Vale of Clara Soundwalk: Unveiling the Soundscape

A tour of personal landmarks by Sam Cummins

Place of restful peace.

*The Ancestors* is a hauntological sound trail by artist **Joseph Young** made in response to the written archives of Killruddery House. As you wander the grounds, you may encounter historic characters and events, some strange and beautiful sounds and *The Keeper of the Archive*, a ghostly poet-philosopher. **Before you start:** 1. Make sure your phone has a good charge 2. Connect your headphones 3. When prompted, download the walk in advance if you have access to wi-fi (the walk will also work in streaming mode) 4. The sound trail starts immediately after the ticket office - you can turn right for a short way, or left into the formal gardens 5. Follow the circles and marked areas and let yourself drift **Concept, Sound Design & Production:** Dr Joseph Young **Actors:** Nico Brown, Serena Brabazon, Michael Hilliard Mulcahy, Killian Kirwan **PhD Supervisor:** Prof Lizbeth Goodman 'The Ancestors' was created as part of a practice-based PhD research project, 'Killruddery: Listening to the Archive' at SMARTlab UCD, funded by Irish Research Council and Killruddery Arts, Heritage & Culture. *A big thank you to the Brabazon family for inviting me into their home*

ReRoot is a hybrid soundwalk performance created by composer and sound artist Robert Coleman and dance artist Laura Sarah Dowdall for Barnaslingan Wood. It explores the interaction of sound and touch to re-connect with the forest and our bodies and brings our relationship with the natural world into question. This experience seeks to deepen and help renew our relationship with nature and in doing so, allows us to challenge the existing conditions which have brought us into this climate and biodiversity crisis. Using a variety of recording techniques around the forest including contact microphones (microphones which sense audio vibrations through solid objects) and geophones (microphones which sense seismic waves in the earth) Robert has recorded sounds typically inaudible to the human ear opening us up to a new perspective on the living world around us. This listening is deeply rooted in our tactile connection with the eco-system of the Woods, complemented by Laura’s practice in dance, spoken word and somatic sensing, we will explore the moments when touch becomes sound, and sound becomes touch. ReRoot is part of Nature and Place, an initiative of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council Arts Office. It is supported by Coillte and the Dublin Mountains Partnership. Meeting Point: Barnaslingan Wood Car Park Please bring headphones and a smartphone. Parts of this walk will feature audio hosted on the Echoes app which you will need to download. Full information and links will be sent to you in advance of the event. Technical assistance will be available on-site before the beginning of the walk. Please get in touch if you do not have access to headphones and a smartphone. Please arrive 15 minutes before the event start time. This is to ensure Echoes app and headphones is working correctly for all participants. The walk is completely outdoors, and the route involves crossing uneven ground and so please wear appropriate footwear and clothing. Please note that ReRoot is not suitable for small children or anyone who is mobility impaired. This experience will include aspects of audience participation The duration of the walk will be approximately 75 minutes. Booking is essential for all participants. As places are limited, please only reserve a ticket if you will be present for the event. Tickets are free.

The History of Killiney Hill - Digital Media Midterm Asssignment Learn all about the history of Killiney hill and it's surrounding monuments and structures as you progress through this walk.

Note: This walk can be done in any order. For an optimised experience, it is recommended to stay within each Echo circle on the map for the duration of the audio. Enjoy! About: I’ve been feeling really sentimental towards this park recently so I want to capture how it is at this time so I can always come back here and walk it as my 20 year old self. I love creating time capsules, through audio and video diaries, writing in my journal, collecting trinkets and programmes from places and shows, anything. This feels like another form of creative relief, therapy and nostalgia for me.

This Audiowalk was inspired by Patrick Pearse’s writings and the evocative landscape of historic St Enda’s Park. Combining words, sounds and music, visitors can listen to this unique piece as they walk around the park in the footsteps of Patrick Pearse and his pupils. There is no prescribed route to follow while listening to the audio walk so visitors are free to follow whatever path they choose within St. Enda’s Park. The work was created by Jimmy Eadie and features Andrew Bennett as Patrick Pearse, and the voice of young people from Gaelcoláiste a Phiarsaigh in Rathfarnham and Tallaght Community Arts.

Some 23 years ago the world lost my friend to an act of extreme violence in a tree lined lane in a leafy suburb. We were 17 years old. I found myself standing at the edge of that lane for the first time in 23 years. Signs of spring were abound and the sun was patterning the path in flickers of dappled warm yellow. I document plants everywhere I go and my eyes scanned from the far outskirts. As my brain tried to work out how it felt and my heart beat faster, I wondered if the plants knew her or whether they were fresh and unmarked by catastrophic traumas. I walked by instinct up the path with my camera and started to film each living thing. After a time I sat under the old tree and stroked the moss around its roots. The tree knew. The tree had always been there. Did it bear marks or were its budding leaves and flaking bark the signs of the cycles of newness. Something felt stuck in the breeze. A weight still lived there. Yellow dandelions bobbed their heavy heads and I saw the luminous yellow guards stooped low scanning the grass for clues. The last time I saw this tree there was a big white tent and somewhere in it was a person. The wind seemed to huddle around this one spot as if trapped flapping at a tarp that no longer existed. I didn’t know how to articulate any of this since it all happened, even all these years on. I did not want the story to be attached to the person, further erasing the young woman she was and replacing her with a cautionary tale told to daughters. A statistic in an ongoing legacy of misogyny and femicide. She existed in unknown mouths as an object anchored to some passing story of horror expected to repeat itself with new names every now and again. She was more than this. I returned a week later to the lane to plant bluebells(1). I offer a plant without a script so that she can be let go as she pleases. Fig01.Hyacinthoides non-scripta (Bluebell). When botanists first saw bluebells and tried to find a name, they knew they was related to the Hyacinth but they did not bear the tell-tale mark. In mythology, Hyacinthus was loved by both Apollo and Zephyrus. Zephyrus saw Apollo and Hyacinthus together and in a rage struck Hyacinthus dead. Apollo then commanded Hyacinth flowers to spring from the blood of Hyacinthus and ensured that forever more the plant would be branded with the mark Al. In this act Hyacinthus is claimed by Apollo and forever tied to the story of their death, eternally marked by the trauma enacted upon them. When the Bluebell was discovered to be without this mark, it was named Hyacinthoides non-scripta, or the Hyacinth which has not been written on. The bulbs do not retain the stories of the past, they are blank fresh white paper.