Richard’s account of our night on the island
As is now the tradition of the Galway Cartoon Festival, we sailed out to pass a day and a night on Inis Oírr, smallest of the famous Aran Islands. We do this (a) because we’re committed to promoting cartooning in the Irish language and the island is a vibrant Gaeltacht (an area where Irish is the everyday speech), but also (b) because it’s heaps of fun.
It’s a way for the team to unwind after the main events over the weekend, but it’s definitely a working holiday. First on the bill was a workshop with our old friends Coláiste Ghobnait, the island’s secondary school, where Caoimhe Lavelle and our guests Dave Coverly and Lucie Arnoux (pictured above) did a wonderful cartoon workshop. I was sorry to miss that, I’d really enjoyed drawing with the students of that school on our last couple of visits, but the events of the last two days – and the weeks of preparations for them – had left me utterly zombified. I got off the boat and went straight to bed, where I dreamed fitfully about framing an infinite number of drawings.
I regained consciousness to find it was show time! We had two openings on Inis Oírr this year. One is the very same Tarraing É I nGaeilge show of cartoons in Irish that we put on in the city. The other is an exhibition of new work by American comic and storyboard artist Joey Mason, who has been our artist in residence on the island for the last month and whose book Quay Street, High Street & Shop Street Sketches, created in Galway last year, may still be available in Charlie Byrne’s.
Things were in full swing by the time we completed the complex traipse up from sea level to Áras Éanna, the great arts centre on the island. Dara McGee, our man on Aran, gave a lovely bilingual launch speech. Pat Quinn sang a few of his excellent comedy songs, and then… it was time to draw on the walls!
Along with some enthusiastic local children, Dave Coverly, Jim Cogan, Tom Mathews, Dean Patterson, Lucie Arnoux, Caoimhe Lavelle, Dara McGee, Margaret Nolan and myself decorated a wall in the arts centre with whatever came into out heads.
It’s sad that surface needs to be repainted every year.
But things really kicked into gear on the way home! As you might know, it’s dark on the Aran Islands at night. Stumbles happen; I tripped myself leaving Áras Éanna. Well Dean Patterson, our star Irish cartoonist for this year’s festival, was a little ahead of our group when I think he got some alert on his phone. Trying to respond, he accidentally turned his phone’s torch off. Instantly plunged into complete and utter darkness, Dean fell over a low stone wall.
Excited by this attention, the low stone wall then fell over him.
Hearing some pretty unusual sounds ahead we rushed up, to find Dean somewhat covered in rocks but explaining politely that this was OK and not even all that unusual. And had we seen what he’d done with his pens? Fortunately someone in the group had first aid experience and knew where to poke Dean for damage tests. Once it was established that nothing very spinal had happened, the ever-resourceful Margaret clambered into the field and physically hoisted him up. Dean was in some pain, but wouldn’t even imagine not coming back to Tigh Ned where we’d planned to spend the evening drawing and drinking.
And that’s where he discovered that if you’re going to trip over a wall in the dark on an Aran Island, it’s better to do that when not surrounded by fellow cartoonists.
