Creatives turn to the World Wide Web

From streaming concerts and performances to hosting virtual exhibitions, local artists and musicians have been joining this virtual community in a bid to combat social isolation and provide solace to their audiences.

Dundalk folk outfit The Mary Walllopers even set up a bar in their home so that viewers could enjoy an authentic Irish session on St Patrick's Day.

They ended up playing to an audience of thousands who tuned in to see them play on Tuesday evening, with people sharing photos on line of their families dancing and playing along with their session.

'It was brilliant,' says Charles Hendry, who along with his brother Andrew and Sean McKenna, make up the three-piece.

He explains that they decided to play a gig from the sitting room of their rented house after a number of live concerts which they were due to play were called off due to the Covid-19 restrictions.

'We were supposed to be playing in Germany on March 13 and 14 and then flying to London after the second gig to play to a gig in Trafalgar Square to 10,000 people for the London Irish Centre, and on St Patrick's night we were supposed to be playing support to Lanklum in the Cork Opera House. We also had a gig in Belfast the following night with out other band TPM, with gigs in April being pushed back to August.'

Once the gigs were cancelled they came up with the idea of hosting a virtual session from their home, even going to the trouble of setting up a bar in their sitting room.

Using pallets and posters, they captured the atmosphere of an Irish bar and after spreading the word on social media that they would be playing live on St Patrick's evening from 8pm, the launched their virtual gig.

'It went really great,' says Charles. 'We got loads of videos from people around the world who were watching the gig, with people dancing in front of the telly and another one with someone's Dad playing the tin whistle.'

'The highest number of people on the stream was 3,500 and everyone seemed to love it.'

Since then, over 25,000 people have viewed the gig on YouTube.

'It was really heart-warming to see people watching the gig and feeling that they were celebrating St Patrick's Day. It's important for people to have some craic and not all doom and gloom.'

Charles says the band are hoping to live stream more gigs in the coming weeks.

'We love playing live and doing the gig felt normal.'

And at the prompting of fans, they included a link where people could make a donation, as they have lost out on earnings from the cancelled gigs.

Traditional musicians Zoe Conway and John McIntyre also shared a video of them playing in their Cooley home on St Patrick's Day which has been viewed over 10,000 times.

Visual artists have been also being using social media to create virtual exhibitions and galleries. The local AXE (Art as Exchange) collective have been posting images created by members each day on Facebook and Instagram while local artists Petra Berntsson and Adrienne Finnerty are among the artists contributing to the Art in Lockdown virtual exhibition.

'From the safety and comfort of your own home, we will present a piece of art from each of the 20 participating artists at 6 p.m. daily. We all need something uplifting to see these day,' say the organisers.