Monthly Archives: October 2011

Samhain - The Spirit of Meath Hallowe’en Festival

  By Jenny Foxe | October 31, 2011 - 7:11 pm | The Culch
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Uncomfortable with the mass commercialisation of what was always a special time of year to me, last year I looked for something different to do with the kids around Hallowe’en. I wanted it to be spooky and magical, something they’d remember, something that tied the festival to their cultural roots. I was thrilled when a flyer for the Spirit of Meath Hallowe’en festival came through my door. One event in particular stood out to me. Traditional Torchlit Procession To the Hill of Ward, Tlachtga, just outside Athboy, Co. Meath. This is the place where Halloween began. One of the main spiritual centres of the ancient Celts was located at the top of the Hill of Tlachtga, now called the Hill of Ward, Athboy. The druids felt that this world and the otherworld were closest at Tlachtga and it was here that the festival of Samhain or Halloween was started. The … There’s more →

Events: Comedy @ La Banca Lucan

  By Amanda | October 27, 2011 - 11:17 am | Comedy
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The Lucan Comedy Cavern continue their sterling success in La Banca tonight with another brilliant line up of acts. Christian Talbot, another Norn Iron comic who is making waves in the Free State supports. Christiane O’Mahoney, her first appearance in August was so popular we dragged her back in for this week. The most elegant of gentlemen, Micky No, will give the ladies something to think about. Your headline for the night will be none other than Steve Cummins who I am reliably informed is ace! MC for the night is the man behind the club, Gary Lynch.   This is the makings for a great show and as if you needed any more persuasion….there is free pizza! Where: La Banca (downstairs), Main Street, Lucan When: Thursday 27th October Time: 9pm Admission: €10

Competition: Halloween at The National Leprechaun Museum

  By Kitty Catastrophe | October 27, 2011 - 9:18 am | Events, The Culch, Theatre
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For ten nights, The National Leprechaun Museum will be transformed into a dark and winding journey through the more macabre side of Irish mythology to celebrate Halloween. Originally known as Samhain, it’s the time of year when the veil between our world and the otherworld of the fairies is at its thinnest, when debts are settled and spirits move among us. The museum, which has more to do with folklore and storytelling rather than Darby O’Gill, is situated on the site of the old city morgue, making it the perfect location to be immersed in ghost stories and tales of banshees. Having never visited the museum before, I had no idea what to expect. After a quick introduction that explains the significance and origins of Halloween, we were on our way through the winding darkened passages, nervously moving from room to room, where we would be regaled with haunting folklore … There’s more →

Events: Laughalot Improv @ The Duke Pub

  By Amanda | October 26, 2011 - 9:26 am | Comedy
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Laughalot Improv bring their distinctive brand of entertainment back to the Duke Pub this Thursday. I reviewed these guys a little while ago and I must say I was blown away. During their last improv show they proved that Quentin Tartantino’s movie Inglorious Bastards was nothing more than a World War II movie for jam Lovers. If you want to learn about these revelations plus many more, it is well worth the trip to see these guys With their unique blend of improvised comedy, a mixture of both long and short form comedy, you are guaranteed a night of honest unscripted comedy for €5! Where: The Duke Pub, Duke Street When: Thursday 27th October Time: 9pm Admission: €5

Comedy Gig: Eric Lalor. Here! No Evil

  By Culch.ie | October 25, 2011 - 12:10 am | Comedy, Gigs
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Fresh off the boat from Edinburgh, comedy legend Eric Lalor is set to grace the stage of The wonderful Sugar Club, Dublin, this Friday October 28th for his first solo headline gig. I caught up with Eric for a cuppa and a chat. Being an Arsenal fan it was of course handed to me in a Manchester united mug. Speaking with @ericlalor (mp3) Above all Eric Lalor is a comedy legend, an absolute gentleman and this is comedy gig of the century. Highly recommended and not to be missed. I’m going. See ye there. Tickets: €15 from Ticketmaster Venue: The sugar Club

Aras 11: The Newstalk/Google Debate

  By Aaron McAllorum | October 24, 2011 - 7:58 pm | Events, Politics, The Culch
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  The penultimate Aras ’11 debate took place today in Google H.Q. Newstalk teamed up with Google and used Youtube as the medium on which to broadcast. “This is the first of many future collaborations it is hoped between the 2 companies,” said Deputy Station Editor at Newstalk Patricia Monahan. The event, chaired by Ivan Yates, could have been described as a softening up for this evening’s Frontline debate on RTE1. No punches of note landed, the usual bout of mudslinging ensued while front running candidates Michael D Higgins and Sean Gallagher chose to keep their fists up and and chins tucked firmly against their chest. What set this debate out for special mention above others for Culch.ie was its interactive nature. Newstalk had questions banked for use after inviting members of the public to have their say. In addition to this a few curve balls were thrown at candidates … There’s more →

The Podcast Sessions #7: 5 Best Independent [Irish] Podcast[er]s

  By Peter | October 24, 2011 - 12:01 pm | Podcasts, The Culch
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At the Irish Web Awards 2011, 5 Irish Podcasts made the finalists list in the category Best Independent Podcaster. The winners of the category were of course The fabulous gents of The Comic Cast. To note, The Podcast Sessions are not reviews as such more a noting of podcasts you might like. This is neither a review of the IWA’s [The Sociable is just one that does a far better job than I ever could at that] or any podcast. My problem is finding the podcasts I like. And to be fair, there are some great ones out there. Some from the man on the street, some from the big boys of the media world – some, like my own, maybe, fall in the middle ground and often somtimes don’t get that little umph or simply an applause/ notoriety/ pat on the back for the hard work that they deserve. … There’s more →

Review: Sensation

  By Kitty Catastrophe | October 24, 2011 - 9:19 am | Movies & TV
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When an elderly Tipperary farmer dies, his lonely and socially awkward son Donal (Domhnall Gleeson) is left with the farm and a new-found freedom, only he’s not quite sure what to do with either. Frustrated with his fumbling attempts to approach or strike up any kind of coherent conversation with local girls, he turns to the world of online escorts and arranges an appointment with Kim (Luanne Gordon), a call girl from New Zealand. A few saucy shenanigans and unexpected bonding (I said BONDING) events later, the pair decide to go into business together. Kim is keen to get out of escort work and into the management side of things and Donal’s money can easily take care of the start-up costs. Apart from the fact that running a brothel is completely illegal, it turns out that Tipperary isn’t quite ready for their new venture and maybe Donal wasn’t either.

Music Gig: Martin Byrne @ The Black Bull Inn

  By Culch.ie | October 21, 2011 - 11:55 am | Gigs
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Where: Black Bull Inn, Dublin Road, Drogheda When: Friday 28th Oct Time: 10-30pm till late No stranger to Culch.ie and with a whole new band behind him the 102fm 2010 Best Singer Song Writer of The Year Martin Byrne makes his eagerly awaited and not to be missed return to the gig scene at The Black Bull Inn Friday October 28th. The music selection for the night will be that of all the great folk songs of our time and beyond and the band will feature the songs of The Dubliners, The Clancy’s, The Furey’s and Paddy Reilly and not forgetting some other song writing greats such as Pete St John and Eric Bogle to name but a few. Of course this will all topped off with a sprinkling of Martin’s own songs. The new band line up includes Elish Quinn – Button Accordion, Concertina and backing vocals Mick Griffin – … There’s more →

Galway Comedy Festival: Foil Arms and Hog

  By Culch.ie | October 21, 2011 - 11:29 am | Comedy
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Galway Comedy Festival presents: FOIL ARMS AND HOG Thursday, Octiber 27th - Saturday, October 29th | 6PM | Ruby Room, The King’s Head, Galway | €7 | www.galwaycomedyfestival.com Irish sketch-comedy trio, Foil Arms and Hog bring their charming wit and observational character-based sketches to Galway Comedy Festival from Thursday October 27th to Saturday October 29th . Described by The Irish Times as “one of the brightest new acts out there”, Sean Finegan (Foil), Conor McKenna (Arms) and Sean Flanagan (Hog) have carved an exciting reputation for themselves on both the Irish & UK comedy circuit. On top of performing for sold out audiences at the renowned Edinburgh Fringe Festival for two years running, the talented trio have impressed audiences at the Carlsberg Comedy Festival, Bulmers Comedy Festival, Galway Comedy Festival, The Laughter Lounge, Electric Picnic and Glasgow’s The Stand Comedy Club amongst others. Writing their own high-energy sketches with impressive performances to match, their show mixes the surreal with … There’s more →

7 Deadly Wins #1: The Underrated Moments of #Aras11

  By Sinead Keogh | October 20, 2011 - 1:22 pm | Comedy, Food, In The News, Podcasts, Politics, Radio, The Internet
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In 7 Deadly Wins Sinéad Keogh counts down, in no particular order, her favourite little moments of the 2011 presidential race in the seven day run up to polling day. I have loved every moment of the politicking and furious duck and dive of #aras11 but perhaps none more than Today FM’s Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show asking the candidates a question a day this week to learn more about them as people. Yesterday’s question, ‘What’s your guilty pleasure?’ drew some amazing responses. Tuning in, I thought I had hit on some satire in the Today FM tradition but what makes this even more awesome is that it’s real. I can only assume it was edited together from soundbites captured on the campaign trail, but I love to think that it happened a room, in the order it was broadcast, and that despite everyone else answering with a food, Gay Mitchell … There’s more →

Worlds Smallest Comedy Club

  By Peter | October 19, 2011 - 6:32 am | Comedy
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The Big Wheel attempt has been covered here before… but when this came in - I just couldn’t keep my hands off it ! Just think about it, a bizillion feet up in the air with some fellow who gets paid to be a nut job….. and all for a good cause. The Laughter Pod’ at the Big Wheel World Record | 4pm – 7pm | Saturday October 22nd LAUGHTER LOUNGE TRANSFORM 5 SEATER POD INTO INTIMATE COMEDY CLUB Dublin’s premier comedy venue, the Laughter Lounge will create possibly the world’s smallest comedy venue at the Bone Marrow for Leukaemia Trust’s Big Wheel World Record, the Guinness World Record attempt for the longest continuous ride on a Ferris Wheel which takes place this Saturday October 22nd at the massive 60 meter Big Wheel, known as the “Revolver”, at Dublin’s Point Village. The Laughter Lounge will transform one of the Wheel’s … There’s more →

Tweet Treats - Book Review

  By Jenny Foxe | October 18, 2011 - 11:08 am | The Culch
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Tweet Treats is a recipe book that was conceived on Twitter. All the recipes in Tweet Treats are in under 140 characters or less as submitted to compiler and editor Jane Travers over the medium of Twitter. There are over 1000 recipes in all. 140 of those were submitted by celebrities ranging in talent and glamour from Keith Barry to Paula Abdul, Neil Gaiman to Ryan Tubridy. The rest came from your average tweeps including a couple from little old me! It contains a foreward and some great cooking tips from Marco Pierre White. All the royalties of the book go the deserving charity Medecins Sans Frontieres. But there’s only one way to review a cookbook. This is how my Tweet Treat day went: 8am: breakfast: Look longingly at @HazelkLarkin’s Tropical Breakfast “1 ripe papaya, 1 fresh lime. Seed, peel & chop papaya. Squeeze limejuice over papaya. Eat. Yum.” but … There’s more →

The Apprentice Ireland Liveblog Week Three

  By Darren Byrne | October 17, 2011 - 7:14 pm | Featured Post
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Welcome to the third of this year’s Apprentice Liveblogs. The show begins at 9 o’clock this evening on TV3 and our liveblog will kick off a few minutes before that. For those of you who don’t know, the liveblog is just a chatroom on this site where we talk about the show while watching it. It’s all very informal and tongue in cheek, so if you don’t like one of (or all of) the contestants this year, let us know. If you’re cheering on anyone in particular, let us know that too. You can follow it below on Culch.ie or you can launch a stand alone window and follow it there. The Apprentice Ireland 2011 Week 3 Click here to launch in a standalone window.