{"id":36834,"date":"2025-07-12T03:03:05","date_gmt":"2025-07-12T02:03:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.creativeireland.gov.ie\/event\/the-ballad-of-mary-spain-cultural-event\/"},"modified":"2025-07-12T03:03:05","modified_gmt":"2025-07-12T02:03:05","slug":"the-ballad-of-mary-spain-cultural-event","status":"publish","type":"event","link":"https:\/\/www.creativeireland.gov.ie\/en\/event\/the-ballad-of-mary-spain-cultural-event\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ballad of Mary Spain Cultural Event"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span>Join Roscommon Older People&#8217;s Council for a poignant and powerful evening of traditional Irish music, song, dance, and storytelling at the historic&nbsp;<strong>King House in Boyle<\/strong>&nbsp;on&nbsp;<strong>September 26th, 2025<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>At the heart of the event is&nbsp;<\/span><em><span>The Ballad of Mary Spain<\/span><\/em><span>, an award-winning song by Veronica Barrett, a member of the Older People\u2019s Council and celebrated singer-songwriter. The ballad tells the true story of a young woman who entered the Tuam Mother and Baby Home in 1959, giving voice to a chapter of Irish history that still resonates deeply today.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>This unique cultural event will feature performances by the&nbsp;<strong>Pipers Cross C\u00e9il\u00ed Band<\/strong>&nbsp;(All-Ireland Senior C\u00e9il\u00ed Band Champions 2023), with&nbsp;<strong>Sean N\u00f3s dancer<\/strong>, a host of traditional musicians, and a captivating storyteller.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Veronica Barrett will be singing on the night, accompanied by Fiona Sirr &amp; a harpist<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Set in the beautifully restored 18th-century King House, this evening promises to be a moving tribute to resilience, memory, and the enduring power of Irish cultural expression.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":36835,"template":"","class_list":["post-36834","event","type-event","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Ballad of Mary Spain Cultural Event - Creative Ireland Programme<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Join Roscommon Older People&#039;s Council for a poignant and powerful evening of traditional Irish music, song, dance, and storytelling at the historic&nbsp;King House in Boyle&nbsp;on&nbsp;September 26th, 2025.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.creativeireland.gov.ie\/en\/event\/the-ballad-of-mary-spain-cultural-event\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Ballad of Mary Spain Cultural Event - Creative Ireland Programme\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Join Roscommon Older People&#8217;s Council for a poignant and powerful evening of traditional Irish music, song, dance, and storytelling at the historic&nbsp;King House in Boyle&nbsp;on&nbsp;September 26th, 2025. 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