A President & A Premiere! Imbolc 2026
A Weekend of Firsts for Imbolc 2026
A very busy St Brigids weekend was had at Siamsa Tíre.
On Saturday 31st January, there was great excitement in Teach Siamsa Finuge as Uachtarán na hÉireann / President of Ireland Catherine Connolly visited to recognise the ‘Celebrating Irish Language & Culture’ Local Government Award for Teach Siamsa’s ‘Blas Beo’ initiative.
This community led programme, funded by Kerry County Council, celebrates and strengthens the Irish language across North Kerry.
Comhghairdeas libh go léir- congratulations to all involved for embracing the Irish language through this inspiring community-driven approach, and for the wonderful celebrations with well-known community artists and students of Céim Arts showcasing traditional Irish music, song and dance for the President.
What an incredible welcome and showcase of our language and culture provided by the community!
Premiere Night..
Later that evening, saw the opening premiere of Irish National Opera’s tour of their new production ‘The Cunning Little Vixen’ at Siamsa Tíre Theatre.
The opera by the famous Czech composer Leoš Janáček, was attended by the Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Ireland Pavel Vošalík who congratulated the cast after their incredible performance which saw standing ovations from a full house.
As part of their ‘Open Foyer’ Series in which Irish National Opera collaborates with local communities during their national tours. design students from MTU undertook a very special assignment. Under the guidance of Lisa McElligott, the students were tasked with creating an illustration for each scene of the opera. The students were given a distilled explanation of each scene, highlighting each character and setting and the stunning designs were collated into a booklet and given to each audience member on the night.
Find out more about The Cunning Little Vixen tour in our BLOG
