Celebrating Charlotte Brontë's links with Banagher

The 10th That Beats Banagher Festival will conclude next weekend from July 21 to 23 with a series of events celebrating Charlotte Brontë and her husband Arthur Bell Nicholls and their connections with Banagher.

All events will be held in or commence from The Crank House in Lower Main Street, Banagher. The Crank House is a two-storey, seven-bay Georgian style building with a projecting bow front, currently painted in a soft green-grey colour.

On Friday at 6.30pm, there will be an opening of an exhibition 'The Legacy of the Brontës in Banagher' and showing of a related film by Maebh O’Regan. The exhibition shows through a variety of textile panels, items connected with the Brontës and their links with Banagher.

The work is a collaboration between the Banagher Crafting Group and Maebh O’Regan of the National College of Art and Design in Dublin.

At 7.20 pm, Eileen Casey will read from her collections of poems 'Bog Treasure' and 'Bogmen First and Last' and speak of her love for the works of the Brontë sisters. Eileen is a highly acclaimed poet, winner of several literary awards and a maker of short films.

Then at 7.45pm, there will be an unveiling of three portraits by acclaimed artist Jennifer Kenny Phibbs of New York, also known to us as Jennifer Kenny of Shannon Harbour.

On Saturday, July 22 at 9.30am there will be a screening of a film 'Arthur and Charlotte, A Victorian Romance' written by James Scully and performed by the Martello Players.

The performance was filmed in December 2019 by Maebh O’Regan and features John Kennedy, Brendan Dolan, Michael and Angela Flannery, Michelle Flannery, all of Banagher, and Tullamore musician Val Hughes.

At 10.30 am, there will be a talk entitled 'Travelling with the Brontës' by Joanne Wilcock.

Joanne is a very keen Brontë fan and has studied the travels of the Brontë sisters and observed that they were much more widely travelled than is generally known. Joanne lives in Affetside in Lancashire, just an hour from Haworth, and this is her second visit to Banagher.

Following a coffee break at 11.20 to 11.45am, Frances Browner will speak on her possible relationship with the Bell family and Arthur Bell Nicholls in particular. She will also relate her appreciation of the Brontë sisters and read from her poetry which celebrates their lives.

Frances Browner grew up in Dublin, now resides in Wicklow, and is proud of her Offaly roots. She has contributed articles to the Tullamore Annual, the Birr and Banagher Reviews. She was also a speaker at That Beats Banagher 2016 and was a regular contributor to Readings from the Palette in Corrigan’s Corner House.

Her fiction, memoirs and poems have won awards, appeared in magazines, literary journals, and short story anthologies, and been broadcast on radio. A creative writing tutor with Dun Laoghaire ETB and Greystones Cancer Support, Frances launched a short story/memoir collection, 'You Could’ve Been Someone 'in 2015, and a poetry collection 'Roots & Wings' in 2019.

The rest of day is as follows:

12.30pm - Questions and discussion..

12.45pm - Lunch

2.30pm. Walk: In the footsteps of Arthur & Charlotte

A gentle walk up the hill of Banagher with Michael O’Dowd, author of Charlotte Brontë: An Irish Odyssey, Heart is Knit to Him, The Honeymoon, (Pardus Media, 2021). Joanne Wilcock, Frances Browner will also accompany the walkers.

The walk will include visits to the well-appointed guest house Charlotte’s Way (formerly Hill House), and Saint Paul’s Church and other places Arthur and Charlotte may have shared while walking about in Banagher.

On Sunday, July 23, at 10am there will be a film screened The Discovery of the Brontë Family’s Portrait in Hill House, Banagher in 1914 by Maebh O’ Regan. This film stars Nicola Daly, Saoirse Flynn, Cora Stronge Smith and Brendan Dolan.

At 10.30 am there will be a talk about Banagher’s Literary Associations: Charlotte Brontë, Anthony Trollope and Sir Mathew De Renzy with James Scully and Kieran Keenaghan.

11.20 a.m. Discussion and Questions

11.40 a.m. Coffee Break

Midday - Walk: Banagher’s West End Riverside Park and Martello Tower.

A gentle stroll to the River Shannon and across Banagher Bridge observing Banagher’s Napoleonic, literary and riverside heritage to finish about 2pm.

All events are free and everybody is welcome but donations are most welcome.