Upstate Theatre Project
in association with Drogheda Arts Festival & Carlingford Heritage Centre
with Peadar and Kathleen Elmore
The Morning Side of the Mountain is a multimedia presentation based on community recordings collected in 2019 by Upstate Theatre Project in partnership with Carlingford Heritage Trust. The project focuses on selected stories of Peadar and Kathleen Elmore from the collection. Their stories integrate the personal with the social history of the Cooley peninsula weaving stories of forbearance and resilience and told with their wonderful brand of humour and wit. A beautiful rendering of the power of the oral tradition blended with the artistic visual interpretations by artist Vivienne Byrne and the sonic eloquence of the compositions of composer Breifne Holohan.
In 2019 Upstate Theatre Project in partnership with the Carlingford Heritage Trust undertook a series of recorded conversations with members of the Cooley peninsula. Some twenty recordings were made to initiate the first oral history archive of the Cooley region.
In 2020 Upstate Theatre Project set to return to a number of participants to explore artistic responses to the their recordings with them. Amongst the many voices recorded were the couple Peadar and Kathleen Elmore. Both had sadly succumbed to Covid-19 during the height of the pandemic.
This project pays tribute to a wonderful couple who’s stories of a long life, lived in the beautiful surroundings of Cooley, was shaped by landscape, time and culture. With a lyrical brogue and a feel for the funny bone Peadar and Kathleen illustrate the wondrous in the everyday with tales of endurance through the upheavals of World War II and the trials of the Troubles to the delight in the finer things of a simple life in rural Ireland.
Working in collaboration with the family Upstate augments the oral tradition with stunning interpretations of the family photographic archive and filmed footage of the imposing beauty of the countryside all set to a transfixing soundscape that celebrates the ordinary as the extraordinary phenomena it is.
Mammy said I was a villain now. “Our Kathleen was a villain!” I often hear her saying that, and I’d think “What did I do that was so bad?”
Kathleen Elmore
There was an explosion in the fire. On a Sunday morning. Sunday the 24th January 1947 the start of the very first day of the heavy snow around here. They all got more of a bang of it than I did. I got the least but I got the most dangerous one. That set my life. That set the plan of my life.
Peadar Elmore
Soundtrack
The soundtrack for The Morning Side of the Mountain was composed, performed and recorded by composer, Breifne Holohan. It also features traditional melodies including ‘Red is the Rose’ and excerpts from Luke Kelly and the Dubliners.
The soundtrack features a wide array of instruments including an acoustic ensemble of ukuleles, guitars, singing bowls and frame drums as well as other percussion instruments. These are supported by a bed of ethereal electronic sounds through the use of an eclectic mix of synthesizers. All instruments are performed by Holohan with the exception of tin whistle which is played by piper, Darragh O’ Héiligh.
- Breifne Holohan – composer/arranger/sound design/ukuleles/guitars/percussion/synthesizers
- Darragh Ó’ Héiligh – whistle
Through extensive collaboration with the film’s visual artist and ever-reliable eye, Vivienne Byrne, Holohan has created sympathetic responses to her re-imagined landscapes of Carlingford with a carefully sculpted sound design, bringing to life the world of Peadar and Kathleen’s invigorating stories.
Performances
21st, 22nd April 2022
Carlingford Heritage Centre, Carlingford, Co. Louth
7.30pm
(World Premiere)
carlingfordheritagecentre.com
1st May 2022
Droichead Arts Centre, Stockwell St, Drogheda, Co. Louth
8pm
droichead.com
