‘Border Fairies’ at An Cultúrlann as part of Foyle Pride 2023

When Richard O’Leary from Cork visited Derry on holidays in September 1969 he could never have envisaged that this was just the beginning of a remarkable cross border life.
By Staff Reporter
Published 16th Aug 2023, 11:24 BST
Updated 16th Aug 2023, 11:24 BST
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This Sunday, August 20, he returns to Derry to perform at An Croí, the Cultúrlann his solo storytelling show ‘Border Fairies’.

Excavating his own fascinating stories that shine a light on the troubled relationship between ‘The Fairies’ and ‘The State’, this master storyteller performs a powerful one-man stage show that weaves his trademark storytelling theatre with hidden Irish histories.

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In ‘Border Fairies’ a Catholic fairy escapes from 1980s Cork to Belfast, that well known utopia of Gay Liberation.

A poster for 'Border Fairies' based on a photo of Richard O'Leary and his siblings from Cork on holidays in Derry in September 1969A poster for 'Border Fairies' based on a photo of Richard O'Leary and his siblings from Cork on holidays in Derry in September 1969
A poster for 'Border Fairies' based on a photo of Richard O'Leary and his siblings from Cork on holidays in Derry in September 1969

A Protestant in Cork in the 1920s flees the Irish Free State for the freshly bordered North.

What buried stories bring these two dislocated fairies together in life and in death? Hiding out in ‘Bandit Country’, who is actually the bandit?

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Using surviving love letters, personal photos, unofficial papers and fascinating ephemera, this intimate, revealing and funny show reminds us that The Official Version never gives the whole story.

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The ‘Border Fairies’ tour is supported by Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs Reconciliation Fund.

Produced by Outburst Arts and originally commissioned in 2021 through the The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Shared History Fund exploring the impacts of the partition of Ireland. Tickets bookable at https://outburstarts.com/events.../on-tour-border-fairies/

‘Border Fairies’ premiered at the MAC theatre in Belfast in 2021 and is now being performed in Derry at the weekend as part of this year’s Foyle Pride festival.

Avant-garde cabaret artist David Hoyle bringing new show to Foyle Pride 2023

Related topics:BelfastDerryProtestant