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THE LYRIC FEATURE

Mick Delap, Paddy Bushe, Doireann Ní Bhriain and Theo Dorgan at the Maritime Museum in Dun Laoghaire where they performed a live version of Bantry Bay in June 2018. Image Name: Mick Delap, Paddy Bushe, Doireann Ní Bhriain and Theo Dorgan at the Maritime Museum in Dun Laoghaire where they performed a live version of Bantry Bay in June 2018. Description: Mick Delap, Paddy Bushe, Doireann Ní Bhriain and Theo Dorgan at the Maritime Museum in Dun Laoghaire where they performed a live version of Bantry Bay in June 2018.

Bantry Bay

In 2003, the sea brought poet and sailor Mick Delap ashore in Bantry Bay and to Bantry House, where the West Cork Chamber Music Festival was in full swing. This sparked an interest in stories associated with the bay, and led to the composition of his poem sequence Bantry Bay which features both historical and imagined characters, from the 17th to the 21st century. Doireann Ní Bhriain plays the role of Florinda White, imagined daughter of the owner of Bantry House, Richard White. Paddy Bushe plays the fictional role of the Head Gardener at Bantry House. Theo Dorgan plays the role of the French officer Lieutenant Proteau and the poet himself plays the role of Commander James Wolfe, who surveyed Bantry Bay in 1846.

Writer: Mick Delap

Producer: Claire Cunningham

Sound Design: Julien Clancy

A Rockfinch production for RTÉ lyric fm funded by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland’s Sound and Vision Broadcasting Funding Scheme.

RTÉ lyric fm, Sunday 16th September, 6pm-7pm