Great need was our only strength
RTÉ-Lyric FM airs emigration documentary
Lyric FM will broadcast an audio documentary about emigrants befriended byLimerick citizens 140 years ago. The program will be heard as part of "Artszone" with Aedin Gormley between 7:00 and 8:00 Friday, May 2nd.
The broadcast comes early in the long May 2nd weekend and the inaugural Hannah Parr Festival. The Norwegian Ambassador makes several appearances, and there are events to promote business, social, and cultural links between Norway and Ireland.
Norwegian emigrants in 1868 were nearly drowned in a storm that dismasted their ship and made tangles of the sails and rigging. Their ship, the Hannah Parr,made its way to Limerick for repairs that took 6 weeks.
During that time people of Limerick reached out to hearten and assist the passengers, spanning differences in
The broadcast comes early in the long May 2nd weekend and the inaugural Hannah Parr Festival. The Norwegian Ambassador makes several appearances, and there are events to promote business, social, and cultural links between Norway and Ireland.
Norwegian emigrants in 1868 were nearly drowned in a storm that dismasted their ship and made tangles of the sails and rigging. Their ship, the Hannah Parr,made its way to Limerick for repairs that took 6 weeks.
During that time people of Limerick reached out to hearten and assist the passengers, spanning differences in
language, culture, religion, and life goals.
Voyage accounts and newspaper stories documented the event, augmented by oral history passed through generations of Limerick people down to present day. A company of 3, working from their own countries—an American, a Norwegian, and an Irish woman—have collaborated to produce a 20-minute audio documentary called "Great Need Was Our Only Strength." Its text draws on contemporaneous accountsof witnesses and is voiced in Irish, Norwegian, and American accents.
Actors are Niamh Bowen, Limerick theatre practitioner, Bjørn Espen Hansen, freelance Norwegian media producer, and Clair Haugen, retired Minnesota academic and theatre director. Both men are descendants of emigrant families that sailed on the Hannah Parr, and in 2006 Bowen wrote and directed a play for the Island Theatre Company based on the Hannah Parr experience.
The documentary starts with the storm-interrupted voyage from Norway and ends when the journey to America resumes. While the Norwegians were in Limerick they buried 3 of their children, but children also were born. Through the kindness of many Limerick people, the emigrants were treated to excursions and parties, tasted porter, witnessed the ascent of a French balloonist, and were given religious tracts.
Voyage accounts and newspaper stories documented the event, augmented by oral history passed through generations of Limerick people down to present day. A company of 3, working from their own countries—an American, a Norwegian, and an Irish woman—have collaborated to produce a 20-minute audio documentary called "Great Need Was Our Only Strength." Its text draws on contemporaneous accountsof witnesses and is voiced in Irish, Norwegian, and American accents.
Actors are Niamh Bowen, Limerick theatre practitioner, Bjørn Espen Hansen, freelance Norwegian media producer, and Clair Haugen, retired Minnesota academic and theatre director. Both men are descendants of emigrant families that sailed on the Hannah Parr, and in 2006 Bowen wrote and directed a play for the Island Theatre Company based on the Hannah Parr experience.
The documentary starts with the storm-interrupted voyage from Norway and ends when the journey to America resumes. While the Norwegians were in Limerick they buried 3 of their children, but children also were born. Through the kindness of many Limerick people, the emigrants were treated to excursions and parties, tasted porter, witnessed the ascent of a French balloonist, and were given religious tracts.
Comments