This is a multi-disciplinary collaborative project engaging young people through music, drama and dance to respond creatively to partition and the reality of life along a border or indeed what does the word ‘border’ mean to young people today. The project has two elements: 

The Bordering Realities Youth Folk Orchestra is comprised over 100 young musicians and collaborates with other genres of music in Cavan & Monaghan and bordering counties. A diversity of acclaimed artists and creatives have been engaged to support the orchestra to develop and perform a suite of music to promote greater awareness and appreciation of the causes and consequences of the historical landscape on both sides of the border. 

The Secrets of Masenca by Kilnaleck Youth Drama Society and Monaghan Youth Dance. The quiet village of Masenca in County Cavan, stands beside a preserved bogland, near the border with Northern Ireland. It is not unlike most Irish villages and small towns. It has shops, sports facilities, primary and secondary schools, and generally happy people. But it also has buried secrets!  Dark spirits and lost angels hover over the bog: certain families refuse to shop in a local store for reasons long forgotten. When two students agree to enter a history competition, old stories begin to emerge. A murder mystery; a gothic horror story; a community in denial about its own past. 

Performances will take place during October/November 2023 in both counties. 

Please note that the details of events listed above are provided by the relevant Local Authorities.