For my final project I have chosen to expand my enquiry both in the scale of its material and its investigative scope. Staying focused on cultural traditions and the ways in which these express identity through material means; I am exploring the St. Patrick’s Day parade using the methodology of my previous work. The project is titled
St. Patricks Day in Ballybeg, Ballybeg being an anglicisation of Baile Beag – meaning ‘little town’ in Irish.
Ballybeg is also the setting for many of the writer Brian Friel’s works. Friel’s writing is situated within mid-century Ireland and reflects upon the state of the country at that time. His work shares many concerns with St. Patricks Day in Ballybeg; pondering questions of Irish identity, lived experience on the island, and the Irish migratory experience.
Again the project’s genesis is found in a set of interview questions which are used to compile an archive:
1. Thinking about St. Patrick’s Day and the tradition of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. What comes to mind?
2. Are you aware of the origins of the parade as a tradition?
3. What do you think it reflects in terms of our relationship with the US and the wider world?
4. What kind of Ireland, or Irishness, has traditionally been broadcast internationally by such pageantry?
5. What, for you, is our relationship to this conception of ourselves? Do we play into it? Do we perform it?