Muskegon, Michigan
We were invited back, yet again, to the Michigan Irish Music Festival, September 12th through 15th, 2019. Of course we went.
The festival already had a brilliant lineup of entertainment and, with me, it had a storyteller to round up the list. The festival is again at Heritage Landing along the shoreline of Muskegon Lake and Lake Michigan in downtown Muskegon.
We were scheduled for two sets. On Saturday we talked about Ireland North and South. This was a discussion of the north-south division of Ireland, including the demographics, politics, and economics of the North in the 20th Century and earlier, the violence of the Troubles during the 1960s and beyond, the peace and fragile resolution of the Troubles. This led into the fascinating question of what happens to the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland after United Kingdom’s Brexit from the European Union.
I added this topic to my “menu” since I’ve noticed considerable misunderstanding among Americans generally as to the division of Ireland. I also wanted to talk about the effect of Brexit on the relationship between the two Irelands. I was a wee bit surprised at the size of the audience, but on the money as to the misunderstanding
We had a packed tent and the audience reaction was wonderful. But the audience had even less understanding than I had thought. I started the talk with the Ulster Plantations of the 1600s before bring everything up to date. Several people commented that they had never had the issue explained to them in such a fashion. Those type of comments make my day!
We discussed Brexit, although I mentioned that the issue changed day-by-day and even hour-by-hour. I spent much of the day on-line getting the latest news on the whole sordid affair. I told the audience not to worry about the latest details, but hopefully I gave them a context in which to analyze the news.
On Sunday we did “An Hour of Irish Storytelling”, and told several of our favorite, entertaining yarns. We had a much smaller crowd than on Saturday, which was perhaps to be expected for the early start time – that, plus the clouds suggested that a storm was brewing. Turned out to be a wonderful day nonetheless. Both events were on the Sligo Stage.
Many thanks to Michigan Storytelling for publicizing our storytelling.
Always time for the dogs.
And always time to hang out with the bands, this time with Connla.