Seo Chugainn na Mná – Live Stage Performances in Irish of The Woman is Present: Women’s Stories of World War II translated by Áine Ní Ghlinn
Seo Chugainn na Mná – Live Stage Performances in Irish of The Woman is Present: Women’s Stories of World War II translated by Áine Ní Ghlinn
October 17 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm IST
Book Your Place Artists Áine Ní Ghlinn, translator Rob Harrington, director Bláthnaid Daly, actor Evanne Kilgallon, actor Féilim James, writer Freda Manweiler, Producer and Company Manager, Smashing Times International Centre […]
Book Your Place
Artists
Áine Ní Ghlinn, translator
Rob Harrington, director
Bláthnaid Daly, actor
Evanne Kilgallon, actor
Féilim James, writer
Freda Manweiler, Producer and Company Manager, Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality
Ciara Hayes, Producer, Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality
Full Event Details
Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality are delighted to commission award-winning writer Áine Ní Ghlinn to translate into Irish the original highly successful stage script The Woman is Present: Women’s Stories of World War II, featuring At Summer’s End by Féilim James, a writer and poet. The Irish language translation includes new poetry by writer Áine Ní Ghlinn.
Seo Chugainn na Mná is a creative reimagining of moments from the lives of women during WWII recalling stories of bravery, sacrifice and love amidst the horror of war, as women stood up against Fascism and totalitarianism and refused to accept oppression.
The show is produced by Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality and supported by Foras na Gaeilge for the annual international Irish Arts and Human Rights Festival 2025. Two performances in Irish take place on Thursday 16 and Friday 17 October 2025, nightly at 7pm, at the Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality space, 30 Sandycove Road, Sandycove, Dublin A96V9P1. The show is performed in Irish with English-language surtitles.
Each performance is followed by a post-show panel discussion with the artists and guest speakers on the theme of ‘The Irish Language and the Arts: Unique forms of expression to promote remembrance, equality, human rights and diversity’.
Women’s stories that have inspired the performance are:
Mary Elmes (1908-2002) from Cork, was the first Irish person honoured as ‘Righteous Among Nations’ for her work saving Jewish children from the Nazi gas chambers during World War II. Mary recalls her work with refugees, firstly in Almería in Spain, during the Spanish Civil War, and then in France during WWII, assisting Spanish refugees and then Jewish people interned in Rivesaltes Internment camp when France falls to the Nazis.
Ettie Steinberg (1914-42), a Jewish Irish citizen known to have been murdered in Auschwitz Concentration and Extermination camp built and operated by the Nazis in occupied Poland during World War II. Ettie was murdered along with her husband Vogtieck and young son Leon.
Since the Irish language was recognised as a fully official and working language at European level in late 2021, Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality have been incorporating the Irish language into performances to create bi-lingual shows promoting human rights and equality across Ireland and Europe. The company is embracing this opportunity to deliver our renowned show, Mná i Láthair, as our second performance delivered fully through Irish.
Irish Language Productions
As part of its focus on the Irish Language, Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality have produced events in Irish since 2022.
Ar Snámh by the award-winning Irish language writer Seán Mac Dhonnagáin, was performed by Bláthnaid Daly, directed by Hilary Bowen-Walsh and produced by Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality for the Dublin Arts and Human Rights Festival in 2024. The creative consultant was Mary Moynihan, writer, theatre and filmmaker, Artistic Director of Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality. Translations were by Seán MacDhonnagáin. The show was presented as part of the Aisling programme supporting emerging and established artists working in the Irish language with a focus on the arts for equality, human rights and diversity.
Is dráma é Ar Snámh a leanann Jane, bean óg a d’fhág Baile Átha Cliath agus í ina páiste, agus í anois ag filleadh ar a cathair dúchais tríd taisteal suas an Life i ndingí ó Lidl. Ar an mbealach, déanann Jane macnamh ar na heachtraí a chuir ar an mbóthar seo í, ó bhás a hathar agus í óg go dtí an caidreamh nua atá ag fás idir í féin agus buachaill áitiúil, Stiofán. Ar an turas seo, labhrann Jane isteach i dtéipthaifeadán a d’fhág a hathair aici, í ag insint dó faoin saol atá aici agus na deacrachtaí atá aici mar dhuine óg i mbaile beag. Tosaíonn sí ag dul siar ar chomhráite le daoine éagsúla ina saol, go háirithe ar eachtraí a bhain lena cairde agus lena teaghlach. Foghlaimíd faoi scéal Jane agus í ag oirbriú amach cad atá i ndán di sa chéad chaibidil eile dá saol.
Two performances of Ar Snámh in Irish took place in The Ireland Institute, 27 Pearse Street, Dublin 2, D02 K037 on Friday 18 October and Saturday 19 October, nightly at 7.30pm. Each performance was followed by a post-show panel discussion with the artists and guest speakers on the theme of ‘The Irish Language and the Arts: Unique forms of expression to promote equality, human rights and diversity’. The chair was Seán MacDhonnagáin and the speakers each night were the director Hilary Bowen-Walsh and actor Bláthnaid Daly.
Is dráma é Ar Snámh a leanann Jane, bean óg a d’fhág Baile Átha Cliath agus í ina páiste, agus í anois ag filleadh ar a cathair dúchais tríd taisteal suas an Life i ndingí ó Lidl. Ar an mbealach, déanann Jane macnamh ar na heachtraí a chuir ar an mbóthar seo í, ó bhás a hathar agus í óg go dtí an caidreamh nua atá ag fás idir í féin agus buachaill áitiúil, Stiofán. Ar an turas seo, labhrann Jane isteach i dtéipthaifeadán a d’fhág a hathair aici, í ag insint dó faoin saol atá aici agus na deacrachtaí atá aici mar dhuine óg i mbaile beag. Tosaíonn sí ag dul siar ar chomhráite le daoine éagsúla ina saol, go háirithe ar eachtraí a bhain lena cairde agus lena teaghlach. Foghlaimíd faoi scéal Jane agus í ag oirbriú amach cad atá i ndán di sa chéad chaibidil eile dá saol.
Ar Snámh won Best One-Act Play in the literary competition at Oireachtas na Gaeilge 2018. Ar Snámh follows Jane, a young woman who moved away from Dublin as a child, as she returns to her home county by travelling up the Liffey in a dinghy she bought in Lidl. Along the way, Jane considers the moments that have led her to this journey, from the death of her father when she was a child to the budding relationship she is developing with a local lad, Stephen. Along her journey, Jane recalls conversations with various people in her life, playing the parts of friends and family members as she gives us a view of her past and tries to work out her future as well as reflecting on the housing crisis that is impacting on the lives of people today.
Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality were delighted to work with Irish language author Seán MacDhonnagáin to present Ar Snámh and to support the Irish language. Special thanks to Theatre in Palm, Creative Europe and the Scéim na gCompántas Drámaíochta Proifisiúnta agus Amaitéarach 2024/Professional and Amateur Drama Companies’ Scheme 2024 supported by Foras na Gaeilge.
Smashing Times are dedicated to promoting artistic and creative work in the Irish language with a focus on original material that addresses issues and concerns impacting on communities today with a focus on equality, human rights and diversity. The company is dedicated to supporting the professional development of artists and the professional presentation of their artistic creations in the Irish language to as wide an audience as possible. All Irish language productions and everts are presented as part of the Smashing Times Aisling Programme celebrating the Irish language and the power of the arts to promote equality, human rights and diversity.
The Aisling Programme
Celebrating Irish language and the power of the arts to promote equality, human rights and diversity
The Aisling Programme supports emerging and established artists working in the Irish language with a focus on the arts for equality, human rights and diversity. The programme features workshops, performances, poetry, literature, music and creative conversations in both Irish and English, alongside the commissioning and presentation of original artworks in Irish, celebrating the Irish language and the power of the arts to promote equality, human rights and diversity for all across the island of Ireland.
Smashing Times support the Irish language as our national language and believe a commitment to Irish as the official language of the Republic of Ireland is a key element for the development of the company. The Aisling Programme is a Creative Arts Programme for Equality, Human Rights and Diversity with workshops, performances and creative conversations in both Irish and English, using the arts to promote and celebrate the Irish language and the arts linked to equality, human rights, diversity, health and well-being, leadership training, inclusion and peace.
The Aisling Project fosters and promotes the Irish language and the arts through Irish as well as bilingually as an integral part of the company, network and festival programme and provides a stage for the Irish language community linked to the arts sector. Smashing Times are delighted to partner and work with artists who work in the Irish language and who are interested in using the arts to promote equality, human rights and diversity.
Foras na Gaeilge
Our Irish language events are supported by Foras na Gaeilge, a public body responsible for the promotion of the Irish language throughout the island of Ireland, including both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Foras na Gaeilge supports the community through the areas of community, private business sector, the arts, the public sector, education, youth and the media. The organisation plays a role in advising governments, north and south, and public bodies and other groups in the private and voluntary sectors in all matters relating to the Irish language. www.forasnagaeilge.ie
Open Call to Artists
Arts and Human Rights Network available through Irish
We want You
Smashing Times wish to support the Irish language as our national language and believe a commitment to Irish as the official language of the Republic of Ireland is a key element for the development of the Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality. We are inviting you to join with us and to take part in Aisling: A programme of the Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality celebrating the Irish language and the arts linked to equality, human rights, diversity, inclusion and peace. As part of this work we are looking for key artists who speak Irish to become involved in the Smashing Times Arts and Human Rights network and we are now developing an Irish language section as part of the network. We invite you to take part in this unique network for artists, individuals and communities interested in linking the Irish language and the arts for the promotion of human rights, equality and diversity.
Join the Smashing Times Arts and Human Rights Irish Language network as Gaeilge across Ireland, linking with artists, activists and individuals who are interested in using the arts to promote human rights, equality and diversity through the Irish language.
A core strategic aim is to ensure a strand of the Smashing Times International Cenre for the Arts and Equality is conducted through and promotes the Irish language. The centre is situated at 30 Sandycove Road, Dublin, Ireland and operates across Ireland with a European and international reach, and we believe that as Irish is our national language and a recognised language within the EU it is essential that the centre incorporates the Irish language as an integral and core part of the overall work. The aim is to provide a community-orientated Irish language arts and human rights service to the Irish speaking community of Dublin and across Ireland, Northern Ireland and internationally on a non-profit basis.
If you are an artist, community group member or a member of the general public and are interested in using the Irish language through the arts to promote equality, human rights and diversity, and would like to join the Arts and Human Right network, do get in touch. All welcome.
As a member, you will
- Receive exclusive invitations to online and onsite networking events.
- Meet like-minded artists and people who believe in the power of the arts to promote human rights issues.
- Receive invitations to Smashing Times events across Ireland.
- Be contacted with opportunities to share your work or perform at Smashing Times events across Ireland.
- Connect through a monthly newsletter, weekly bulletin; and through attendance at bi-monthly online or onsite meetings
Resource and Advice service available through Irish promoting the arts for equality, human rights and diversity
This entails the translation of existing information into the Irish language and providing up-to-date information on resources, grants and opportunities through Irish for artists and communities using the Irish language and creative processes to promote equality, human rights and diversity for all.
Dream of Freedom / Aisling na Saoirse
A Dream of Equality / Aisling an Chomhionannais
In Irish we say
Fáilte for Welcome
Aisling for Dream or Vision
Saoirse for Freedom
Comhionannas for Equality
Cruthaitheach for Creative
Suaimhneas for Peace
Amhrán for Song
Croí for heart
Grá for Love
Macnas for playfulness
Draíocht for Magic
Abhainn for River
Óiche for night
Speaker Biographies:
Mary Moynihan MA
Writer of Novels, Poetry, Films, Plays
Creator of Art and Photography
Creative Reflections on Arts, Creativity, Equality, Leadership and Self-Esteem
Mary Moynihan, MA, she/her, is an award-winning author of novels, poetry, films and plays, and a creator of art and photography. Mary is from Dublin, Ireland. Mary embarked upon her award-winning career as a writer in theatre and film and has garnered much acclaim for her plays, poetry and short film scripts, and for creating interdisciplinary artworks combining writing and photography presented in galleries and online. She established and became Artistic Director of Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality and is Artistic Curator for the annual Dublin Arts and Human Rights festival. Mary has an honours BA in Drama and Theatre Studies from Trinity College Dublin and an honours Masters in Film Production from TU Dublin.
After raising four children, now adults, Mary dedicated her time to becoming a writer. She writes fiction for young people and adults featuring stories of courage, laughter, tragedy, happiness, love, death and action-packed adventures. Mary is the author of a young adult fantasy novel Amergin and the Warriors of Zen. In her adult fiction, Mary’s characters are clever, fearless, vulnerable, crazy, strong, and dangerous, looking for love, fun, success and happiness. Her work promises enthralling plots, dramatic lives, lots of laughs, serious flirting and sexual intrigue and insights into love, happiness, creativity and meaning in life.
Mary pens a series of articles titled Creative Reflections on Arts, Creativity, Leadership and Self-Esteem which appear in the Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality newsletter and on Mary’s website marymoynihan.ie
In her free time Mary loves to spend time with her four adult children and hang out with friends. She swims in the sea all year round. She loves the ocean, sky and moon and has a spiritual connection to the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea, to the environs of Dublin bay and to the mystical landscapes of Valentia Island and the surrounding Iveragh peninsula in County Kerry, her spiritual home. She is a big fan of the Dublin Gaelic football and hurling teams.
Smashing Times
Mary is Artistic Director of Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality working collaboratively with artists and over fifty organisations across Ireland, Northern Ireland, Europe and internationally, using the arts to promote rights and values for all. Company patrons are Sabina Higgins; Joan Freeman, founder of Pieta House; Ger Ryan, actor and Tim Pat Coogan, writer and historian. Founding patrons were writers Maeve Binchy and Brian Friel.
Mary is Artistic Curator for the annual, international Dublin Arts and Human Rights festival implemented by Smashing Times and Front Line Defenders with Amnesty International, Fighting Words, ICCL, NWCI, Irish Modern Dance Theatre, Trócaire, Poetry Ireland and Irish Pen, and funded by The Arts Council. The festival highlights the extraordinary work of human rights defenders in Ireland and around the world, past and present, and the role of the arts and artists in promoting human rights today.
Awards
Mary’s work has won a number of awards, including the Allianz Business to Arts Special Judges DAA Arts Award at Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, the international and prestigious #ArtsAgainstCovid award from the Arts in Health International Foundation and an Arts Council Agility Award. Mary was awarded a Project Award from The Arts Council to write a new work with a range of collaborators titled The Feeling Soul, inspired by stories of women poets from ancient and modern Ireland.
Writer of Novels, Poetry, Films and Plays
Mary is the author of the epic spoken word poem ‘Ode to a Coolock Queen’’, written from a female perspective and exploring identity, gender, violence, passion, self-destruction and possible redemption. An attempt as Sylvia Plath says ‘to be true to my own weirdnesses’. It is an oral storytelling narrative that is about a broader reflection on what it is to be born out of a working class environment. This poem is in homage to all people from working-class communities who find their strength and become their own kings and queens like warriors from an ancient past.
Mary is the author of a young adult fantasy novel Amergin and the Warriors of Zen. As a playwright, Mary’s work includes the highly acclaimed The Woman is Present: Women’s Stories of WWII co-written with Paul Kennedy, Fiona Thompson and Féilim James; Memorial Monologues: The Path of Memory; Tales of Love and Loss featuring two monologues selected by President Michael D Higgins for performance at Áras an Uachtaráin, Constance and Her Friends and Grace and Joe for performance in 2023; In One Breath from the award-winning Testimonies(co-written with Paul Kennedy); Shadow of My Soul and May Our Faces Haunt You.
Plays for children and young people include Gathering on the Pond, a comedy play on the environment by Mary Moynihan and Aoife Reilly; Love the Earth by Mary Moynihan – A Change-Makers Storytelling session for ages 5 to 12 years adapted from three stories – The Water Princess, The Hummingbird, and The Salmon of Knowledge – from Goal’s Global Citizenship Education Resource; and Four Great Plays for Young Children, a series of short plays suitable for performance by children ages 5 to 12 years – The Children of Lir, The Three Bears, The Princess Play and Legend of the Dragon Kings
Mary has a focus on using historical memory in her artistic practice as inspiration for the creation of original artworks. A number of her writings highlight stories of ordinary yet extraordinary women who stood up for the rights of others with a focus on the Holocaust, WWII and the revolutionary period in Irish history.
Mary’s documentary film work includes The Shoah: A Survivor’s Memory – The World’s Legacy, adapted from the writings of French woman Simone Veil (1927-2017), a French lawyer, politician and feminist, Holocaust survivor and first female President of the European Parliament; the creative documentary Women in an Equal Europe; the short film Letter to a Human Rights Defender based on words by Mary Lawlor, a Human Rights Defender, founder of Front Line Defenders and UN Ambassador on Human Rights Defenders; the hour-long documentary Stories from the Shadows reflecting on the arts in peacebuilding in Northern Ireland (co-directed with Mark Quinn); You Matter, a filmed interview with social justice campaigner Dil Wickremasinhge and the short documentary Acting for the Future on the role of the arts to promote positive mental health and well-being and suicide prevention for Travellers in Ireland.
Keep in touch with Mary on:
Tel: + 00 353 (0) 87 7438722
Email: marymoynihanarts@gmail.com
Website: MaryMoynihan.ie
Follow Mary on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn
Rob has enjoyed both national and international tours over the past 19 years of his acting career. He has most recently performed Tales from an Afterworld (WB Yeats), written by Féilim James and directed by Geraldine McAlinden in Áras an Uachtaráin for President Michael D Higgins. Some of his favourite theatre productions include The Shadow of a Gunman (The New Theatre, directed by Ronan Wilmot), Pinter x 4 (Pearse Centre, directed by Peter Reid), Scabs (Theatre Upstairs directed by Liam Halligan) In Arabia We’d all be Kings (Beckett Theatre, directed by Liam Hallihan), Mary Stuart (The Grand Lodge, Liam Halligan) and La Locandiera (Edinburgh Fringe festival, directed Alice Coghlan). His screen work includes ‘A date for Mad Mary’, ‘Vaudevillians’, ‘The Comeback’, ‘Twitchy’, ‘The saviour of Dublin City’, ‘Ctrl’, ‘The Guarantee’, ‘The Enchanted Island’, ‘Two Margaritas and one Daiquiri’ amongst other independent films. Rob is also a seasoned theatre and screen workshop facilitator.
Bláthnaid Daly is an actor and writer from Co.Westmeath. In 2021, she graduated from the Gaiety School of Acting. She frequently works as a voiceover artist, dubbing cartoons in the Irish language.
Recent theatre credits include her own one woman, bilingual English/Irish
comedy Connemarvellous, (Scene + Heard), Heartstring (Scatterdream Theatre Company), An Triail (Fíbín), Fionn agus an Bradán Feasa (Fíbín), Prawn Cocktail (Colour & Ducks Theatre Company), In the Midst of Plenty (Enchanted Croí Theatre), Space Deli The Musical (Pay Attention! Collective) and Catastrophe Bay (National Youth Music Theatre), Ar Snámh (Smashing Times), Seachtopus (High Rock Productions) and Mountain River (Gerard Humphreys).
Screen credits include Homofónia (Alana Daly Mulligan and Luke Murphy).
Evanne Kilgallon is an Actor and Writer from the West of Ireland. Evanne plays Shelly in Chris O’Dowd’s highly anticipated ‘Small Town Big Story’ for Sky Tv and Now Tv, released February 2025. Other screen credits include the lead role of Meabh in ‘Poitín’ (BlocTG4) and series regular Kate in ‘Obituary’ for RTÉ/Netflix/HULU.
Organisations Involved / Partner Organisation(s):
