Poetry Jukebox on Cobh Promenade

On December 16th Cllr. Anthony Barry, Chair of Cobh Municipal District formally unveiled the Poetry Jukebox on Cobh Promenade as part of UCD’s Poetry as Commemoration programme.

Developed by Dr. Catherine Wilsdon under the national Decade of Centenaries programme 2012-2023, members of the public will be able to hear works by well-known poets including Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, John Hewitt and W.B. Yeats, as well as lesser-known writers such as D.L. Kelleher, Alice Milligan and Agnes Kerr.   2022-2023 marks the centenary of one of the most challenging periods in Irish history including the ratification of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, the establishment of the Free State and the ensuing Civil War. Poetry as Commemoration invites communities to turn to poetry as a mode of understanding and reflecting on this time in our history.

The Poetry Jukebox is organised through Belfast based arts organisation Quotidian led by poet and playwright Maria Mc Manus and poet Deirdre Cartmill. This installation has been secured as a temporary installation through UCD’s Poetry as Commemoration programme and is being co-ordinated by the Cobh Poetry Jukebox project which is led by local literary activist Ruairí de Barra. Speaking at the launch Ruairí de Barra said, “This is a wonderful opportunity to bring this specially curated selection of poems to our historic town in an engaging, innovative and accessible way. The project will enhance our community’s understanding, and appreciation of the War of Independence and Civil War as we enter 2023, which is a year of several important centenaries.   Those who are resident or visiting the town may find their visit enriched by being able to interact with the installation.  By bringing the Jukebox to Cobh we hope to raise interest in encountering the spoken word and to begin the process of raising the necessary funds to purchase a Jukebox for permanent use in Cobh.

The Poetry Jukebox is a small standing structure, deliberately styled to represent a gramophone or speaking trumpet.  The unit contains a series of recordings of short poems where upon pressing a button you can hear a poet read their own poem. The Poetry Jukebox is also environmentally friendly as the energy needed to play the poem is provided by the listener who turns a crank handle linked to a dynamo to provide the electrical power for the unit.

The Jukebox is free to use and enjoy at Cobh Promenade from December 2022 until March 2023.

More details can be found on www.cobhpoetryjukebox.com