Talk to the Land Ellie O'Byrne

In this episode of SIRIUS Podcasts, we join artist Sarah Browne, whose practice involves film, publishing and performance, to discuss her film installation Buttercup, which utilises the accessibility tools of audio description and captioning to explore the poetics of language interacting with image.
Buttercup focuses on a particular childhood photograph, depicting a child wearing a Communion dress on her family farm, next to her father and her pet cow, the eponymous Buttercup.
Buttercup is commissioned by SIRIUS and produced with funding from the Arts Council’s Arts and Disability Connect scheme managed by Arts & Disability Ireland. The presentation of Buttercup is produced by SIRIUS.

“A harbour, because of its particular geography and how industry  has developed, and commerce and trade, lends itself to these bigger industrial and economic forces coming into play, and that´s what´s happening as you´re getting further down the river.” Aoife Desmond on two of her films showing at SIRIUS, both exploring the relationship between humans and nature: one feature poetically tracing the River Lee from source to sea, and a short companion piece commissioned by and filmed at SIRIUS that engages with the site and its surroundings.

After centuries of British rule and in just a few short years, Ireland gained independence. Join the final instalment of In and Out of Empire to find out what that meant for the people of Cobh, in the company of historians Kieran McCarthy and John Crotty. 

The Royal Cork Yacht Club is the oldest yacht club in the world dating to before 1720, and its members were bound by a seafaring code of honour. But its members were also a wealthy elite class of Anglo-Irish aristocracy. Join RCYC archivist Paul McCarthy to learn more about the tradition of sailing in Cobh and later, following the RCYC's move from its Cobh clubhouse, in Crosshaven. 

The lives of the women of Cobh, including members of Cumann na mBan, servants who worked for the Royal Cork Yacht Club and the affluent wives and daughters of members of the club are explored in this history podcast, which examines the building that Cobh's Sirius Arts Centre is now housed in.

Historian Tom Spalding gives a glimpse back in time at the building of the Royal Cork Yacht Club clubhouse, now the Sirius Arts Centre. Did English architect Anthony Salvin design the building? Why did Cobh change its name to Queenstown after a royal visit that lasted just seven minutes? And how did any of this happen in the immediate aftermath of a devastating famine and a cholera epidemic? Also featuring Dr Alicia St Leger, RCYC archivist Paul McCarthy, and some echoes of history scripted by playwright Katie Holly.
In and Out of Empire was commissioned by SIRIUS and researched and produced with support from Cork County Council's Commemorations Grant Scheme 2021 and the Heritage Council's Community Heritage Grant Scheme 2022.