Drumlin Yarnspinners April Session

📣Drumlin Yarnspinners welcomes Colin Urwin to the Market House, Monaghan on April 25th @ 8pm.

Drumlin Yarnspinners will meet on Tuesday 25th April at 8pm in the Market House Monaghan

Drumlin Yarnspinners is a monthly oral storytelling session that has settled down in the Market House in Monaghan on the last Tuesday of every month. Each session lasts approximately two hours and includes a break for a cup of tea. The guest teller opens and closes the session and there are contributions from the audience along the way.
The sessions are led by Monaghan Libraries Storyteller in Residence, Francis McCarron, who has been sharing tales throughout Ireland for over 30 years.
New tellers and listeners are always welcome.
Storyteller and singer/songwriter Colin Urwin from the Glens of Antrim is the guest storyteller at this months’ Drumlin Yarnspinners session on Tuesday, April 25th at 8.00pm. Colin is one of Irelands leading oral storytellers and he has appeared on stages across the world, most recently in Scotland, the USA and Morocco. His rich and varied storytelling repertoire includes many time-honoured Irish and Scottish folk and faerie tales on which he always stamps his own distinctive mark, and he is also well known for his humorous and sometimes poignant recitations after the long-established local tradition. His is a unique and original voice.
The event is free and there is a donation box for Crocus Cancer Care if anyone wishes to contribute something for the night. However, due to demand and limitations on space, anyone wishing to attend must register with Francis by text on 087 2068601.
Drumlin Yarnspinners is part of the Monaghan County Council Library Service Storyteller in Residence project. Funded by Creative Ireland, it aims to keep alive the ancient art of oral storytelling. It also seeks to gather local tales from across Monaghan. For more information contact Francis: email fmccarron@hotmail.com / 087 2068601.

Celebrating ‘St Dymphna. The Tragedy of an Irish Princess’ at the National Gallery of Ireland.

Monaghan County Libraries have teamed up with Tydavnet Twinning Committee to celebrate the arrival of ‘St Dymphna. The Tragedy of an Irish Princess’ to the National Gallery Of Ireland for a limited run.  This exhibition has been organised in partnership with The Phoebus Foundation, Antwerp.

Tydavnet Twinning Committee would like to organise their own Exhibition on the life of St. Dympna which will be on display in Tydavnet community centre on Sunday 14th May 2023.  As part of this, we would love children from across the County to re-tell the story of St. Dympna their way – it could be a story, a poem, an art piece, a digital creation etc.  All forms of creative expression will be accepted.  Closing Date is Friday 5th May.

Further information about the life of St Dympna can be found on the Tydavnet Village Website.

This competition is open to children from 3rd – 6th Class.  We are also including a SENsational Category for children who have been diagnosed with a Special Educational Need.

If you have any questions please get in touch at libraryactivities@monaghancoco.ie or phone 047 74702.

Prizes will be awarded for all categories.  We will endeavour to include all entries in the exhibition on May 14th

Please note:  All submissions must be accompanied by a signed Entry form.

Legend has it that St Dympna was a 7th Century Irish princess who lived in Monaghan around Tydavnet (the Irish name is Tigh Damhnata meaning House of Dympna) before fleeing to Geel, Belgium to escape her heathen father who wanted to marry her when his wife died. He later killed her when he discovered her hiding place. Her story of martyrdom and how she became patron saint of mentally illness has been captured in seven beautifully restored paintings that are on display at the National Gallery of Ireland. We want you to re-tell the story of St. Dympna Your Way for display in Tydavnet Community Centre on Sunday 14th May. This competition is open to children in 3rd - 6th Class. (Prizes will be awarded for each class category) Entries must be received by 5pm on Friday 5th May. Entries can be submitted to any Library branch in Co. Monaghan or emailed to libraryactivities@monaghancoco.ie You can choose whatever format you like to submit your retelling of Dympna's story. It could be a poem, a story, an art piece, a comic strip, an audio recording, a video recording or an animation. Whatever is your preferred creative outlet! An Entry form must accompany each submission

Come here til I tell ye!

Drumlin Yarnspinners are taking up a permanent monthly residence in Monaghan town.  If you enjoy listening to or telling a tale, come along and join in. If you have ever wanted to try your hand at telling a story, come along and join in too!  The Yarnspinners will run on the last Tuesday of each month in the Market house, Monaghan.

Monaghan town is rich in local stories, songs and poems. Local characters will be recalled from the past and will live again in the tales that are told. The ‘other crowd’ are sure to feature to, so be careful who you talk to!

Local Monaghan Storyteller in Residence, Francis McCarron, will be joined by special guests for this fun night not to be missed. Admission is free and there’s a cup of tea and maybe a ‘foosie’ with it! There will be a donation box with all proceeds going to Crocus Cancer Care.

The Storyteller in Residence project is developing a county Monaghan Storytelling Group, Drumlin Yarnspinners, to keep alive the ancient art of oral storytelling. It also seeks to gather local tales from across county Monaghan. If you are interested in learning more about storytelling or would like to tell at a future event contact Francis: email fmccarron@hotmail.com / 087 2068601.

Tuesday, Feb 28th @ 8pm:  Guest Storyteller Bryan Gallagher.  Bryan is the author of  ‘Barefoot in Mullyneeny’ and is a regular contributor to Radio Ulster Thought for the Day.

Tuesday 28th March @ 8pm: Guest Storyteller Frances Quinn.  Frances brings with her a large repertoire of Irish and multicultural stories as well as original material, verse and dramatic monologues.

‘Books On Buses’ for Ireland Reads 2023

Books on Buses for Ireland Reads

Monaghan County Libraries team up with TFI Local Link Cavan Monaghan to give away free books on buses.

On Friday 24th February passengers using Transport for Ireland (TFI) bus services on the M1, M2, M3 & 176 routes  noticed book bags placed on the seats.  These bags contained a ‘Quick Reads’ title which Monaghan County Libraries gifted to TFI Local Link Cavan Monaghan passengers.

This initiative was part of ‘Ireland Reads’, a campaign to get the whole country reading.   Irish libraries have teamed up with publishers, booksellers, authors, and others for the campaign, which is part of the government’s Healthy Ireland programme and aims to celebrate reading and all the benefits it can have for wellbeing and enjoyment.

The campaign is asking everyone to ‘squeeze in a read’ on Ireland Reads Day, Saturday, February 25th.

We would like to say a huge thank you to David McMullan and all the Local Link drivers for their help in co-ordinating this initiative.  For more information on routes and departure times for the participating TFI Local Link buses visit www.locallinkcm.ie

Karen Mc Cague, Executive Librarian with Monaghan county Libraries spoke to ‘The Wider View’ on Northern Sound radio about the initiative.  You can listen back here.

IrelandReads.ie

The pledge to read can be made at www.irelandreads.ie where you can also see how much time has been pledged by the Irish public so far and sign up for reading reminders.

The website also offers book recommendations suited to a person’s interests and the time they have available. There are more than 1,500 recommendations from librarians all around the country for all interests and reading levels.

Participants  can simply enter their favourite type of book and how long they would like to read each day and the website will offer the perfect book suggestion and work out how long it will take to complete – so you can set yourself a challenge if you’re finding it hard to get back to reading.

A number of well-known campaign ambassadors are on board to help promote the campaign, including Marian Keyes, Joe Duffy, Colm Tóibín, Rick O’Shea, Liz Nugent and more. You can find out what reading means to them and why they support the campaign at www.irelandreads.ie.

Photo of Library Staff and Local Link staff holding books that were placed on Buses for Ireland Reads Day 2023

World Book Day Wooden Spoon Competition

Turn a Wooden Spoon into a Book Character for World Book Day 2023

There’s just 1 month to go to World Book Day and we have a very creative competition running in the lead up to it. We want you to turn a Wooden Spoon into your favourite Book Character! We have wooden spoons available at the library desk or use your own but be sure to pick up an Entry form to go with it. You can also use your own spoon from home and download the Entry form below.

We can’t wait to see what you come up with!!!

Wooden Spoon Competition Entry Form

Announcing Children’s Book Festival 2022

Children’s Book Festival 2022

Welcome to Monaghan County Libraries Children’s Book Festival 2022.   We are delighted to present a fantastic line up of authors & illustrators for this year’s festival.  You’ll notice that some events are happening in our library branches, some are being pre-arranged with schools and some are being streamed live online and can be broadcast directly into your classroom  using the  platform Crowdcast, which we hope you are all familiar with at this stage. If not, full instructions on how to access the event will be provided on booking.

All events can be booked through libraryactivities@monaghancoco.ie  or call 047 74702 for more information.

(Click on image to view or download the complete programme)

New Library collection for TUSLA wellbeing Centre

Selection of books

Monaghan County Libraries and Tusla the Child and Family Agency  are delighted to partner together to provide a library collection within the Tusla Wellbeing Centre aimed at Children and Young People in foster care, their carers and all other young people who use the facilities in the centre. The books provided by Monaghan County Library cover a range of topics and are geared towards all age groups.

Karen McCague, Executive Librarian with  Monaghan County Library Services  explains  

“It’s important for children and young people to be able to see themselves and their life experiences reflected in stories so that they understand that they are not alone.   We hope that by having this collection of books available within the Wellbeing Centre, children will have the opportunity to explore the stories with a caregiver or on their own and perhaps recognise themselves, their thoughts, or their experiences.  This collection of books also encourages empathy and personal development as well as dealing with big themes such as grief, separation, self-confidence and identity. “  

Charlene Duff, Senior Child and Family Support Network Co-Ordinator based in the Tusla Child Wellbeing Centre in Castleblayney added that  

“The Child and Family Networks across Monaghan have a strong history of working together creatively and today is another example of how connecting with our colleagues can bring projects like this together to help support Children and Young People who use the centre. The books are a collection of stories that reflect the real lives that children lead and we hope they will be enjoyed by many young people for years to come.”

Whilst this collection is specifically for use by Tusla service users, all titles are also available through the public  library network.

For more information on this initiative please contact kmccague@monaghancoco.ie.

Arcade Game Design Online Coding Club coming soon….

makecode example screen shot

Monaghan County Libraries and Europe Direct Clones are launching a new Arcade Game Design and Coding Club. This will support students’ introduction to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths whilst having loads of fun learning how to build arcade games through the use of Microsoft Coding applications such as Microsoft Arcade and Minecraft. Students will understand how computer games are created through the use of different coding languages. Students will experiment with coding languages and use their own imagination to build creative games.
Classes will take place Online on Tuesday evenings for ages 7-9 and Thursday evenings for ages 10-14

To register your interest please email libraryactivities@monaghancoco.ie

This initiative is funded by EU Direct Clones to celebrate European Year of Youth

#DigitalDecade #EYY2022

 

Culture Night 2022

culture Night 23rd September 202

Culture Night is an annual all-island public event that celebrates culture, creativity, and the arts. This year, it will take place on Friday 23rd September. From 4pm onwards, cultural venues across county Monaghan will stay open for everyone to come enjoy the unique experience of Culture Night, a free night of fun, entertainment, and discovery. Monaghan has a vibrant rich cultural community, and this is a great opportunity to sample the area’s cultural and creative offerings for free throughout the evening. We are delighted to have so many organisations involved again this year and we hope you enjoy exploring the rich cultural landscape of County Monaghan. From outdoor films to music spectacles, various arts, and crafts workshops to drop in and see artists at their work, there is something for everyone to enjoy.
All events are free to access but remember booking maybe required.

View or download the complete programme now: