RESIDENTS of West Cork nursing homes will participate in a special music festival to mark Nursing Homes Week 2023, which will also include appearances from John Spillane and Eurovision winner Niamh Kavanagh.
The event will be screened to more than 25,000 residents at 400 nursing homes nationwide, with the event also available online for the wider public to view.
Nursing homes nationwide will be hosting music-themed celebrations from Monday August 21st to Sunday August 27th to mark Nursing Homes Week 2023. The Music Speaks broadcast takes place on Monday August 21st and will encompass performances from over 100 nursing home residents from over 30 nursing homes.
Gabrielle Winter, a resident of Cahereen Care Centre, Macroom, will be singing Spancil Hill, while fellow residents Nellie Kelleher and Patricia Dineen will be singing The Rose of Tralee. Patricia will also be performing Sonny Boy.
Michael Lawlor of Haven Bay Care Centre, Kinsale, and musician Finbarr Winters will be singing Abdul Abulbul Amir by Percy French.
Student Kiely Lehane from Kinsale Community School also features from Haven Bay Care Centre, playing Grace on the harp.
The Music Speaks performance will be broadcast to over 400 nursing homes with 25,000 residents across the country and available for the broader public to watch via NHI.ie. It features renditions of classics such as Danny Boy, Molly Malone, When Irish Eyes Are Smiling, Can’t Help Falling in Love, You Are My Sunshine, Que Sera, Sera, intertwined with performances by residents of different instruments, including piano, accordion, bodhrán.
The Music Speaks performance is a highlight of the broader online Music Speaks festival which will mark the national celebration of nursing home care.
The festival will include performances from Mobile Music Machine with Niamh Kavanagh, Sive, Ross Scanlon performs John McCormack, and John Spillane.
Further, performances from the Irish Traditional Music Archive will be opened up to nursing home residents and an online discussion will be hosted discussing the impact of music on nursing home residents.
Nursing Homes Ireland chief executive Tadhg Daly – who is from Drimoleague – said: ‘Music fulfils an absolutely integral role in nursing home care, providing comfort to residents, stimulating memories, bringing them together, and it gives great joy and happiness. The festival we have created is truly unique, bringing residents together for a very special range of performances and events over the course of a week.’
Visit NHI.ie for further information.
