|
Irish In BC Newsletter | October 25th
|
|
|
IrishInBC Social Accounts to follow:
|
|
|
The Irish Covid Support group hosted a mental health panel with members of the Irish Community here in Vancouver, in order to discuss the impact of the global pandemic and how difficult it has been for us all to be so far away from home right now. In this clip, members discuss the decision-making process of whether to stay in Canada or return to Ireland.
*The views expressed in this discussion are personal views of the individual taking part and do not reflect the views of any organisations they are attached to*
|
|
|
Did you know that I/CAN—The Eamonn O’Loughlin Irish Canadian Immigration Centre—is a national organization serving new arrivals from across the island of Ireland? With operations in Toronto and Vancouver, I/CAN covers all of Canada. If you are living in Vancouver, you have access to our VAN Client Liaison and our VAN Social Care Advisor. Both can be reached by phone or email, and our Client Liaison has drop-in hours at the Irish Consulate General Vancouver. Though we are not currently seeing people in-person due to Covid-19 measures, in better times you will be able to pop in to chat face to face. Until then, reach out to us here:
|
|
I/CAN VAN Client Liaison
Eilis Courtney
ecourtney@irishcdn.org
604-612-9578
|
I/CAN VAN Social Care Advisor
Gillian Goulding
g.goulding@irishcdn.org
778-689-9590
|
|
|
Are you job-hunting? Join the Irish Canadian Immigration Centre for their FREE webinar Thursday 29 Oct with tips for resumes, interview skills and other Vancouver resources. This webinar is targeted at assisting Irish community members with job searches and linking them with the Irish community in BC.
|
|
|
Mezzo Masterpieces: Three Opera Stars, Three Concerts, Three Iconic Locations
|
|
Irish National Opera's Mezzo Masterpieces is a series of concerts by three of Ireland’s greatest living singers, mezzo-sopranos Tara Erraught, Paula Murrihy and Sharon Carty. In partnership with the OPW, performances will be live-streamed from Castletown House (31 October), Dublin Castle (15 November). and Kilkenny Castle (10 December). Book tickets for online viewing here.
|
|
|
Bram Stoker Festival 2020:
|
|
A series of events for this year’s Bram Stoker Festival will offer thrills and chills to individuals at home to mark Halloween 2020. Taking place over Hallowe'en weekend from 30 October to 2nd November with films, animations and audio tours.
The full programme for the Bram Stoker Festival is available online at bramstokerfestival.com
|
|
|
Irish Words and Stories of Hallowe'en:
|
|
The Linen Hall Library, Belfast, and the authors of 'A History of Ireland in 100 Words' host a virtual gathering with a Hallowe'en theme.
A History of Ireland in 10 Words’, opened at the Linen Hall Library, Belfast, on 1 October 2020. In celebration, the authors invite you to join them for a ‘virtual gathering’ with a Hallowe’en theme, exploring Irish words, tales and history in a series of short presentations and open conversation. New material, written especially for this event, will be revealed and questions from the audience are warmly welcomed. For further details and to register click here.
|
|
|
Heart of the City Festival 2020:
|
|
Bodhran Workshop with Blake Williams featuring Sam McKay
Tuesday October 27th 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
This online Zoom workshop will explore the roots and sounds of the Bodhran – the traditional Irish hand drum. Have your own hand drum? Bring it to the workshop and join in the rhythm. Gain insight into the unique drumming style of the bodhran and explore the shared tradition of drums with the Carnegie Cultural Sharing Group. This workshop anticipates the community celebration Hearts Beat 2020 to be held on Tuesday November 3.
|
|
Organization Spotlight...
|
|
|
|
Magdalene Stewart began her Irish Dance journey with the Vourneen O’Connor school in Belfast. After immigrating to Canada in the mid 70’s, she started teaching dance classes in BC. In 1981, she hosted the first annual Beautiful British Columbia Feis, and nearly forty years later she’s still teaching today! Over the years, Magdalene has grown the Stewart School of Irish Dance into one of Western Canada’s premiere Irish dancing schools. Her dancers can be found anywhere from your local pub during St. Patrick’s Day performances all the way to competing on the international stage.
|
|
|
The safety of her dancers and their families is paramount to Magdalene. She made the difficult decision to cancel in-person classes during Phase 1 and 2 of BC’s plan. As soon as it was safe to do so, Magdalene rapidly adjusted her class schedule, finding locations large enough to accommodate social distancing and introducing safety protocols in accordance with BC Health guidelines so that her dancers can safely return to class again.
|
|
|
This week's business spotlight is all about having a pint and a bit of craic. We caught up with Danny Hamilton and Warren Crolly from The Wild Rover.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I (Danny) moved to Victoria BC from Dublin in 2013, fellow Wild Rover owner Warren Crolly moved here in 2012 from Kildare. Myself and Warren regularly would meet up for drinks after work on a Friday and would reminisce about the old country and especially the feel of a traditional Irish pub, something that we could just not find anywhere in Victoria.
|
|
We decided we were not ready for a brick and mortar pub but why not put our little pub on wheels and bring our little piece of Ireland to the people. When I got married two years ago, we had an outside venue that would have been perfect for the Wild Rover and this gave us the extra impetus to get our idea rolling, so to speak.
We stripped down an old 70's camper to its base and started from scratch. We used as much recycled material as possible, from wood and copper from the historic Empress that was destined for the skip, to a 100 year old door and windows. A lot of love went into the build and we could not be happier with the outcome.
The early response has been incredible and have had requests for us to travel as far as Halifax Nova Scotia. Plans are already in place to build a second mobile pub and we hope to roll it out on the mainland before the Summer 2021.
We feel the Wild Rover is perfect for an outside gathering, wedding birthday party or small and safe bubble party.
Myself and Warren are mostly just happy to have our own piece of home here in Victoria.
|
|
The production of the Irish in BC newsletter is made possible through the Government of Ireland Covid-19 Response Fund for Irish Communities Abroad which is administered and supported by the Irish Abroad Unit of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Consulate General of Ireland in Vancouver.
|
|
If you have an Irish run event, organisation or business you would like to us to share. Please send us an email with the details to IrishInBC@gmail.com
Note that content must be submitted the week previous
|
|
|
|
|
|
