The Limerick Lady Podcast

This month our episode is going out a week later than usual.

Join podcasting duo The Limerick Lady at The Record Room in Limerick City on the 24th of November for an uplifting and illuminating celebration of the decade of centenaries.

The Limerick Lady LIVE (part 1), hosted by Emma Langford and Ann Blake features expert guest, historian Sharon Slater, who guides us through the experiences and stories of a selection of historic LGBTQ+ women in Ireland between 1912 and 1923.

This event took place in front of a live audience at The Record Room in Limerick City.

Part 2 featuring Sharon, the Wild Geeze and Abe Soare will be available in February! Stay tuned. The Limerick Lady is a grassroots movement based in Limerick, Ireland, with a focus on promoting conversation around gender, visibility, gender balance and the arts. The Limerick Lady was founded in 2016 by award-winning (and losing) singer-songwriter Emma Langford, who hosts the podcast alongside fellow award-winning (and losing) Limerick woman, theatre-maker and musician Ann Blake. Find the Limerick Lady Podcast on all your favourite streaming platforms. New episodes drop once a month, on the third Thursday (or Thirdsday, if you will). The Limerick Lady is sponsored by Ormston House and supported by The Limerick Post Newspaper. This event was kindly supported by Limerick Council.

Follow Ormston House at www.ormstonhouse.com Support the Limerick Post at www.limerickpost.ie

This podcast usually goes out on the 3rd Thursday each month - the 'Thirdsday', if you will. Follow The Limerick Lady on Facebook at TheLimerickLady, on Twitter at LkLadyHQ and on Instagram at thelimericklady

Tweet about us using #LKLadyPod so we can see what you have to say!

Intro music: Demon Darling by Emma Langford Outro music: Closed Book by Emma Langford

On the podcast this month, Ann and Emma reflect on the year that's been and gone, looking back on their personal peaks and troughs as well as highlights of 2022 for The Limerick Lady. This episode is about looking back, as well as looking forward to a new year. There are also some wild claims made about Munster's French-speaking history.

2022 was a busy year for both of your hosts, but it was marked by the final reemergence of the world from covid fear, so yes, sorry – just when you thought we could all move on from talking about one C word to another C word, we bring it up again.

Speaking of Christmas, Ann and Emma both have releases they would love to share with you! Check out Emma's "The Wexford Carol" here: https://emmalangfordmusic.bandcamp.com/track/the-wexford-carol

And buy Brendan Davis' and friends AKA Brendan And The Snowflakes' "Santa's On His Way" which features Ann and was released in aid of Minding Creative Minds for €2 here: https://brendanandthesnowflakes.bandcamp.com/track/santas-on-his-way

Ann Blake is a musician, facilitator and theatre-maker from Limerick City. Fellow Limerick woman and co-host Emma Langford is a singer-songwriter, podcaster and maker-of-things. Follow Ann Blake on Twitter at annblake78, on Instagram at annblakeplay and check out her band The Brad Pitt Light Orchestra on twitter at BPLO.

Find out all about Emma Langford's adventures at emmalangfordmusic.com

Find the Limerick Lady podcast wherever you get your podcasts, and follow for new episodes on the third Thursday every month

The Limerick Lady Podcast is supported by the Limerick Post Newspaper, and sponsored by Ormston House

Follow Ormston House at www.ormstonhouse.comSupport the Limerick Post at www.limerickpost.ie

This podcast usually goes out on the 3rd Thursday each month - the 'Thirdsday', if you will. Follow The Limerick Lady on Facebook at TheLimerickLady, on Twitter at LkLadyHQ and on Instagram at thelimericklady

Tweet about us using #LKLadyPod so we can see what you have to say!

Intro music: Demon Darling by Emma LangfordOutro music: Closed Book by Emma Langford

NEWS FIRST! We're doing a live show on the 24th of November at the Record Room (downstairs in The Commercial on Catherine Street, Limerick City) at 8pm. Special guests are historian Sharon Slater, musical comedy duo The Wild Geeze, and singer-songwriter Abe Soare. Doors at 8, kicking off at 8.30 sharp – this is a pre-recorded live podcast episode so get in early and take your seats on time. Tickets are €5 – pay on the door.

This month we meet Dr Tracy Fahey, an Irish author who has been twice shortlisted for Best Collection at the British Fantasy Awards in 2017 for The Unheimlich Manoeuvre and 2022 for I Spit Myself Out. Fahey's short fiction is published in over thirty American, British, Australian and Irish anthologies.

She has been Guest of Honour at the UK Ghost Story Festival 2022 and will appear in Copenhagen in 2023 as Guest of Honour at Fantasticon 2023.

Fahey holds a PhD on the Gothic in visual arts, and her non-fiction writing on the Gothic and folklore has appeared in Irish, English, Italian, Dutch and Australian edited collections. She has been awarded residencies in Ireland and Greece. In 2022 she was awarded Saari Fellow status for 2023 by the Kone Foundation, Finland.

Tracy is a self-proclaimed "Samhain nerd" and enthusiast for all things spooky, and in this episode we delve in to that and then some. We chat about the presence of strong feminine energies in Irish folklore, the inherent darkness in Irish people, and we reminisce on halloweens of yore, i.e. our childhoods in the 80s and 90s.

Want to follow Tracy online and find more of her work? She's TracyFaheyAuthor on Instagram, just TracyFahey on Twitter, or you can visit her website and sample her work at https://www.tracyfahey.com/

Ann Blake is a musician, facilitator and theatre-maker from Limerick City. Fellow Limerick woman and co-host Emma Langford is a singer-songwriter, podcaster and maker-of-things.

Follow Ann Blake on Twitter at annblake78, on Instagram at annblakeplay and check out her band The Brad Pitt Light Orchestra on twitter at BPLO.

Find out all about Emma Langford's adventures at emmalangfordmusic.com

Find the Limerick Lady podcast wherever you get your podcasts, and follow for new episodes on the third Thursday every month

The Limerick Lady Podcast is supported by the Limerick Post Newspaper, and sponsored by Ormston House

Follow Ormston House at www.ormstonhouse.com

Support the Limerick Post at www.limerickpost.ie

This podcast usually goes out on the 3rd Thursday each month - the 'Thirdsday', if you will.

Follow The Limerick Lady on Facebook at TheLimerickLady, on Twitter at LkLadyHQ and on Instagram at thelimericklady

Tweet about us using #LKLadyPod so we can see what you have to say!

Intro music: Demon Darling by Emma Langford

Outro music: Closed Book by Emma Langford

This month we meet Helena Close and Marie Boylan, the writing team behind brand new play "Red Army". Red Army is the flagship production for the Lime Tree Theatre in Limerick City, and is set to run from the 22nd to the 29th. The play centres on four women and their intersecting lives as they're drawn together by a shared love of Munster rugby, and the shared tragedy of the sudden death of Munster coach Axel Foley in 2016.

This episode we look at the on-stage visibility and representation of women over the age of 50, especially in the world of sports. We also explore how tragedy touches and effects us all differently. We discuss the collaborative process and how it makes us each better at what we do, through what we learn from each other. Above all, we discuss the highs and lows, the craic and the buzz that draws Munster rugby fans together.

Playwrights Helena Close and Marie Boylan said: "As die-hard Munster Rugby fans, Red Army is a play we felt compelled to write. It's a tribute to the club, the fans, the city of Limerick, and the late Anthony Foley. Bringing this story to life has been a team effort. From the crew at the Lime Tree Theatre; our director Pat Kiernan who understood our vision for the play implicitly; the stellar cast; and an incredible creative team. We began writing in 2017 and like a dogged Munster team we persevered and are thrilled to finally share Red Army with audiences as the first in-house production at the Lime Tree Theatre"

Want to follow Helena and Marie online and find more of their work? As Helena says, "just google it".

Tickets for Red Army at the Lime Tree Theatre: https://limetreetheatre.ie/events/red-army/

Safe To Create: https://www.safetocreate.ie/

Ann Blake is a musician, facilitator and theatre-maker from Limerick City. Fellow Limerick woman and co-host Emma Langford is a singer-songwriter, podcaster and maker-of-things.

Follow Ann Blake on Twitter at annblake78, on Instagram at annblakeplay and check out her band The Brad Pitt Light Orchestra on twitter at BPLO.

Catch her other podcasts, 'Ann and Steve Talk Stuff' @annstevetalk and 'Three Things That Matter' #ThreethingsTM both of which are also supported by the Limerick Post Newspaper

Follow Emma on Facebook and Instagram at emmalangfordmusic and on Twitter at ELangfordmusic, and get tickets for her upcoming shows and workshops at www.emmalangfordmusic.com/tour

Find the Limerick Lady podcast wherever you get your podcasts, and follow for new episodes on the third Thursday every month

The Limerick Lady Podcast is supported by the Limerick Post Newspaper, and sponsored by Ormston House

Follow Ormston House at www.ormstonhouse.com

Support the Limerick Post at www.limerickpost.ie

This podcast usually goes out on the 3rd Thursday each month - the 'Thirdsday', if you will.

Follow The Limerick Lady on Facebook at TheLimerickLady, on Twitter at LkLadyHQ and on Instagram at thelimericklady

Tweet about us using #LKLadyPod so we can see what you have to say!

Intro music: Demon Darling by Emma Langford Outro music: Closed Book by Emma Langford

In this episode Ann and Emma chat with honourary Limerick Lady and tour de force Justyna Cwojdzińska, the artistic director of The Polish Arts Festival. Our hosts and guest explore everything from common mythologies between Ireland and Poland, to Slavic Gymnastics, to how the never-ending discussion around "women's rights" can ironically often deflect from the fact that those rights are, quite simply, human rights.

Justyna Cwojdzińska studied Theatre at Cultural College in Wrocław and holds an M.A in English Language and Literature from the University of Wrocław. She has been involved since 2000 in theatrical productions in Poland, and is a founder and artistic director of Polish Arts Festival.

For her work on the festival, Justyna received an Outstanding Pole Award in the Culture Category from the Polish Government (Polish Promotional Emblem Foundation TERAZ POLSKA) under the honorary patronage of the President of the Republic of Poland.

Follow Justyna on Instagram: @justynacwojdzinska and Polish Arts Festival Twitter/Instagram: @PolishArtFest FB: www.facebook.com/PolishArtsFestival

www.polishartsfestival.ie

Ann Blake is a musician, facilitator and theatre-maker from Limerick City. Fellow Limerick woman and co-host Emma Langford is a singer-songwriter, podcaster and maker-of-things.

Follow Ann Blake on Twitter at annblake78, on Instagram at annblakeplay and check out her band The Brad Pitt Light Orchestra on twitter at BPLO.

Catch her other podcasts, 'Ann and Steve Talk Stuff' @annstevetalk and 'Three Things That Matter' #ThreethingsTM both of which are also supported by the Limerick Post Newspaper

Follow Emma on Facebook and Instagram at emmalangfordmusic and on Twitter at ELangfordmusic, and get tickets for her upcoming shows and workshops at www.emmalangfordmusic.com/tour

Find the Limerick Lady podcast wherever you get your podcasts, and follow for new episodes on the third Thursday every month

The Limerick Lady Podcast is supported by the Limerick Post Newspaper, and sponsored by Ormston House

Follow Ormston House at www.ormstonhouse.com

Support the Limerick Post at www.limerickpost.ie

This podcast usually goes out on the 3rd Thursday each month - the 'Thirdsday', if you will.

Follow The Limerick Lady on Facebook at TheLimerickLady, on Twitter at LkLadyHQ and on Instagram at thelimericklady

Tweet about us using #LKLadyPod so we can see what you have to say!

Intro music: Demon Darling by Emma Langford Outro music: Closed Book by Emma Langford

Ann and Emma chat to Lauren Guilfoyle, a Chartered Physiotherapist, about women in sport. The discussion covers a wide variety of her experience and whether her life would be different if she had more visible female role models in sport in childhood. Emma reminisces that, as a child, she felt sport just wasn't for her and Ann grapples with the fact she finds herself supporting the women's English soccer team.

Lauren works with a variety of sports teams including Ireland Basketball & Cork Constitution RFC.

She recently completed a Masters in Sport, Exercise and Performance Psychology at the University of Limerick.

Doctoral researcher with the Irish Rugby Injury Surveillance and has a passion for exploring new ways in social media to bring health and well-being educational content to the general public.

Follow Lauren on Twitter @LaurenGuilfoyle Instagram @lauren_guilfoyle

https://www.laurenguilfoyle.com/about

Brief history lesson in women's football - link to the source in episode info: https://www.history.co.uk/articles/when-womens-football-was-bigger-than-mens

Dr Sheree Barker's thread on women's sports: ​​https://twitter.com/shereebekker/status/1504899940497170442

Lionesses Appeal to next Prime Minister of Britain

https://www.itv.com/news/2022-08-03/lionesses-write-open-letter-to-allow-all-girls-to-play-football-at-school

Ann Blake is a musician, facilitator and theatre-maker from Limerick City. Fellow Limerick woman and co-host Emma Langford is a singer-songwriter, podcaster and maker-of-things.

Follow Ann Blake on Twitter at annblake78, on Instagram at annblakeplay and check out her band The Brad Pitt Light Orchestra on twitter at BPLO.

Catch her other podcasts, 'Ann and Steve Talk Stuff' and 'Three Things That Matter' #ThreethingsTM both of which are also supported by the Limerick Post Newspaper

Follow Emma on Facebook and Instagram at emmalangfordmusic and on Twitter at ELangfordmusic, and get tickets for her upcoming shows and workshops at www.emmalangfordmusic.com/tour

Find the Limerick Lady podcast wherever you get your podcasts, and follow for new episodes on the third Thursday every month

The Limerick Lady Podcast is supported by the Limerick Post Newspaper, and sponsored by Ormston House

Follow Ormston House at www.ormstonhouse.com

Support the Limerick Post at www.limerickpost.ie

This podcast usually goes out on the 3rd Thursday each month - the 'Thirdsday', if you will.

Follow The Limerick Lady on Facebook at TheLimerickLady, on Twitter at LkLadyHQ and on Instagram at thelimericklady

Tweet about us using #LKLadyPod so we can see what you have to say!

Intro music: Demon Darling by Emma Langford Outro music: Closed Book by Emma Langford

It's just the two of us building castles in the sky... This month Ann and Emma are without a guest, so sit back and enjoy what can simply be described as a meandering conversation about everything and anything.

This episode is given over to reflecting on the month that's been; whiskey-tasting and talking to spirits; Limerick Pride; burnout and the importance of taking holidays; ego and how it can make us nervous workaholics; trans rights and nosy neighbours; beard rash; and how life simply isn't a binary or linear experience in any sense.

Ann Blake is a musician, facilitator and theatre-maker from Limerick City. Fellow Limerick woman and co-host Emma Langford is a singer-songwriter, podcaster and maker-of-things.

Follow Ann Blake on Twitter at annblake78, on Instagram at annblakeplay and check out her band The Brad Pitt Light Orchestra on twitter at BPLO.

Catch her other podcasts, 'Ann and Steve Talk Stuff' and 'Three Things That Matter' #ThreethingsTM both of which are also supported bt the Limerick Post Newspaper

Follow Emma on Facebook and Instagram at emmalangfordmusic and on Twitter at ELangfordmusic, and get tickets for her upcoming shows and workshops at www.emmalangfordmusic.com/tour

Find the Limerick Lady podcast wherever you get your podcasts, and follow for new episodes on the third Thursday every month

The Limerick Lady Podcast is supported by the Limerick Post Newspaper, and sponsored by Ormston House

Follow Ormston House at www.ormstonhouse.com

Support the Limerick Post at www.limerickpost.ie

This podcast usually goes out on the 3rd Thursday each month - the 'Thirdsday', if you will.

Follow The Limerick Lady on Facebook at TheLimerickLady, on Twitter at LkLadyHQ and on Instagram at thelimericklady

Tweet about us using #LKLadyPod so we can see what you have to say!

Intro music: Demon Darling by Emma Langford Outro music: Closed Book by Emma Langford

In this episode Emma and Ann ambush poor Ailbhe and wrangle every conceivable bit of info out of her about her life, her activism, and where the feck she gets all the energy!

In this episode Ailbhe Smyth – activist extraordinaire – gives us a first-hand perspective, whistle-stop tour of the recent socio-political history of Ireland, from the removal of the Legitimacy Act in 1987 which removed all remaining legal distinctions between children born to married and unmarried parents, to the divorce referendum of 1995 - both of which impacted Ailbhe directly.

Ailbhe Smyth was the founding head of Women's Studies at UCD (University College Dublin) where she began lecturing at the age of 21.

She has been campaigning on feminist, LGBTQI+ and socialist issues for decades. She played a key role in the victorious Marriage Equality referendum in 2015. A pro-choice activist since the late 1970s, Ailbhe co-founded the Coalition to Repeal the 8th Amendment and went on to become Co-Director of the Together for Yes 2015 referendum campaign which won the right to abortion for women in Ireland in 2018.

A Dublin resident, Ailbhe is currently Chair of Women's Aid Ireland, Chair of Ballyfermot Addiction Services, on the board of Age Action, and Honorary Patron of the Women's Collective Ireland (previously National Collective of Community-based Women's Network). She is a founder member of Climate Justice Coalition, and also of Le Chéile: Diversity not Division which campaigns against the growth of far right extremism.

In 2019, Ailbhe was listed as one of Time Magazine's 'Most Influential People'. She was conferred with an honorary Doctorate of Laws by NUIG in 2021, and was recently conferred with the Freedom of the City of Dublin.

Follow Ailbhe Smyth on Twitter at AilbheS

Follow Ann Blake on Twitter at annblake78, on Instagram at annblakeplay and check out her band The Brad Pitt Light Orchestra on twitter at BPLO.

Catch her other podcasts, 'Ann and Steve Talk Stuff' and 'Three Things That Matter' #ThreethingsTM both of which are also supported bt the Limerick Post Newspaper

Get tickets for Emma's upcoming shows and workshops at www.emmalangfordmusic.com/tour

Find the Limerick Lady podcast wherever you get your podcasts, and follow for new episodes on the third Thursday every month

The Limerick Lady Podcast is supported by the Limerick Post Newspaper, and sponsored by Ormston House

Follow Ormston House at www.ormstonhouse.com

Support the Limerick Post at www.limerickpost.ie

This podcast usually goes out on the 3rd Thursday each month - the 'Thirdsday', if you will.

Follow The Limerick Lady on Facebook at TheLimerickLady, on Twitter at LkLadyHQ and on Instagram at thelimericklady

Tweet about us using #LKLadyPod so we can see what you have to say!

Intro music: Demon Darling by Emma Langford Outro music: Closed Book by Emma Langford

This month Eva O'Connor joins Ann Blake to talk about changing the focus and conversation around climate.

Theatre maker, Eva, is the co-producer of the inaugural Future Limerick: Climate Arts Festival with Hildegarde Ryan and their company Sunday's Child Theatre.

Eva, a prolific playwright and performer, has had huge success with shows such as My Name Is Saoirse and Overshadowed, the latter which was turned into an 8 episode series for BBC3 in 2017. Her play Mustard premiered in 2020 and is due to tour to Edinburgh Fringe in August 2022.

During the chat, Eva and Ann talk about shifting the conversation, around the climate, away from guilt and shame and framing the climate crisis in a way that doesn't strike fear into an audience. A way that allows people to engage with the conversation and making theatre more accessible for all.

Follow Eva on instagram @evaclaireoconnor and @sundayschildtheatre and @EvaO_Connor on Twitter

Follow Future Limerick on instagram @futurelimerick and www.futurelimerick.ie

Follow Ann Blake on Twitter at annblake78, on Instagram at annblakeplay and check out her band The Brad Pitt Light Orchestra on twitter at BPLO.

Catch her other podcasts, 'Ann and Steve Talk Stuff' and 'Three Things That Matter' #ThreethingsTM both of which are also supported bt the Limerick Post Newspaper

Get tickets for Emma's upcoming shows and workshops at www.emmalangfordmusic.com/tour

Find the Limerick Lady podcast wherever you get your podcasts, and follow for new episodes on the third Thursday every month

The Limerick Lady Podcast is supported by the Limerick Post Newspaper, and sponsored by Ormston House

Follow Ormston House at www.ormstonhouse.com

Support the Limerick Post at www.limerickpost.ie

This podcast usually goes out on the 3rd Thursday each month - the 'Thirdsday', if you will.

Follow The Limerick Lady on Facebook at TheLimerickLady, on Twitter at LkLadyHQ and on Instagram at thelimericklady

Tweet about us using #LKLadyPod so we can see what you have to say!

Intro music: Demon Darling by Emma Langford Outro music: Closed Book by Emma Langford