Harpist Sarah McStay to guest at Sept Open Mic

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Created: 05 September 2024

SEPTEMBER 27th OPEN MIC presents...

ATG are excited to have as our September guest artist Lurgan native Sarah McStay. 

Sarah is a multi instrumentalist who has been playing music from the age of 6.

First learning to play fiddle from many great teachers including Seamus McNiece and through Chomhaltas Ceotheoiri Eireann.

Having played throughout Ireland and with the Ulster Youth Orchestra Sarah has also played in France Portugal Spain and USA.

'The love of the music can take you anywhere with a good tune under you'.

Also September 27th will be the presentation of our Winner's Final from 30-3-100 In -house poetry competition. Judged by renowned

Portadown based poet David Braziel we are sure to have a very high standard of entry for the £100 cash prize.

Invited past winners have until 15th Sept to get their entries in to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. before deadline. 

Along with the above we will have our Open Mic contributors and famous raffle to make it a night not to be missed.

£5 entry ,slots of 5mins for poets, musicians, singers,storytellers, writers and yarnspinners. BYOB doors open 7.45pm Limited seating.

August's Open Mic has Dub poetry and Garage blues music

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Created: 01 September 2024

Jamacian Dub poetry from poet/artist Raquel McKee and smooth blues sounds from Armagh's Garage Band

started and finished our Open Mic in Abbey Lane last Friday night. 

Also great contributions from Theo Sinton, singer/ musician; Jay Rafferty poet;  Joseph Conlon stories;

Mark Brownlee, author and poet; Rachel Toner, excerpt from short story;   and Malachi, 'It's all going to shite' 

With our highly anticipated raffle prior to a session from The Garage Band the quality of entertainment on the 

night was unsurpassed... and all for £5!!! 

Absent on the night and sorely missed by all was Dymphna and gang. Dymphna is layed up in hospital presently

and is aggrieved to have missed the craic as are we missing Dymphna's. She hopes to be out soon but meantime 

is entertaining the ward patient's and staff and assures me she is gathering new material for September's OMN.

Sending all our best wishes to Dymphna and all those regular Open Mic-ers presently unable to attend. 

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Work continues on the extension and fingers crossed will be open for our next Open Mic September 27th when we

will host the WINNER'S FINAL of our poetry competition 30-3-100.

Judged by renowned poet David Braziel and open to previous winners of our monthly competition the deadline

closes on 15 Sept for entries. 

                                                                 *******

Flash Fiction Armagh continues as part of the Armagh Cider Festival in Crannagael House this Thurs 5th..another sell out !

Where to get your IMPACT book

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Created: 14 August 2024

IMPACT is the dramatisation of Armagh Rail Disaster of 1889.

A church school outing to the seaside which resulted in the deaths of 89 children and adults and injured hundreds.

Copies of our IMPACT play are now available around Armagh from

Navan Fort Centre:    Rock's Newsagents , Thomas St:      Macari's, Shambles:

Armagh County Museum, The Mall:      Culturlann Aonach Mhacha, Shambles:

O'Fiaich Memorial Library: or if 'out of town'  Amazon books.

Proceeds go to Armagh Theatre Group charity No NIC102426  

 

 

 

 

Special guest poet Raquel McKee - plus local band The Garage

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Created: 07 August 2024

 Armagh Theatre Group are delighted to welcome back internationally acclaimed artist/poet Raquel McKee to Abbey Lane as our special guest  for August 30th Open Mic 

Raquel has been resident in N. Ireland for over 18 years.  She is a performing artist who is recognised in N.I. for her role as Asha the asylum seeker in the play  Lives in Translation, which toured N. Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.  She is also known for her storytelling; for being one of the Pivot ladies who hosted their own podcast UnMute Now (Check it out on You Tube) and for her Jamaican Dub Poetry performances and poetry readings, for which some in Armagh might remember her. (Check out Raquel McKeeChannel on You Tube).  She is an active member of the John Hewitt Society committee, where this year she hosted the panel discussion on Crossing Thresholds: The Migrant’s Narrative.  

The Garage Band originated as a six-piece band during the lockdown in Armagh.

The current lineup consists of Ryan Beagan on Bass, Aidan McGillion on drums and percussion, Sárán Ó Machail on electric guitar, and recently Adrian Kissane on guitars and vocals filled in for Eoin Kelly and Eamon Trainor. 

They have since performed at various community events throughout the county and have recently played at the 7 Hills Blues Festival.

See the band perform  their wide variety of musical talents at Open Mic in Abbey Lane Theatre, 30th August doors open 7.45pm £5 in.

Five minute slots availble for performers on the night- Poets, singers, storytellers,writers yarnspinners etc - Super half time raffle 

See you there and remember ---Limited seating. Co Armagh's premier Open Mic for the last 10 years!

Scenes of drama and joy in Abbey Lane

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Created: 30 July 2024

Armagh play to a full house as their stars embrace the spotlights and recieve their Oscars. 

Abbey Lane celebrate  with a standing ovation and hugs all round.

Big screen viewing of All Ireland final

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Created: 27 July 2024

We are screening the All Ireland Final  on the big screen in Abbey Lane  for all our members and friends who wish to see it.

Starting 2.30pm doors open with live coverage from 3pm. 

Free viewing-  Bring your own tipple- Nibbles-   guess the half time and end of match scores £2 line.

Wear your colours and cheer on your county for this historic match.

LIMITED SEATING 

This Friday's JHISS/ ATG Open Mic later start

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Created: 24 July 2024

Just to remind our regular audiences, Fridays Open Mic  has the later start of 9pm

This is to accommodate the John Hewitt bursuary students. Doors open after 8pm.

Sp guest , poet Gaynor Kane- Super raffle on the night - £5 in and BYOB Limited seating! 

Dementia awareness course in Abbey Lane Theatre

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Created: 05 July 2024

July's OMN/ JHISS Sp Guest *Gaynor Kane*

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Created: 05 July 2024

ATG are delighted to announce  our John Hewitt International Summer School/ Open Mic special guest is Gaynor Kane.

Gaynor Kane is a  poet from Belfast who came to writing late and is trying to make up for time.

She has two poetry pamphlets, and a full collection, from Hedgehog Poetry Press, they are Circling the Sun, Memory Forest, and Venus in Pink Marble (2018, 2019 and 2022 respectively).

She is co-author, along with Karen Mooney, of a pamphlet of pandemic poetry entitled Penned In (2020). Gaynor has performed at several literary events including Mount Stewart Conversations, The Belfast Book Festival, Open House Festival, Stendhal Music Festival, Gloucester Poetry Festival and Cheltenham Poetry Festival.

Recently, she has been guest sub-editor for the inaugural issue of The Storms: A journal of prose, poetry and visual art. Her latest chapbook, Eight Types of Love, was released in July, 2022.

Diary date Friday 26th July 8 *Note later start of 9pm.*Prebook your 5 min slot to perform by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. before

Monday 22nd midnight. Indicate your subject please (Poetry/Song/Music/Stories etc)

June's 30-3-30 poetry comp winners

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Created: 02 July 2024

The final poetry competition since January at our  Open Mic's resulted in a joint presentation of Highly Commended

certificates for Ellen McKenna and Joe McGinley with the overall winner and cash prise of £30 Jay Rafferty.

Below are their respective entries. See notice of a 'Winner's take All'  competition also.

Winner of June's competition Jay Rafferty's entry. 

In Italy they Serve Beer at McDonald’s

We spent January in an intimate city,

a haunted city, where the old brick

buildings are made of the grave

-stones that once stood in their place,

a city burned and built up more times

than Micky D’s have served Happy Meals,

a city with more antiquities in its river

than in most countries national museums.

So, naturally, we found the nearest Irish bar.

At four AM, we spilled out to the street,

half cut and stumbling and starving.

The pubs poured us last dregs out.

We learned who was with who

by the metronome sync of their legs.

You and I, poor pilgrims in the Holy city,

went to find God or the Golden Arches.

Whichever showed up first.

It was the latter. We ate nuggets and burgers

(no pickles grazie) at the Trevi Fountain, tossed

fries to the hungry pennies in its pools, got some odd stares

from the carabinieri, neither of whom offered to help me back

to my feet once I fell flat on my face. I wonder

if there’s a paving-gravestone with an impression

of my mug yet, like a fresco, a silhouette

in ketchup. Or if there’s stale fries floating still

in the fountain’s tank, too far from

a pigeon’s beak or a tourist’s belly.

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Ellen McKenna's Highly Commended entry.

Life is What You Make It.

Our existence can be so boring.

The same routine, day after day,

Treading the hamster wheel of life.

We start off,

We get up, go to school, sleep, repeat.

We mature,

We get up, go to work, sleep, repeat.

We retire,

We get up, do nothing, sleep, repeat.

Yet we are told that variety is the spice of life,

So that is my remedy for the banality of life.

I try to

Do something different each week,

Plan things to look forward to,

Learn something new, that takes a bit of effort,

Open my mind to fresh ideas.

Life is too short to be curtailed

By petty restrictions of our own making.

So, we should all break out of our boxes,

Add variety to our lives,

Then enjoy them to the full. 

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Joe McGinley's Highly Commended entry. 

The spice of life

It’s said that variety is the spice of life, but me I’m not so certain

Just yesterday I went to buy a coat and came home with a pair of curtains

Why o why is there so much choice, it’s enough to drive you up the wall, the day’s of small, medium & large are gone, & so is one size fits all

The lady behind the counter said I don’t think we have them in stock, I said it’s either me or the moths but I’m down to my last pair of socks.

Her reply was very quick she said when I get home I should check online, see I remember hanging them out & I’m dam sure they’re not all mine

So if you want to make your life more interesting & it’s variety your after,

Get yourself down to the open mic for it’s jam packed with fun & laughter.

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A big thank you for all who entered our competition over the last months. The quality and variety of writing was a treat to read and at times

difficult for the judges to agree on. It offers those writers a chance to read their poetry, soak up the live reaction from the audience and get some recognition for their efforts. Hopefully this will spur you on to and keep poetry live! 

We are to hold a 'Winner takes All' competition for all those who received Highly Commended cert's or who won outright over the  last months. This will be judged by an invited and well know poet and the winning prize of £100 presented at September's Open Mic. 

Previous winners and HC certificate winners will be notified by email  with all the details to enter. Check your junk in the coming days. Good luck!