MAKING ART - CONNECTING PEOPLE
St Patricks Day Parade, Bristol
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Lamplighter Arts Cic and Bristol's WE Irish have been collaborating to create St Patricks Parade since 2023. 2024 saw an exciting collaboration with both The Theatre Collection and historians at the University Of Bristol. We focused our research on our contemporary migrant histories as Irish in Bristol from the 1950s to the present day. Many people joined us in fun events which involved reminiscence and sharing photos and snippets of thier families stories to contribute the giant puppet Mother Ireland who led the 2024 St Patrick Day parade.
The skirt of the puppet represents a familiar visual link to arriving and leaving Ireland for what is fondly known as the "Ryan Air Generation" of migrants and thier descendants. It is adorned with fragments of the lives of over 70 Bristol Irish families who collaborate in and contributed to the piece.
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Telling Our Own Stories
Information for Funders and Sponsors
WE Irish, Historians at The University Of Bristol and Lamplighter Arts CIC have been busy writing several exciting bids for funding and we are hoping we can create artworks, comedy and a bit of carnival craic that celebrates the lives lived by our mighty migrant family in the west of England .
Bristol City Council Arts Development Letter of Support
The mythical giant MCLIR son of the sea is a central giant puppet commissioned by WE Irish in 2023. In 2024 it became a central piece to a parade section we call The Sea of Migration. Drawing on the Irish oral tradition it celebrates its ancient figures through reflecting our modern stories. The shared intention is to celebrate Irish culture and heritage beyond the stereotypes.