![\"WBB](\"http:\/\/demo.brandingbay.com\/ARL\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/WBB-1-1024x633.jpg\")
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\u2018The Waking of Brian Boru\u2019 is a community project which was launched last week\u00a0to offer local people of all ages in Armagh an opportunity to reflect upon and engage\u00a0with the one thousand year anniversary of Brian Boru\u2019s death this year.<\/p>\n
Initial discussions between creative practitioner Dr Sally Walmsley of SoundM\u00f3r\u00a0and local people raised questions as to why Brian Boru was even buried in Armagh,\u00a0and so it was decided to hold an event to encourage people to think who Brian Boru\u00a0was and why Armagh was so important to him. A series of music performance\u00a0workshops will begin shortly in local institutions, all of which will contribute to the\u00a0project through the active involvement and knowledge-sharing by representatives\u00a0from Armagh County Museum, Armagh Observatory, Armagh Public Library and No 5.<\/p>\n
The work will be carried out with two distinct groups, one made up of primary school\u00a0pupils from the seven primary schools in Armagh, and the other of representatives\u00a0from Armagh community groups, all of whom will come together to create a\u00a0community inspired performance on the Hill of Armagh in St Patrick\u2019s Church of\u00a0Ireland Cathedral on Thursday 1 and Friday 2 May 2014. At that stage, two more\u00a0schools, Lisanally Special School and St Catherine\u2019s College, Armagh, will both play\u00a0a role through the provision of music and drama.<\/p>\n
Sally Walmsley, the project facilitator, said: \u201cBrian Boru was buried in Armagh after\u00a0a twelve-day wake and so the performance piece on the Hill of Armagh will be a\u00a0reflective multi-media performance taking place one thousand years after his final\u00a0arrival in Armagh for his wake and burial. The performance will involve some 250\u00a0residents of Armagh when the core group and local primary schools come together in\u00a0a dramatic and musical depiction of \u2018The Waking of Brian Boru\u2019\u201d.<\/p>\n
Gregory Dunstan, the Dean of the Cathedral and Keeper of Armagh Public Library\u00a0said, \u201cBrian Boru\u2019s wish to be buried on this Hill is testimony to Armagh\u2019s pre-eminence as the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland, in its inheritance from St Patrick.\u00a0\u2018The Waking of Brian Boru\u2019 is a major collaborative project, linking school and\u00a0community groups from across the City. We are most grateful to Armagh City and\u00a0District Council for their recognition and support of this event, as one of many to\u00a0commemorate the death of the first High King of Ireland. We are delighted that the\u00a0Lord Mayor was able to join us for the launch today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Further information may be sought from Armagh Public Library and any of the\u00a0participating organisations.<\/p>\n
Image credit: Ian Maginess<\/p>\n
In the photograph: The Lord Mayor,\u00a0The Very Revd Gregory Dunstan (Dean of Armagh and Keeper of Armagh Public Library),\u00a0Professor Mark Bailey (Director of Armagh Observatory)\u00a0Ms Libby Kearney (EU-UNAWE UK Project Manager, Armagh Observatory),\u00a0Dr Greer Ramsey (Curator of Armagh County Museum),\u00a0Ms Carol Conlin (Assistant Keeper, Armagh Public Library),\u00a0Dr Stephen Day (Registry Officer, No 5 Vicars\u2019 Hill),\u00a0Dr Sally Walmsley (Project Facilitator),\u00a0Staff and pupils from local schools:\u00a0Armstrong Primary School,\u00a0Christian Brothers\u2019 Primary School,\u00a0Lisanally Special School,\u00a0Mt St Catherine\u2019s Primary School,\u00a0Royal School Preparatory Department,\u00a0St Catherine\u2019s College,\u00a0St Malachy\u2019s Primary School,\u00a0St Patrick\u2019s Primary School<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"