Cathedral Quarter Festival in Sailortown

Cath Q Festival Sailortown

St Patrick’s Day Live From Sailortown Hailed A Success

St Joseph's Chapel in Sailortown Belfast came alive for St Patrick’s Day yesterday from 2pm celebrating cultural and historical heritage of the historic area of the city.

After years of restoration St Joseph’s Chapel was transformed to a community hub that hosted the event on March 17 from 2pm to 9pm.

Project manager for Sailortown Regeneration, Terry McKeown said music, dancing, storytelling and art were all featured for the landmark occasion for Sailortown.

“We are delighted to have had such a stellar line-up,” Terry said. 

“The years of campaigning and hard work to open St Joseph’s deserve to be celebrated and the event was a packed day that had audiences joining us from all over the world including America, Canada, Italy and Australia."

The performances broadcasted live from St Joseph’s across two stages with all the acts introduced by U105 presenter and DJ, Johnny Hero.

Opening the day was Dál Riada Folk, a three-piece band who brought their selection of Irish folk songs, Irish and Scottish reels and jigs and modern folk.

Seamus Lavery of Dalriada Folk said: “Although I was not born in Sailortown I have a long association with St Joseph’s through Conradh na Gaelidhge. 

“In more recent times I have been a supporter of the Save St Joseph’s campaign, playing with the band at fundraisers and a few years ago we played in the church when it was reopened."

Closing the proceedings was The Lee Hedley Band, whose inspired blues sets have delighted audiences across Europe, the States and North Africa for more than a quarter of a century and light up Sailortown.

Singer songwriters Amanda St John and Anthony Toner were among the line up.

Anthony, who released his song Sailortown in 2008, added: “St Joseph's is a beautiful building, the atmosphere of churches is always welcoming to musicians, I think - there's a sense of the music rising up into the rafters that you don't get in more traditional venues. 

“The history of that part of the city adds another layer of importance to the place, and the exciting plans for its regeneration make it feel multi-layered, the past and the future of Sailortown collide right here, in this space, right now.

“It's a pleasure to have been part of such a wonderful bill of musicians and dancers and artists, to also see films included in the line up as well.”

Amanda added: “The gig was amazing. I was really missing proper gigs so much. It's exciting to have full stage sound and lighting set up and to be on the bill with so many other local talents."

A feature during the day was the presentation of an NVTV film on Sailortown, recounting the history, and the battles to win the lease when the church was deconsecrated through to the ongoing work.

Singer songwriter, Ludwig O’Neill, is no stranger to Sailortown having campaigned to keep the Rotterdam and Pat’s Bar from development, will bring his dark, realistic folk and blues tunes to the party.

He said: “I am very pleased to have been included in this St Patrick’s Day event almost a year since I played there before. 

“Sailortown is in my blood, it’s the heartbeat of North Belfast and over the years has been Belfast’s conduit to the rest of the world. St Joseph’s chapel has long been the spiritual hub of that area.”

This year’s St Patrick’s Day event was being funded by Intercom, The Executive Office and The Community Relations Council.

Terry said it’s a big turning point in the history of the chapel.

She added: “It’s about bringing people back to showcase the creative talent that’s in Belfast and celebrating the transformation of the Chapel on the quays to a community hub.”

Also on the bill was musician and songwriter Hugh Jordan who is best known for his hit Road to Donegal about returning Irish-immigrants.

Award winning dancer and musician Edel Ní Churraoin performed with the Sean Nos Dancers including a solo from Meabh Muir.

Other acts who appeared included The String Ninjas, The Adventures, the Ferris School of Irish Dancers, Patrick Ryan, Seamus McPeak and Paul Dean.

St Patrick’s Day Live from Sailortown was streamed live on a variety of social media platforms and available for replay on the Sailortown Regeneration Facebook page or at sailortownregeneration.com

Editor’s Notes

For more information contact Tina Calder, Excalibur Press, tina@excaliburpress.co.uk, 07305354209

St Patrick's Day Live from Sailortown, Belfast is funded by Intercom, The Executive Office and The Community Relations Council.

Sailortown Regeneration is funded by The National Lottery

Full Line-up Released St Patrick’s Day Live From Sailortown

The line-up has been revealed for a packed seven hours of entertainment live streamed on St Patrick’s Day from 2pm celebrating cultural and historical heritage of Belfast’s Sailortown. 

After years of restoration St Joseph’s Chapel has been transformed to a community hub that will host the event on March 17 from 2pm to 9pm.

Project manager for Sailortown Regeneration, Terry McKeown said music, dancing, storytelling and art will feature for this landmark occasion for Sailortown.

“We are delighted to have such a stellar line-up,” Terry said. 

“The years of campaigning and hard work to open St Joseph’s deserve to be celebrated and we can promise that it will be a packed day that will have you not wanting to miss a minute.”

Several performances will be live broadcasted from St Joseph’s across two stages and all the acts will be introduced by U105 presenter and DJ, Johnny Hero.

Opening the day will be Dál Riada Folk, a three-piece band who will bring their selection of Irish folk songs, Irish and Scottish reels and jigs and modern folk.

Seamus Lavery of Dalriada Folk said: “Although I was not born in Sailortown I have a long association with St Joseph’s through Conradh na Gaelidhge. 

“In more recent times I have been a supporter of the Save St Joseph’s campaign, playing with the band at fundraisers and a few years ago we played in the church when it was reopened. 

Closing the proceedings is The Lee Hedley Band, whose inspired blues sets have delighted audiences across Europe, the States and North Africa for more than a quarter of a century and will now light up Sailortown.

Singer songwriters Amanda St John and Anthony Toner will be among the line up.

Anthony, who released his song Sailortown in 2008, added: “St Joseph's is a beautiful building, the atmosphere of churches is always welcoming to musicians, I think - there's a sense of the music rising up into the rafters that you don't get in more traditional venues. 

“The history of that part of the city adds another layer of importance to the place, and the exciting plans for its regeneration make it feel multi-layered, the past and the future of Sailortown collide right here, in this space, right now.

“It's a pleasure to be part of such a wonderful bill of musicians and dancers and artists, to also see films included in the line up as well.”

Amanda added: “I'm really looking forward to performing at this event as I'm missing proper gigs so much. It's exciting to have full stage sound & lighting set up and to be on the bill with so many other local talents. 

“I’ll be performing acoustically with my piano player so it'll be a very stripped back set of some of my favourite Irish ballads.”

A feature during the day will be the presentation of a video on Sailortown, recounting the history, and the battles to win the lease when the church was deconsecrated through to the ongoing work.

Singer songwriter, Ludwig O’Neill, is no stranger to Sailortown having campaigned to keep the Rotterdam and Pat’s Bar from development, will bring his dark, realistic folk and blues tunes to the party.

He said: “I am very pleased to have been included in this St Patrick’s Day event almost a year since I played there before. 

“Sailortown is in my blood, it’s the heartbeat of North Belfast and over the years has been Belfast’s conduit to the rest of the world. St Joseph’s chapel has long been the spiritual hub of that area.”

This year’s St Patrick’s Day event is being funded by Intercom, The Executive Office and The Community Relations Council.

Terry said it’s a big turning point in the history of the chapel.

She added: “It’s about bringing people back to showcase the creative talent that’s in Belfast and celebrating the transformation of the Chapel on the quays to a community hub.”

Also on the bill are musician and songwriter Hugh Jordan who is best known for his hit Road to Donegal about returning Irish-immigrants.

Award winning dancer and musician Edel Ní Churraoin will perform with the Sean Nos Dancers including a solo from Meabh Muir.

Other acts appearing include The String Ninjas, The Adventures, the Ferris School of Irish Dancers, Patrick Ryan, Seamus McPeak and Paul Dean.

“The rich cultural and historical heritage of Sailortown is something we look forward to celebrating on St Patrick’s Day,” said Terry. 

“This will also be an event with an eye very much on the future at St Joseph’s and what we hope will be a vibrant future.”

St Patrick’s Day Live from Sailortown will be streamed live on a variety of social media platforms. All performances and the event will adhere to Covid-19 restrictions.

For more information keep an eye on the Sailortown Regeneration Facebook page or at sailortownregeneration.com

Editor’s Notes

 For press enquiries contact Tina Calder, Excalibur Press, tina@excaliburpress.co.uk, 07305354209

Sailortown Regeneration Presents 8 Hours Of Entertainment For St Patrick’s Day Online Live Stream

The rich cultural and historical heritage of Belfast’s Sailortown will be celebrated on St Patrick’s Day with an eight-hour live streamed event from the iconic St Joseph’s Church featuring music, dancing, storytelling and art.

After years of restoration the ‘sailor’s church’ has been transformed to a community hub that will host the event on March 17 from 2pm to 10pm presented by U105 presenter Johnny Hero.

Terry McKeown, Project Manager of Sailortown Regeneration explained the event will be a landmark day after the efforts of so many past and present residents of the area.

“For years we have been collating, collecting and recording the heritage of Sailortown to keep alive the memories and history, and the future of the area,” she said. 

“The St Patrick’s Day event which is funded by Intercom, The Executive Office and The Community Relations Council is a big turning point for us. It’s about bringing people back to showcase the creative talent that’s in Belfast and celebrating the transformation of the Chapel on the quays to a community hub.

“We would like to express our gratitude to the National Lottery for their ongoing support of Sailortown Regeneration.”

Boasting a mixture of live events and exclusive video presentations the day will mark the re-opening of St Joseph’s.

“When the church was going to be closed in 1999 it really triggered a whole outpouring of emotion and feeling and hundreds of people who used to live here came back down,” Terry explained. 

“They objected vociferously to the church being closed, with the result that there was a long campaign. Then in 2006 we managed to get a lease on it.”

However, the building was in a state of disrepair, and since then there has been a long journey, with always the vision to transform St Joseph’s and the Parochial House into a usable community space but still retaining the character of the buildings that date back to the 1880s.

“Sailortown was devastated when new motorways began in the 60s and 70s,” said Terry.

“But the spirit of the area has always been there. There is a new future with apartments, housing and some of the original buildings. Reopening St Joseph’s is a symbol that we have a population here, some new, and we have those who may have moved away, but their heart is still in Sailortown.”

Among the performances on St Patrick’s Day will be from Dalriada Folk, Anthony Toner, Ferris School of Irish Dancers, Barnbrack, Hugh Jordan, The String Ninjas, The Adventures, Amanda St John and The Lee Hedley Band, with many more on the line-up. There will also be the screening of a video about Sailortown.

Previously known as Sailortown Cultural and Historical Society, which gathered much of the heritage of the area together, Sailortown Regeneration are utilising these Listed Buildings as an Anchor Institution to promote 'people led' regeneration and re-establish a thriving community in this city centre waterfront area.

Sailortown is looking forward to the future, with planned developments such as the new Ulster University campus, the City Quays complex and work with the Titanic Foundation Maritime Trust, the Harbour and City Council to develop the Maritime Mile trail into Sailortown.

The group will explore the rich Maritime Heritage of Belfast and plan to host events for ex-seamen and their families to discover why Sailortown's Seafarers became such a vital part of the Belfast Story.

“The milestone event on St Patrick’s Day will be streamed under the current Covid-19 restrictions,” said Terry. 

“but we want to present St Joseph’s as an iconic space for St Patrick's Day to show that we will soon be welcoming everyone back in a celebration of our past and a brighter future for our City.”

Watch on the day on our Facebook page

Editor’s Notes

For press enquiries contact Tina Calder, Excalibur Press, tina@excaliburpress.co.uk, 07305354209

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