The theme of Sign Language Day 2023 was "A World Where Deaf People Can Sign Anywhere," and it was reflected in the successful events organised by Athy Sing and Sign club to celebrate Irish Sign Language, Deaf Community, and Deaf Culture.
On Friday night for Culture Night, Athy Sing and Sign hosted a ‘Vibrations and Visuals’ workshop with Kiara Geoghegan where people could have a sound bath and explore vibrations and then after that experience, they got to unleash their creativity by painting glass jars with Stained Glass Paint. It was a wonderful relaxing evening.
On Saturday we started the ISL Festival by cycling out on the Blueway with Kildare Sports Partnership (KSP). Special thanks to Majella Fennelly (KSP) for helping to organise the cycle and to Athy Triathlon Club for their support – Lily Bowden, Caroline Howe and Mary Cullen and to local community guarda Sean O Mahony. We cycled out on the blueway out to Dilly Dally and enjoyed a welcoming coffee and treats! Thank to Linda and Martin for their warm welcome as always. Great to see Linda signing in ISL with some members of the deaf community. At Dilly Dally we met a group of fine men from Naas cycling club and we were telling them about this special day celebrating ISL. They were really interested and they were great sport by participating in a Deaf Game called the ‘Elephant Game’ It was great fun!
In the afternoon we had the main part of the festival on the Green Area beside the courthouse and the river barrow. The afternoon was jammed packed with exciting activities – ‘The Gallery on the Green’. Special thanks to Athy Cathaoirleach Vera Louise Behan for launching our ISL Festival and our art exhibition called ‘Life Lights’.
The LIFE LIGHTS exhibition was created by one of our most creative committee member Linda Dobbyn. It aims to promote Deaf culture and clear communication via CODA figurines. The transparent chicken wire figures represent the overlooked CODA community. The exhibition's goal is to celebrate diversity and promote inclusion while challenging societal norms.
There was lots of exciting activities on the Gallery on the Green , all great fun for all the family – we had ‘Pottery with Jayne Foley –Sunshine Pottery’, Origami with Zuki and Mimi, Stained Glass Painting with Foleys family, Face painting with Johanne, Live Caricatures with Brendan O Rourke, ISL Taster with Athy Sing and Sign members, Hair Braiding with Caoimhe Owens and Pippa Casey, Juggling with Stephan McGinley, Maths activities and puzzles with Maths Week Ireland (Sheila and Eoin) , Chess with Athy Chess Club (Brendan Goggin and Andrew McCarthy, Hook a duck with Lily Bowden, Irish Sign Loco (Bingo), Showcasing our manifesto with Creative Place Elish Langton, Dancing with Danny O Keeffe, Sign Along with Helen Newman, Michelle McNulty, Aoife Harrington and Aoife McLoughlin (Student from CDS Centre of Deaf Studies), Dragon Boating with Athy Dragon Boat Club, Aerial Performance workshops. The festival ended with a spectacular aerial performance by Polina Shapkina, Julie O Connell Kent and Chloe Commins. Chloe is a CODA (Child of Deaf Adult) and it was fantastic to see ease of communication with the deaf community and seeing her use ISL in her performance. <3
This amazing day could not have been possible without the amazing support from Athy Sing and Sign hardworking committee Linda Dobbyn, Mary Byrne and Breda Moore Flynn, the men – Freddy Earle, Ritchie Byrne, Darren Moore Flynn and Peadar Owens, Sean O Mahony and amazing team of volunteers from Athy Sing and Sign club! Special thanks to Mick O Rourke and Irish Courts for their support with electricity. Thanks to Jimmy Byrne and all the volunteers from civil defence.
This amazing weekend was funded and supported by Kildare County Council community grant and festival grant and Creative Ireland Bursary. We also got to launch the 7th edition of Athy Sing and Sign ISL booklet with caricatures of our members signing in ISL.
This beautifully illustrated booklet was created by artist and graphic designer Brendan O Rourke and it is free to download on Athy Sing and Sign website.
Thank you to all our local councillors for their continued support Vera Louise Behan, Aoife Breslin, Mark Wall, Mark Leigh Brian Dooley and to Patricia Berry from Athy Town Promoters.
Special thanks to everyone who helped to make our events super successful and to everyone who came and celebrate with us on the day. We hope enjoyed yourself and learned a sign or two!
Chairperson of Athy Sing and Sign club, Maggie Owens expressed gratitude to everyone who contributed to the success of their events. She was amazed to see a world in Athy where sign language is used by everyone, including the deaf, hard of hearing CODAs, and hearing individuals. Maggie feels proud of Athy Community for their support towards making Athy a Deaf friendly town in Ireland.
