Feis Maitiú Corcaigh
Feis Maitiú Corcaigh is an International Festival Member of the British and International Federation of Festivals[1]. The annual event is hosted at Fr Mathew Hall, a 400-seat auditorium in Cork City, Ireland. Feis Maitiú Corcaigh runs for nine weeks, throughout which almost 15,000 participants take to the stage to compete in a range of artistic disciplines[2]. The Festival takes place annually from the end of January to the start of April, with the various sections rotating annually within that time frame. Feis Maitiú Corcaigh is the second largest festival of its type in the world, second only to the Hong Kong Schools Speech Festival.
Feis Maitiú Corcaigh is grant aided by the Department of Education and Science with funding from the National Lottery[3].
History
Feis Maitiú Corcaigh was first established in 1927 by Fr. Micheál O’Shea, O.F.M. Cap., a local Capuchin who saw the need for a platform to help and encourage people interested in the performing Arts[4]. An t-Athair Micheál, as he was called, believed that Feis Maitiú would help to sustain this interest and teach the participants the technique of performance. The record states that approximately 300 people performed at the first Feis, which ran for a duration of four days.
Artistic Disciplines
The festival is broken into a number of sections; speech and drama, vocal and instrumental. The festival caters to performers of all ages, but is particularly popular amongst those students and teachers involved in primary, secondary and third-level music and dramatic education[5].
Officials
The head of the festival is the Administrator, a position currently held by Timothy McCarthy. Timothy is the festival's first Administrator to be appointed from outside of the Capuchin Order. He was appointed in 1995[6]. Timothy is an Adjudicator-Member of the British and International Federation of Festivals for Music, Dance and Speech for whom he has given presentations at Federation Conferences. He is a member of the Society of Teachers’ of Speech and Drama, the Irish Institute of Drama and Communication and the Drama League of Ireland. He has adjudicated at Festivals in Ireland, the UK, Isle of Man, Jersey, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and Hong Kong with examining tours to South Africa, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Australia and New Zealand[7].
Feis Maitiú Corcaigh's Administrator is assisted by the festival's Executive Board and Advisory Board, the latter of which is composed of experts in the various performing arts[8]. Originally, the head of the Feis has been referred to as President, but the title was changed to Administrator at the beginning of Timothy McCarthy's tenure in the mid-90s[9].
| Title | Name | Term |
|---|---|---|
| President & Founder | Fr Micheál O'Shea | 1927 - 1939 |
| President | Fr Matthew Flynn | NA |
| President | Fr Nessan Shaw | NA |
| President | Fr Senan Dooley | NA |
| President | Br Paul O'Donovan | 1973 - 1995 |
| Administrator | Timothy McCarthy | 1995 - present |
Media Profile
Through its partnership with the Evening Echo[10], an award winning regional newspaper in Cork[11], Feis Maitiú Corcaigh has garnered a media profile that few other festivals in the Federation enjoy. The newspaper carries daily reports from the festival, and prints an annual supplement containing photographs from throughout the event. This supplement has previously won a major European media award. Each year a resident journalist is appointed to the festival by the publication. One of only two awards to have been presented at the inaugural Feis is the Echo Perpetual Shield. The trophy, which is till on offer today, was donated by the Evening Echo back in 1927[12].
Famous Performers
A number of high profile individuals are former Feis Maitiú Corcaigh performers:
- Finbar Wright
- Cara O'Sullivan
- Fiona Shaw
- Nyle Wolfe
- Deirdre Crowley
- Cathal Dunne
References
- ^ http://www.federationoffestivals.org.uk/Affiliated_Festivals.html
- ^ http://feismaitiu.ie/about-2.html
- ^ http://www.feismaitiu.ie/
- ^ http://feismaitiu.ie/about-2.html
- ^ http://feismaitiu.ie/2010-syllabus---download.html
- ^ O’Sullivan, James (2011), Feature on the History of Feis Maitiú, Corcaigh, Evening Echo, 30-Mar-11. Pg 12-13.
- ^ http://feismaitiu.ie/administrator.html
- ^ http://feismaitiu.ie/advisory-board-members.html
- ^ O’Sullivan, James (2011), Feature on the History of Feis Maitiú, Corcaigh, Evening Echo, 30-Mar-11. Pg 12-13.
- ^ http://www.feismaitiu.ie/
- ^ http://eecho.ie/
- ^ O’Sullivan, James (2011), Feature on the History of Feis Maitiú, Corcaigh, Evening Echo, 30-Mar-11. Pg 12-13.