Inaugural Thinking on Tuam Resident Artist: Oein De Bhardúin

Creative Places Tuam is pleased to announce the first Thinking on Tuam residency, awarded to author and educator Oein de Bhardúin.

This residency provides space to hear from voices and people in Tuam and beyond – activists, artists, academics, thinkers, historians, craftspeople, social campaigners, and more. Each residency will inform the larger Creative Places Tuam programme by further embedding the programme in the community.

Since the Summer of 2020, Oein has curated a series of conversations, provocations and writings on the rich cultural heritage of Tuam, focusing on the stories and folklore of the Travelling Community and its importance to the town.

The residency was launched on Culture Night 2020, with a pre-recorded conversation between Oein and Michael Fortune, film-maker and folklorist, on folklore and stories. Join Oein for “Walking Whid/ Walking Story” a journey through the physical space of Tuam Town, in which Oein guides the listener through the town, narrating the stories, folklore, legends and history of Tuam, the Traveller Community and its relationship with Tuam.
This Walking Whid is inspired by the history and story of Tuam. We would like to credit Michael Waldron & Tuam Tidy Town’s Tuam Heritage and Nature Trail published in 2015 for text referenced in the Whid. Other resources used for this work were sourced from an assortment of Journal of Tuam Society (JOTS) publications, and Oein’s memories of stories told.