged this Sunday.

Drama at Mulranny Pier

This Sunday, May 31 at 2.30pm, as part of The Festival of The Pirate Queen, a unique outdoor drama ‘A Famine Love Story’ will take place at Mulranny Pier. The drama is based on a story from the Famine times, handed down through the generations by word of mouth; a story unique to the Mulranny area; a story of hunger and disease, death and starvation, of workhouse and coffin ships, of fear of eviction and separation. Above all, though, it’s a tale of how despite unimaginable hardship, love can win out.
The story covers a period from 1841 to 1852. It recounts how a woman was brought from one of the islands in Clew Bay, rowed in by her father and siblings and left on the shoreline to be buried by the mainlanders, as they were too emaciated to  dig the sandy soil themselves.
A man, Michael Carolan (the only name to come down to us), found her, and discoverd that she was still alive. He and his mother nursed her back to health. It was inevitable that she should fall in love with her saviour. In appreciation of what he had done for her, she knitted him an Aran jumper, and its distinct family pattern eventually led to her being reunited with her family.
The cast of ‘A Famine Love Story’ includes The Mulloy Brothers, The Ballycroy Straw Boys, John Butler on Uilleann Pipes, Tommy Joe Loftus on bagpipes, Paul Dunning, Westport Drama Group and children and adults from the communities of Mulranny and surrounding villages
A script is written by Michael Joe Ginnelly of ‘A Wake in the West’ fame, and he will also narrate the play. However, this drama is far removed from the comedy genre that people would normally associate him with. “I just hope we can do justice to this tragic yet uplifting story,” he says.
On the day, both the Mulranny Park Hotel and Nevin’s Newfield Inn offer traditional food, while the Mulranny Food and Craft Fair, which starts at 11.30am, will have lots of handmade traditional items and local food produce for sale.
After the drama, there will be a demonstration of catamaran sailing and kite surfing.

‘A Famine Love Story’ will be staged at Mulranny Pier this Sunday, May 31, at 2.30pm (weather permitting) Admission is free. Audience members are free to dress in Famine clothes and be part of the drama.