Daytimes: Savour that holiday feeling at the Holiday Show, curated by artist William McKeown, which is now showing at Dublin's RHA Gallery on Ely Place. It features the work of eight artists, all centred on the idea of a holiday moment or the holiday frame of mind. It runs until Sunday, September 29th, each day.
Nighttimes: For Americana lovers there are three dates this week to choose from. Dolan's Warehouse in Limerick is the venue for America's Jay Farrar and Britain's Peter Bruntnell. Tomorrow they're in Whelan's in Dublin and on Thursday, they play Cleere's Theatre, Kilkenny. Farrar and Bruntnell are part of the alternative country movement with its associated character traits of melancholia and morose navel-gazing through the bottom of a beer glass. The gigs kick off at 9 p.m.
Childtimes: Children aged between 10 and 14 can take part in juggling workshops with the great Michael Moschen (above) later this week in The Ark in Dublin's Temple Bar. Tickets are €7 each. The workshops are on this Friday, at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturday at 1 p.m. with a performance at 4 p.m. and another workshop on Sunday at 1 p.m. For more information, contact Laura O'Herlihy at The Ark, at 11a Eustace Street, Temple Bar.
My Native County/Kilkenny
Helena Gorey, artist/Three of my favourite places:
1 I love Burnchurt in Cuffesgrange, which is about three miles from Kells. It's farmland. There's an old castle and a tower on a bend and a little ruined church. I went to school just over the wall from the graveyard. It's very picturesque. There are a lot of trees and the barley is getting ripe. The older you get the more you appreciate the beauty of a place.
2 Then I would choose Kells beside the King's River. There's a beautiful old priory. There must have been a huge monastic settlement there in the 1200s, 1300s or 1400s. There's this sloping hill within the priory down to the river. I remember going there as a child to see them filming Barry Lyndon there. Now there's Sculpture at Kells, as part of the Kilkenny Arts festival and more people know about it.
3 And I love Inistioge. It's a beautiful place to walk. It's quite a pretty little village and there's a big old ruin of a house up on a hill. There was a huge old estate there. The gardens have been restored and the forest park, Woodstock, has huge gorgeous trees with a great variety of beautiful places to walk. - Catherine Foley
Just-in-times/lateoffers: Renting your own villa or apartment down on the glittery Costa del Sol can make you feel at home. This month and into next, Escapeoverseas.com has reductions in a selection of properties in Marbella and Porto Banus. Mi Capricio apartments, right on the beach at Calahonda, are €825 for a week and sleep five. Senoria de Aloha apartments, in Golf Valley in Porto Banus, at €1,015, sleeps six per week. Combine this with fares from Michael Stein Travel and you have a good value holiday for family or friends. Escapeoverseas (01) 846 1227 and Michael Stein Travel (01) 408 6200 or www.steintravel.ie.
Joan Scales (jscales@irish-times.ie)
