Cairdeas artists were flying high with ‘Murmurations’ show in Visual Carlow
Members of the Cairdeas Centre in Tullow pictured during their performance of 'Murmurations' in Visual Photos: Michael O'Rourke Photography
A FLOCK of birds flying together in a liquid-like form was the inspiration for , a performance by artists from the Cairdeas Centre in collaboration with Visual on Friday afternoon, 10 July.
The 12 artists were Abigail Kyle, Alan Keogh, Shane Ward, Dylan Muphy, Kayleigh O’Leary, Matt Redmond, AJ Redmond, Andrew McQuinlan, Cian Slye, Leon Forde and Owen Purcell. Over a period of two months, they worked with Visual’s associate artist Mary Jo Gilligan to create the show and made costumes and props themselves to be used in the performance.
The performers moved and danced to music, sometimes as individuals and sometimes as a whole.
“It was just amazing, to be honest,” said Eileen Doyle, the manager of the Cairdeas Centre.
The centre, based in Tullow, is a day care centre that operates from Monday to Friday. It exists to empower people with a wide range of learning and associated disabilities to live full and satisfied lives as equal citizens. Their ethos is one of ‘community and inclusion’ and is about “ability rather than disability,” said Eileen.
“Arts seem to be the universal communication,” she noted.
Cairdeas has a choir, and many of its 40 service users also engage in visual arts practice. The centre has been developing a collaboration with Visual since it opened in 2023, first running a shadow puppet event, then an art exhibition and now a performance.
The project received arts funding from Carlow Co Council in 2024, 2025 and 2026 to deliver the series of projects.
