She was deeply serious about faith but also about Irish culture and music, ecology and the dignity of all people. My thoughts are with all those who loved her.
Shine on Moya Brennan.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam.
www.guardiansoftheflame.org/podcast/epis...
I’ve heard a tribute for her this morning saying that Moya always made you feel welcome and like you were almost family. She definitely made that impression on me that morning. What a special person, an angel in fact…
The next day Moya sat down with me and we recorded a lovely conversation for Guardians Of The Flame podcast with Fra Sands recording the audio.
Moya sadly passed away last night, way too soon.
I was stunned to hear this fusion of Moya Brennan’s sublime voice, with her playing the harp and a band behind driving the songs along with rhythm, almost jazz-like at times.
Every year amazing artists and musicians would come through and we’d often get to host gigs for them.
In 2019 Clannad played at the festival and their gig was utterly stunning. I remember they opened with an old song from 1980 called Crann Úll.
#RememberingMoyaBrennan
One of the special things about our years in Rostrevor was the incredible opportunity we had to meet simply magical people. Rostrevor is a thriving hub for folk and Irish trad music and runs a brilliant festival every summer called Fiddler's Green.
This is a long but brilliant account of the fall of American evangelicalism. This fall is mirrored around the world wherever the tentacles of social media herd people into an echo chamber where they are exposed to ever increasing doses of this toxic ideology. open.substack.com/pub/processt...
I don't think there is any historical degradation or inhumanity to which the white supremacist shitheels at the helm of our nation will not now lay claim. Slavery will soon be a beneficient grant by Europe to the world. The Inquisition and the Holocaust will soon be necessary purifications.
Photographer John Noltner has launched a new multimedia series called "The Troubles." It follows his recent visit to Northern Ireland and features people who are leaning into creative solutions to heal old wounds and imagine a different future. The first interview is with @jonnyrclark.bsky.social.
Black people are still living with the trans-generational consequences of evil not being properly named and exorcised from America. The Confederates were not the evil, nor was Kirk. But ideas of white supremacy are a demon that will kill, steal and destroy.
This article challenges us to not venerate the words of someone who died a tragic death. Coates believes there is a symmetry here to how Confederates were rehabilitated in the post-Civil War era.
“I feel like there is a new religion emerging, I think I will call it Christendom’ism. Those who are drawn to it still attend churches, but I believe they have stopped believing the Sermon on the Mount has much relevance to our world today.”
The opening lines of what I wrote, in reference to the white supremacist rally in London at the weekend, the cheering of genocide in Gaza and the response in the USA to the Kirk shooting were:
Last week I wrote some reflections on this American guy and the tragedy of his murder. I decided not to publish what I wrote for a few reasons. One is that I doubt much good could come of it. Everyman and his dog had an opinion on a guy most people my age had never heard of prior to his killing.
Ta-Nehisi Coates does a good job of separating “the great crime of Kirk’s death from the malignancy of his public life?”
www.vanityfair.com/news/story/c...
If you’re in Belfast join us at St Anne’s Cathedral on Saturday at 11.30am for the Service for the Day of Reflection. If you’re not near these two places, perhaps consider how you could reflect on the loss and pain of the Troubles and how you can act for hope in the future.
To close the night we watched the 7 minute short film Vacancies, by Paul Hutchison. Paul is an artist who creates, imagines and curates spaces for reflection, lament and hope.
It was a full but beautiful night and as always Claire Humphrey brought us into the space beautifully.
Cate Turner who directs Healing Through Remembering, spoke about the Day of Reflection.
Dr Kieran McEvoy took us through the challenge of legacy in our society and where we are at, 27 years after the Good Friday Agreement.
In a zero sum world, they epitomise the truth that “an enemy is someone whose story you have never heard” and they show us that there is hope in the world’s most intractable conflicts. We also had some great songs by Joe Healy, and from @marianickolay and Erin Hill @hillerink.
These two souls were brought together in tragedy with the Brighton bomb. Years later Jo initiated contact with the man who killed her father. They have now told their story of friendship over 300 times.
In the last three years at Borderlands we have brought together conversations with victims and ex-combatants from different sides. It was a huge privilege last night to host Jo Berry CBE and Pat Magee last night at the Black Box.
I want to join with many Jewish voices and Palestinian voices in celebrating the beauty of Palestine, of Palestinian lives, of their culture and the depth of their warm hospitality. I heard this quote tonight from Kwame Ture: “Peace is the white man’s word, liberation is our word”. Amen.
This is what Trump proposed last week: the permanent displacement of Gazans into surrounding nations, after the mass slaughter of 50,000 innocent lives, so the land can be re-colonised by a population that aids the demographic agenda.
In reality one way to be able to have all three, to be a Jewish nation, to be democratic state and to have all of the West Bank and Gaza is to ethnically cleanse.
It has been said that Israel wants 3 things but it can only have 2.: it wants to be a democracy, it wants to be a Jewish state, and it wants all of the land of historic Palestine, which of course includes the West Bank and Gaza. It can have any two of these things but it can’t have three.
While Gaza has been the focus of our attention there has been shocking violence against Palestinians in the West Bank for many years but especially in the last two years. It is an area that has been under occupation since 1967. Israel’s actions make a two state solution impossible.
Well William Graham sent me down a rabbit hole of Ry Cooder. This is just wonderful. youtu.be/6efQ_GyQW3o?...
Small Wins. In the middle of dark February, as war and peace (and not much peace) fill the news, we gathered for Borderlands. We had a stunning night with music, sonnets, heartbreaking stories, hilarious, life affirming stories, and a deep sense of human connection. We meet again 11 March, Belfast
This is my Valentine. We actually celebrate it on the 13th February because that was the day I arrived in Baltimore in 2002 to visit her. 23 years ago!
