They’re a world-renowned, highly acclaimed, spectacle theatre company who will bring their signature talent and artistic flare from the west of Ireland to this year’s national St Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublin.
Macnas, which celebrate its 40th anniversary later this year, will bring a five-metre-tall giant, Crom, to the streets of the capital, a familiar face to those who are au fait with the mammoth puppets and street theatre that the Galway company is famous for.
Irish Country Living speaks with executive director of the company, Johnny O’Reilly and James Riordan, who will direct Con and his 16-strong team of handlers and accompanying performers as they weave their way along the parade route, to discover the secret behind the Macnas magic.
“It’s all about bringing art into civic spaces and developing a community, an inclusive celebration that underpins cohesiveness,” says Johnny, a native of Cabra in Dublin who has been at the helm of Macnas for the past four years.
“In terms of the Dublin parade, we see it as a huge honour to represent our country on the world stage, it has a global audience of over one billion people so it’s a wonderful opportunity to showcase the work.”
Richard Tierney is CEO of the St Patrick’s Festival in Dublin. He says the return of Macnas to the national parade coincided with the appointment of Aoife Carrighy as creative director of the festival.
“Last year Macnas returned to the streets of Dublin, leading our parade with the 20m long Alf puppet and we were delighted to have them back,” he says.
“Everything we do is rooted in culture and expression and when we have the eyes of the world on us it’s important to have Macnas, who are world leading in their craft, showcasing the best of Irish.
“Ireland is known for bringing a smile to everyone’s face, and that’s needed now more than ever with all that’s going on in the world. We’ll have 550,000 people watching the parade on the streets, with a further 700,000 people watching the Irish TV coverage and another 700,000 watching on streaming services so it is not one to be missed.”
Crom is one of five giant puppets developed and created by Macnas, and this will be his first trip to the capital, having taken a sabbatical from public performance in recent years.
His usual abode is a 40ft container in Athenry, where the team has been perfecting its parade routine in recent weeks, with drummers and the performers who will scale a tall tower on the float, ironing out any last-minute glitches.
The award-winning spectacle theatre company based in Galway. They are pictured during a rehearsal in their 10,000 sq ft workshop in Athenry, ahead of the national St Patrick’s Festival, where their giant creations take centre stage each year. \ Sean Lydon
“Crom has been with us for a few years now but hasn’t been out in a while. We’re bringing him back out to Dublin where he’ll roam the streets on a chassis as part of our overall float which includes a tower with a team of 40 performers,” explains Johnny.
“He’s five meters tall and made from natural materials including hessian, reeds and coarse linen, which ties in with the theme of this year’s event which is ‘roots’.
“Crom looks like he walked straight out of the west of Ireland and with our drummers performing alongside him the whole show is a rousing affair that we hope will wow the crowds. He has an incredible personality so we hope those watching, especially those along the route will pick up on that.”
Eugene Finnegan and Gavin Morgan are regarded as integral members of the Macnas team. \ Sean Lydon
Amazing talent
James Riordan says the Macnas float will be led by performer Daniel Guinnan, the ringleader of a ‘gang of wild madness’.
“We are always very conscious that as ours is street theatre, we have to make it as accessible as possible, and given the crowds attending the St Patrick’s Day parade we wanted to go high, to make sure as many people could see what we are bringing to Dublin,” he says.
“Crom is obviously high enough for everyone to see but we are putting six of our drummers and some of our performers up on another chassis to make them visible too.”
James says the theme of the parade, roots, has been taken very literally by the Macnas performance.
“I visited Angkor Wat, the Buddhist temple in Cambodia and I was really influenced by how the roots of trees take over structures there. We’ve covered the cages in twigs and straw, so our aesthetic is earthy with browns and greens predominant against the white of Conn. Being in the middle of the parade itself we’re aiming for a poetic, magical presence that will be a lovely juxtaposition to the other floats and performers.”
James Riordan, creative director of this year’s entry in the national St Patrick’s Day parade with executive director Johnny O’Reilly; below, rehearsals in their 10,000 sq ft workshop ahead of the St Patrick’s Day Festival. \ Sean Lydon
Johnny credits former artistic director Noeline Kavanagh with leaving a lasting legacy on Macnas when her tenure ended in 2022.
“Noeline brought so many international experts in puppeteering, lighting, and special effects over to Galway down through the years who have trained our volunteers, many of whom have been with Macnas for decades. We have the most amazing talent pool as a result of that,” he adds.
“Two of our most precious team members are Eugene Finnegan and Gavin Morgan whose skills with metalwork, welding and kinetics have to be seen to be believed. They do a million different things on each and every project and theirs are skills that I would fear will be almost impossible to replace in the future.
“I love walking the route in the hours before the parade begins, just watching all the people who have come out and got their spot and are prepared to stand in one place for hours, just to see the spectacle that will pass them in a much shorter period of time. It’s like a communion, bringing people together and to be part of that is so special.”
A team of skilled artists work year-round on the Macnas creations, with Johnny explaining that one puppet can take up to 18 months to deliver.
“A team of 16 worked on Crom alone, and the next challenge we’re facing is how we continue to make our work to scale, taking climate change into consideration.
“We perform in all weathers, but the wind is our biggest enemy given the height of our puppets so when there’s a storm, there is no plan B. We have to be able to continue to make the work but a conversation has to be had between art and technology to see how we do that going forward.”
Inside the Macnas workshop. \ Sean Lydon
Bespoke costumes
With a team of 350 volunteers working on Macnas creations year-round, the highlight being the annual Halloween parade that takes place in Galway and Dublin, Johnny says the range of skills and talent brought under the Macnas tent is immense.
“Our costumes are bespoke, both for the puppets and the performers. Amanda Donovan is responsible for Crom’s costume and Sheree White who is currently working on RTE’s Dancing with the Stars is responsible for our troupe’s costumes. We make everything from existing stock and that extends to our puppets and our chassis and floats. We reweld and redesign the metal involved and where possible we reuse as much as we can.”
Rural audiences will also have a chance to witness the spectacle that is Macnas this St Patrick’s Day. The parade in Rathkeale, Co Limerick, which starts at midday will celebrate the rich culture and diversity of the local community. Macnas puppets and performers will be at the heart of the celebrations in what is the company’s only other street performance outside Galway this year.
Macnas was set up in 1986 by four Galway men; actor Padraic Breathnach (Ros na Rún and Kilnaskully), Ollie Jennings, (Saw Doctors manager), Tom Conroy and Pete Sammon who turned their artistic vision into a lasting legacy for the country, with the puppets clocking up some serious air miles over the past four decades.
The company has travelled the world, performing alongside U2 on the band’s Zooropa tour in the early 1990s, right up to last year when it performed live in front of an audience of two million people in Calcutta, as part of the Durga Puja festival that promotes strength unity and community spirit. A statue created in collaboration with local artists is now housed in the Irish embassy in Delhi.
Over 3,000 participants, including marching bands from Scotland and the US will take part in the Dublin parade that begins at 12pm on 17 March in Dublin city centre, running from Parnell Square in the north of the city, down O’Connell Street, over O’Connell Bridge and through the south side of the city, ending at the Cuffe Street/Kevin Street junction.
They’re a world-renowned, highly acclaimed, spectacle theatre company who will bring their signature talent and artistic flare from the west of Ireland to this year’s national St Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublin.
Macnas, which celebrate its 40th anniversary later this year, will bring a five-metre-tall giant, Crom, to the streets of the capital, a familiar face to those who are au fait with the mammoth puppets and street theatre that the Galway company is famous for.
Irish Country Living speaks with executive director of the company, Johnny O’Reilly and James Riordan, who will direct Con and his 16-strong team of handlers and accompanying performers as they weave their way along the parade route, to discover the secret behind the Macnas magic.
“It’s all about bringing art into civic spaces and developing a community, an inclusive celebration that underpins cohesiveness,” says Johnny, a native of Cabra in Dublin who has been at the helm of Macnas for the past four years.
“In terms of the Dublin parade, we see it as a huge honour to represent our country on the world stage, it has a global audience of over one billion people so it’s a wonderful opportunity to showcase the work.”
Richard Tierney is CEO of the St Patrick’s Festival in Dublin. He says the return of Macnas to the national parade coincided with the appointment of Aoife Carrighy as creative director of the festival.
“Last year Macnas returned to the streets of Dublin, leading our parade with the 20m long Alf puppet and we were delighted to have them back,” he says.
“Everything we do is rooted in culture and expression and when we have the eyes of the world on us it’s important to have Macnas, who are world leading in their craft, showcasing the best of Irish.
“Ireland is known for bringing a smile to everyone’s face, and that’s needed now more than ever with all that’s going on in the world. We’ll have 550,000 people watching the parade on the streets, with a further 700,000 people watching the Irish TV coverage and another 700,000 watching on streaming services so it is not one to be missed.”
Crom is one of five giant puppets developed and created by Macnas, and this will be his first trip to the capital, having taken a sabbatical from public performance in recent years.
His usual abode is a 40ft container in Athenry, where the team has been perfecting its parade routine in recent weeks, with drummers and the performers who will scale a tall tower on the float, ironing out any last-minute glitches.
The award-winning spectacle theatre company based in Galway. They are pictured during a rehearsal in their 10,000 sq ft workshop in Athenry, ahead of the national St Patrick’s Festival, where their giant creations take centre stage each year. \ Sean Lydon
“Crom has been with us for a few years now but hasn’t been out in a while. We’re bringing him back out to Dublin where he’ll roam the streets on a chassis as part of our overall float which includes a tower with a team of 40 performers,” explains Johnny.
“He’s five meters tall and made from natural materials including hessian, reeds and coarse linen, which ties in with the theme of this year’s event which is ‘roots’.
“Crom looks like he walked straight out of the west of Ireland and with our drummers performing alongside him the whole show is a rousing affair that we hope will wow the crowds. He has an incredible personality so we hope those watching, especially those along the route will pick up on that.”
Eugene Finnegan and Gavin Morgan are regarded as integral members of the Macnas team. \ Sean Lydon
Amazing talent
James Riordan says the Macnas float will be led by performer Daniel Guinnan, the ringleader of a ‘gang of wild madness’.
“We are always very conscious that as ours is street theatre, we have to make it as accessible as possible, and given the crowds attending the St Patrick’s Day parade we wanted to go high, to make sure as many people could see what we are bringing to Dublin,” he says.
“Crom is obviously high enough for everyone to see but we are putting six of our drummers and some of our performers up on another chassis to make them visible too.”
James says the theme of the parade, roots, has been taken very literally by the Macnas performance.
“I visited Angkor Wat, the Buddhist temple in Cambodia and I was really influenced by how the roots of trees take over structures there. We’ve covered the cages in twigs and straw, so our aesthetic is earthy with browns and greens predominant against the white of Conn. Being in the middle of the parade itself we’re aiming for a poetic, magical presence that will be a lovely juxtaposition to the other floats and performers.”
James Riordan, creative director of this year’s entry in the national St Patrick’s Day parade with executive director Johnny O’Reilly; below, rehearsals in their 10,000 sq ft workshop ahead of the St Patrick’s Day Festival. \ Sean Lydon
Johnny credits former artistic director Noeline Kavanagh with leaving a lasting legacy on Macnas when her tenure ended in 2022.
“Noeline brought so many international experts in puppeteering, lighting, and special effects over to Galway down through the years who have trained our volunteers, many of whom have been with Macnas for decades. We have the most amazing talent pool as a result of that,” he adds.
“Two of our most precious team members are Eugene Finnegan and Gavin Morgan whose skills with metalwork, welding and kinetics have to be seen to be believed. They do a million different things on each and every project and theirs are skills that I would fear will be almost impossible to replace in the future.
“I love walking the route in the hours before the parade begins, just watching all the people who have come out and got their spot and are prepared to stand in one place for hours, just to see the spectacle that will pass them in a much shorter period of time. It’s like a communion, bringing people together and to be part of that is so special.”
A team of skilled artists work year-round on the Macnas creations, with Johnny explaining that one puppet can take up to 18 months to deliver.
“A team of 16 worked on Crom alone, and the next challenge we’re facing is how we continue to make our work to scale, taking climate change into consideration.
“We perform in all weathers, but the wind is our biggest enemy given the height of our puppets so when there’s a storm, there is no plan B. We have to be able to continue to make the work but a conversation has to be had between art and technology to see how we do that going forward.”
Inside the Macnas workshop. \ Sean Lydon
Bespoke costumes
With a team of 350 volunteers working on Macnas creations year-round, the highlight being the annual Halloween parade that takes place in Galway and Dublin, Johnny says the range of skills and talent brought under the Macnas tent is immense.
“Our costumes are bespoke, both for the puppets and the performers. Amanda Donovan is responsible for Crom’s costume and Sheree White who is currently working on RTE’s Dancing with the Stars is responsible for our troupe’s costumes. We make everything from existing stock and that extends to our puppets and our chassis and floats. We reweld and redesign the metal involved and where possible we reuse as much as we can.”
Rural audiences will also have a chance to witness the spectacle that is Macnas this St Patrick’s Day. The parade in Rathkeale, Co Limerick, which starts at midday will celebrate the rich culture and diversity of the local community. Macnas puppets and performers will be at the heart of the celebrations in what is the company’s only other street performance outside Galway this year.
Macnas was set up in 1986 by four Galway men; actor Padraic Breathnach (Ros na Rún and Kilnaskully), Ollie Jennings, (Saw Doctors manager), Tom Conroy and Pete Sammon who turned their artistic vision into a lasting legacy for the country, with the puppets clocking up some serious air miles over the past four decades.
The company has travelled the world, performing alongside U2 on the band’s Zooropa tour in the early 1990s, right up to last year when it performed live in front of an audience of two million people in Calcutta, as part of the Durga Puja festival that promotes strength unity and community spirit. A statue created in collaboration with local artists is now housed in the Irish embassy in Delhi.
Over 3,000 participants, including marching bands from Scotland and the US will take part in the Dublin parade that begins at 12pm on 17 March in Dublin city centre, running from Parnell Square in the north of the city, down O’Connell Street, over O’Connell Bridge and through the south side of the city, ending at the Cuffe Street/Kevin Street junction.
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