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Modern Day Mummers

From the 1st lockdown in 2020 in Ireland, dancer Edwina Guckian, singer Fionnuala Maxwell and musician Brian Mostyn visited the homes of elderly or vulnerable people across their communities in Co. Leitrim. 

Dressed in their distinctive straw head-dresses they recreated the mumming tradition that many of these elderly people would have remembered from their own childhoods. They knocked on the doors of cocooners and played tunes, sang, danced and chatted on their door steps before they moved on to the next house. In turn, the simple act of calling to the house provided a much-appreciated break from the social isolation experienced by many of those visited. The project has been extended to communities all across Ireland and continues today. 

Watch the project here: