The Five Lamps by Roddy Doyle
The emotional story of a man who makes the irrational decision to come to Dublin to look for his son, who he has not seen in four years. His search takes him on an odyssey through inner city Dublin, and small acts of kindness light up his search as he hopes against hope to find his son in the deserted city. This is a gentle hymn to the inner city, and as in all of Roddy Doyle’s writing about Dublin, explores the humour and emotions of people on the edge. Despite this, The Five Lamps becomes a truly life-affirming story.
Adapted and directed by Joe O’Byrne. Starring Eoin O’Sullivan.
The show is an adaptation of a story from the LIFE WITHOUT CHILDREN collection by Roddy Doyle published in 2021.
PHOTO CREDIT Pati Guimaraes.
Join us for a series of post-show chats, curated by The Civic around the themes in the play. The following are the panelists for the each performance;
Tuesday 12th (10:30am Schools) Panellists from Jigsaw Youth Mental Health and Fighting Words
Sarah Byrne Jigsaw | Youth and Community Engagement Worker
Sarah Byrne is a Youth and Community Engagement Worker for Jigsaw. “I have worked with young people for over 20 years. I am really passionate about early intervention work and empowering and educating the community and building their mental health literacy to improve mental health outcomes for young people”.
Pierina Campbell | Fighting Words
“Fighting Words is a creative writing organisation established in 2009 by Roddy Doyle and Seán Love in Dublin. Our aim is to help students of all ages to develop their writing skills and to explore their love of writing. All programmes are free of charge and offered in locations all over Ireland.”
Tuesday 12th (8 pm) Panellists from Walk and Talk Tallaght and Merchants Quay Ireland.
Stephen Brennan | Walk and Talk Group
According to Stephen ‘”I started Walk And Talk 1 year ago to help myself as I suffered with my mental health. I found hiking walking and talking help me a huge amount so I started a page up called WALK AND TALK to help others”.
Lauren O Sullivan | Assertive Inreach Open Access Service. Merchants Quay Ireland
“My name is Lauren O Sullivan, I’m the Assertive InReach Worker with Merchant’s Quay Ireland. The purpose of my role is to act as bridge for people experiencing homeless, aged 18 – 25, who may be struggling with mental health & addiction to be able to access treatment or relevant supports.”
Wednesday 13th (10:30am Schools) Panellists from Fighting Words and Pieta
Kasia Milne | Clinical Service Manager for Pieta Dublin South (Tallaght), Ballyfermot and BelongTo Outreach centre.
“Pieta operates a number of services, including counselling centres which provide free counselling to people of all ages who are experiencing suicidal ideation, self-harm and/or is experiencing bereavement through suicide.”
Colm O’Cuanacháin | Fighting Words
“Fighting Words is a creative writing organisation established in 2009 by Roddy Doyle and Seán Love in Dublin. Our aim is to help students of all ages to develop their writing skills and to explore their love of writing. All programmes are free of charge and offered in locations all over Ireland.”
Wednesday 13th (8 pm) Panellists from Merchants Quay Ireland and Pieta
Ryan Connolly | Merchants Quay Ireland
According to Ryan, ‘My role in Merchants Quay is Harm Reduction Lead Project Worker meaning I lead a team who support people around their drug use and safer ways of taking drugs and to keep themselves as safe as possible. I support the team in also keeping safe and getting the right support. A lot of our clients would also be rough sleeping which can prove difficult especially while using drugs’.
Cathy Drummond | Pieta Darkness Into Light
‘A little about me and Darkness Into Light….. I’ve been working in Pieta since 2019 on the fundraising team, and in 2020 I moved into the projects area to be more involved in the planning of Darkness Into Light because I had been a supporter of the event for many years before applying for a job in Pieta. My role on the team is campaign manager, overseeing the event and making sure everything runs smoothly. Prior to that I worked for a finance and leasing company so it was a big change to move to the charity sector but a decision I’m proud of every day. The fundraising team in Pieta are one of the most passionate groups of people I’ve ever had the privilege to work with, and our Darkness Into Light committee members who are spread all over the world, are the glue that keeps the event going so strong each year. Pieta provides free, professional counselling to those experiencing suicidal thoughts, those bereaved by suicide and those engaging in self-harm. There is no referral needed and we offer face to face therapy as well and phone/video therapy to ensure there is a service that suits our clients. We also have a 24/7 crisis helpline and text line to offer support to anyone impacted by suicide or self-harm. Darkness Into Light is a fundraising event held every May and it began as a 5k walk in the Phoenix Park in 2009 . There are now almost 200 events across Ireland and 28 additional events worldwide. While the walk is still our main event, over the years our amazing supporters have come up with a range of different fundraising ideas, from sunrise sea dives to sunrise horse rides and everything in between. Each year these events provide an opportunity for people to connect with their local community and to bring hope to people who have been impacted by suicide. Pieta relies on public funding for 85% of its annual income, and Darkness Into Light plays a huge part in raising those funds, as well as bringing communities together to help the global fight against suicide’.
Thursday 14th (10:30am Schools) Panellists from Jigsaw Youth Mental Health and Walk and Talk Tallaght
Barry Dempsey Jigsaw Youth and Community Engagement Worker
“I’m Barry Dempsey, youth and community engagement worker with Jigsaw . It’s an absolute passion of mine to work with young people offering mental health awareness support whilst trying to cut stigma down to size one conversation at a time”.
Stephen Brennan | Walk and Talk Group
According to Stephen ‘”I started Walk And Talk 1 year ago to help myself as I suffered with my mental health. I found hiking walking and talking help me a huge amount so I started a page up called WALK AND TALK to help others”.
Thursday 14th (8 pm) Panellists from Fighting Words, Stephen Jones actor and Warren McCarthy – musician from the show.
Sean Farrelly- Fighting Words
“Fighting Words is a creative writing organisation established in 2009 by Roddy Doyle and Seán Love in Dublin. Our aim is to help students of all ages to develop their writing skills and to explore their love of writing. All programmes are free of charge and offered in locations all over Ireland”.
Musician Warren McCarthy
“Warren McCarthy is a singer, songwriter and composer from Dublin. He is the songwriter and lead vocalist of the band, Let’s Set Sail. He has also released music under his solo moniker, Was Man. Warren holds an MA in Composition and a BMus from Maynooth University. His chamber and choral compositions have been performed throughout Ireland and Britain”.
