Port Stories

Leonie chats with Jack about attending the local Coder Dojo as a teenager, then later teaching kids about sound design and engineering.

Learn about the Portarlington Coder Dojo

Follow the Portarlington Coder Dojo on Facebook

Leonie chats with Séan Watson about moving to Portarlington and helping out with the local Coder Dojo, teaching kids about design and technology.

Visit Séan’s design page, Return To Fleet

Learn about the Portarlington Coder Dojo

Follow the Portarlington Coder Dojo on Facebook

Leonie and Mark chat with Dave Butler about his work as a producer in film, his history in animation, illustrating graphic novels, the upcoming Celtic Con events and his past as a teenage DJ...

Celtic Con will be on at Newbridge Junefest on Monday June 3 and Dunamaise Arts Centre in Portlaoise on Saturday June 29, 2024. Entry is free, so get along!

Dave produced the recent short film The Light Within: An Irish Quaker Story

Dave illustrated Michael Collins: Ireland’s Rebel Son, published via O’Brien Press

Visit Dave’s website

Follow Dave on Facebook

Mark and Leonie chat with Veronique Canning, who set up the group Crafty Dreams to give fibre artists a place to meet and learn the crafts of spinning yarn, weaving, knitting, crochet and more. Veronique talks about how she came to live in Portarlington and her hopes to grow Crafty Dreams in the future. Crafty Dreams meet every Monday in Christina's and once a month to spin at Solas. Everyone is welcome, so if you want to join in, head along!

Follow Crafty Dreams Studio on Facebook

Follow Crafty Dreams on Instagram

While Crafty Dreams were holding an event in Christina's at the end of January, Astrid collected some audio of their day, including music by Paddy Canning and some short interviews with Kitty, Dee and Velma. Crafty Dreams are a local group with interests in the fibre arts, including spinning yarn, weaving, knitting and crochet, amongst many other creative skills. Crafty Dreams meet every Monday in Christina's and once a month to spin at Solas. Everyone is welcome, so if you want to join in, head along!

Leonie springs an impromptu interview on co-host Mark Gavin. Along with Port Stories, Mark works a lot with the Coder Dojo in Portarlington, helping teach kids how to code and do creative things with computers, and with the Maker Space, a magical place with lasers.

Leonie and Mark sit down with local poet Tommy Ryan, who has two books of poetry in Portarlington Library. Tommy's books are called New Beginnings and New Beginnings II, and can be found under the call number 821 RA.

Listen to Thanks Mom on streaming: https://songwhip.com/thanksmom

Follow Thanks Mom on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thanksmom.band/

Thanks Mom on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thanksmomband

Find Thanks Mom on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thanksmomband/

Mark and Leonie sit down with local pencil artist Pat Buckley, talking about how he got started in art and how that drew him to pencil portraiture.

Listen to Dopamine on streaming: https://songwhip.com/dopamine1708080653019

Dopamine’s website: http://dopamine.ie

Follow Dopamine on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dopamine.ire/

Dopamine on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dopamine.ire