Liz Clark & Castleisland Day Care: Old Friend's House

Liz Clark is Artist in Residence with Castleisland Day Care Centre, as part of the Age & Opportunity Care Hubs of Arts & Creative Excellence initiative 2020-2021, funded by Creative Ireland’s Creativity in Older Age Programme and supported by the Arts Council. Read more about the 2020-2021 residencies here: https://ageandopportunity.ie/arts/art...

We are delighted to share a video of a song, ‘Old Friend’s House’, written by Liz and participants as part of her residency.

This song was written with the participants of the Castleisland Day Care Centre and staff during lockdown. The lyrics came out of discussions over the phone and good old-fashioned letters, but also over Zoom, Facetime, Whatsapp and Viber video! For many of the participants, it was their first experience with technology using tablets and recording equipment.

The staff in the day care centre took full ownership; singing, helping with lyrics, holding the cameras for recording and playfully taking part in all the aspects.

Liz spent time remotely with about a dozen participants, casually singing favourite old songs, sharing stories, and learning about their lives- especially their days long ago when “The Rambling House” was their main form of social interaction. With Day Care Centres being closed for over a year, many participants commented fondly about how the centres were like their modern day Rambling Houses; a place to meet and feel welcome.

We hope this song brings visibility to the resiliency and strength of this generation and reminds us all of the culture of storytelling and songs that is so integral to us now.