Artist – Lewis Barfoot

The Dunmanway Sessions

Dunmanway Community Hospital & Day Care Centre

The Dunmanway Sessions is a project led by musician Lewis Barfoot that aimed to collect recordings of songs by Arts for Health participants at Dunmanway Community Hospital and Day Care Centre. The project resulted in an album of twenty songs, released as part of Bealtaine Festival 2024. 

Songs are sung a cappella in English and Irish, and have been simply recorded without frills in the hospital and day care settings during weekly Arts for Health sessions. The songs are largely traditional folk songs from across Ireland, with many favorites including “Danny Boy” and “The Inchigeelagh Lass” which were learnt by the residents in their youth. The collection also includes a few stories behind the songs and the odd poem. 

This beautiful archive exists as a legacy of the aural heritage of unaccompanied singing across Ireland. The Dunmanway Sessions is available to stream for free on the Uillinn West Cork Art’s Centre Soundcloud page. 

 

Timeframe

November 2022 to April 2023

With special thanks to all the performers, healthcare staff, Anita O’Donovan, Siobhán Calnan, Eileen Crowley, musician Étáin Collins, along with the friends and relatives for their support. This project was supported by Arts for Health Partnership Project.