Our last episode of the season!

This conversation marks the final episode in our Inquire series. This week we are joined by award winning Cavan writer Michael Harding. Michael worked as a teacher, a prison social worker and as a priest before leaving the priesthood and studying buddhism for a few years. Michael is a regular columnist with the Irish Times and has written memoirs, novels, plays, and has toured the country doing live talks on his books. Michael has also worked as an actor on screen and stage, and has performed as the Bull McCabe in the Field. You can listen to his podcast, the Michael Harding podcast, on Spotify, Patreon and Audible.

In this episode Michael talks to Molly about work, mental health, theatre, God and masculinity. This is an enveloping and philosophical conversation that gracefully fails to understand what it means to be human, like all good theatre should.

You can keep up with Michael’s podcast on Twitter @hardingmichael. You can find his podcast, the Michael Harding podcast, on Spotify, Patreon and Audible, and you can find his columns in the Irish Times. His newest book, A Cloud Where the Birds Rise, is available to buy now from all book shops. This is a collaboration with illustrator Jacob Stack, where Michael’s most memorable musings on the human condition are brought to life by art.

Patreon.com/hardingmichael.

Thank you so much Michael for coming on to chat and for sharing your wisdom and eloquent musings with us. To mark the end of a spectacular project, we send ye off with a Ru Mew original song, Rose and Star, which he wrote in inspiration of our podcast. IG @rumewsic, patreon.com/rumew,

You can find our podcast, In Fairness, on Acast, Spotify and Itunes. You can hear more from us and our interviewees on our Instagram, @infairnesspod, same on Twitter, and In Fairness Podcast on Facebook. Feel free to get in touch on any of these platforms with any questions or suggestions that you may have for us.

Thank you again to Roscommon County Council for supporting us to create this series, and to our wonderful mentor Catherine Sheridan for keeping us in check and bringing us both together at the very beginning of our journey.

Research questions, sound engineering and co-producing by Molly Mew, Editing and producing by Misha Fitzgibbon. Thank you so much for listening.

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Welcome to this week's episode of In Fairness Inquire: Roscommon Artists, a special series of our podcast dedicated to interviewing astounding creative artists that are based here at home in Roscommon. In these interviews we will be talking to actors, theatre-makers, drama facilitators, comedians, writers, directors, poets, producers, a dancer and a weaver. We will discuss how they started in their profession, obstacles they have faced, how they have been impacted by the pandemic, the importance of creativity in their lives, their influences, how they stay motivated to keep creating and most importantly how you, the listener, can support their work. We are keen to make our audiences all around the world aware of the constant stream of Roscommon-based creative work. We also hope this series will encourage some of you to support local art, recognise its necessity and maybe even pursue some creative endeavours of your own. This series comes to you thanks to the generous support of Roscommon County Council who have kindly commissioned this series and endorsed us with the necessary equipment and software to record the interviews safely and remotely during the Summer of 2021.

This week Sharon Mannion is joining us for a chat. Sharon is an actor, comedian, writer and facilitator of stand-up workshops from Roscommon now based in Dublin and works frequently with Dublin Comedy Improv group. She started out in Inchicore where she trained in acting, and soon discovered stand-up upon graduating, when she started doing open mic gigs in the International Bar in Dublin. Sharon generously talks us through her journey into the performance life and the empowerment of her role as the comic. Improvisation is the way to Sharon’s heart, and we discuss that fatal moment of getting “stuck” and how to push past it. We discuss gender imbalance in the comedy scene, as well as other difficulties of sustaining a career in the arts, including transferring to online comedy nights with Dublin Comedy Improv group at the beginning of the pandemic, bringing joy and laughter to the actor’s lives and to those all around the world. She also answered our questions on her incredible one woman show ‘the Curse of the Button Accordian,’ a hilarious autobiographical piece recounting her time growing up in Roscommon and her journey to becoming the incredible and fierce woman you hear from today. Sharon recounted how she got the idea from page to stage, including the collaboration of having her own writing directed by someone else. This interview is a great listen for anyone who wants to get into comedy, stand-up, improv and acting, as Sharon gives great advice about starting out, trusting your creative instincts and collaborating with others to network and find your creative troupe.

You can see Sharon’s work on ‘Mondays on Zoom’ with Dublin Comedy Improv, you can find them on Facebook, or find her on Twitter @sharonmannion2 , where she posts most often about her work. Blasts from the Past is to come back in 2022, so keep an eye out for that. (update this depending on release day). You can find our podcast, In Fairness, on Acast, Spotify and Itunes. You can hear more from us and our interviewees on our Instagram, @infairnesspod, same on Twitter, and In Fairness Podcast on Facebook. Feel free to get in touch on any of these platforms with any questions or suggestions that you may have for us. Thank you again to Roscommon County Council for their support in helping us create this series, and to our wonderful mentor Catherine Sheridan for keeping us in check and bringing us both together at the very beginning of our journey. You have been listening to In Fairness Inquire: Roscommon Artists, Research and questions by Molly Mew, Sound engineering, editing and producing by Misha Fitzgibbon, thank you so much for listening.

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In this episode, Mol returns home to Tulsk to talk to Elaine Conroy and Daniel Curley, two historians from Rathcroghan Visitor Centre, to talk about the area of Rathcroghan; Ireland's Ancient Capital. The three delve into Roscommon's now revealed secrets of pagan warriors, godly queens and deadly folklore around the festival of Samhain. Coming into Halloween, haven't you ever wondered where our spooky and internationally-recognised traditions come from? Rathcroghan plays a key role in some of the folklore around Halloween we recognise today, with Oweynagat being within the many monuments to explore in the area. Oweynagat translates to the Cave of Cats, where the creatures of Halloween are believed to emerge on Halloween night. We also discuss Rathcroghan as the start and end point in the Táin Bó Cualigne epic tale, as the Rathcroghan mound is considered to have potentially been Queen Medb's place of rule. The folks at the centre also talk about the upkeep and goings on of the centre, including constant research and investigation into their surrounding landscape to create a clearer picture of our past.

A big thank you to Elaine Conroy, Daniel Curley and to all the staff at Rathcroghan Visitor Centre for their time, generosity and kind welcome today! You help preserve, enhance and celebrate Roscommon's rich history every day and help so many of us have incredible pride in where they're from.

Sound engineering, research, interview, editing and producing by Molly Mew. (Misha is currently away on an incredible journey on her film production career. Fair play Love! We miss you loads xx)

Music composition by Bernard Delamare. Fair play Bernie.

All for now! Happy Samhain.

Ig @rathcroghan

FB Rathcroghan Visitor Centre

rathcroghan.ie

Ig @infairnesspod

Fb In Fairness Podcast

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