|
|
Lislea is a small townland in the foothills of South Armagh, couched
in a picturesque valley between the Slieve Gullion, Topny and Burren
mountains, which open on to Dundalk to the South, Newry to the North
East, and Armagh City to the North. Together with the adjoining
townlands of Amakane, Ballard, Levelamore and Annacloughmullion,
which for ecclesiastical and social purposes fall under its mantle,
Lislea constitutes a buoyant rural community of some 150 families,
which is steeped in tradition and cultural lore from the earliest
times, This fact is still clearly evident today in the many and
varied activities being promoted in the area.
The name Lislea is derived from the Irish, Lios Liath - The Grey
Fairy Fort - and goes back far into the Gaelic past of the area,
and evokes an image of ancient cultural naivety, when the Daoine
Beaga - The Wee People - were still regarded with respect and awe,
and also of the time honoured tradition of the Ceilidh house and
long nights of storytelling.
Back
to Top
This tradition of storytelling has left its mark on the area, as
this part of South Armagh, the legendary Ring of Gullion, was the
site of many of the most famous Irish legends, which are still known
throughout Ireland today. These go back to the time of the famous
bards, that extraordinary body of full-time professional men of
letters who won for Ireland the once-coveted epithet "The Land of
Scholars". Taking historical events and figures loosely as their
theme, these bards wove around them far-flung, fanciful tales, in
both prose and poetry, which captured the imagination, were learned
and handed down by word of mouth from generation to generation and
produced a body of imaginative, romantic literature that is unrivalled
in many other European countries. The shadow of these larger-than-life
figures still hovers large in Lislea, in the speech and mannerisms
of the people, and many of them have found their way on to the small
stage, to be celebrated in song, pageant and poetry.
Back
to Top
The most abiding cultural tradition in Lislea has been drama, going
back over fifty years when the present Drama Company was formed.
In all, the local Dramatic Players have staged over sixty plays
during those years. In 1982 the Lislea Dramatic Players, spurred
on by the inexorable decline of virtually all other local drama
groups, launched themselves on their most ambitious project to date,
the establishment of a Rural Drama Festival in Lislea. The success
which had met this venture surprised even the most optimistic of
its supporters, as in the four years since its inception the drama
festival had grown to become one of the most significant annual
events in the cultural calendar of South east Ulster, attracting
entries from throughout a wide area. A measure of the high standard
of the productions today, is the fact that the Lislea Drama Festival
has now been affiliated to the amateur drama council of Ireland.
Back
to Top
|
