Managing Tuar Ard: An interview with Donna Gilligan

As a self-described "blow-in" working among a close-knit community in Moate, Donna Gilligan had lots of people to meet when she took up her role as manager of the Tuar Ard Arts Centre earlier this year.

"I'm still trying to remember people's names!" she smiles. "But it's been great because the community have been very engaged.

"They have come in, introduced themselves, and turned up to events, and I’ve gotten to know the community well from the role. It’s great to see such community spirit and engagement."

She and the team at Tuar Ard are heading into a particularly busy time of year with "at least one or two events" at the venue every week between now and Christmas.

"For the next two months we're flat out with events. There’s a lot of Christmas events, and November is the month for Mount Temple Drama Group to come in, which is one of our big drama occasions of the year. So there's lots and lots going on. It's a good complaint, though!"

A native of Leitrim, Donna came to the role from a varied career background which included working as an archaeologist and serving in various roles in museums and heritage sites across the country.

Her interest in heritage and culture is deep-rooted. "I originally started out as an archaeologist. That was my first degree, and I suppose you never stop being an archaeologist, but it led me on to a lot of different paths."

During her time in archaeology she helped excavate sites in advance of road construction work.

"It could be brilliant, but then you could have a day like this-" she says, referring to the rain bucketing down outside Tuar Ard "-and you say, thank God I’m working inside now!

"You were digging areas that were under road construction and, with the end of the Celtic Tiger and the collapse of the industry, that had an impact on archaeology as well.

"There’s a lot fewer archaeologists working in that kind of area in Ireland now. A lot have diversified and moved on to different things."

Donna went on to specialise in museum studies, starting with a role in the National Museum of Ireland where she worked with its vast collection of artefacts. She then went to work in venues such as the Little Museum of Dublin, Waterford Museum of Treasures, and the National Print Museum.

"I was based in the Dublin museum sector for quite a while and then worked in a lot of tourist sites and heritage sites as heritage officer and cultural officer," she explains.

Recently she worked as a cultural officer in Athlone Castle before taking up the role in Moate approximately seven months ago. She commutes to the job from her home in Moylough, county Galway, which is "about a 45 or 50 minute" journey.

Her role as venue manager at Tuar Ard means she has responsibility for the day-to-day running of the building and its classes, workshops and events.

"There’s also a role of artistic director, so I’d be the person who puts together the programme of events and activities that runs throughout the year.

"We try to decide what way we're taking the organisation, and the type of customers, and parts of the community, we're trying to reach with our programming."

Donna and four others work at the venue, and she says having a small team means a certain amount of flexibility is required.

"We're running what is quite a big set-up, so there's people wearing different 'hats' depending on the day. People do a lot of work, outside of their own job, to try and get our events across the line and do what's needed."

One of the challenges presented by the job is operating within a tight budget. "We are a charity organisation and have a limited budget to work with. It's always a challenge to get the events and programming that you need within limited resources.

"There's a need to look for funding and grants from other areas, which is (an issue) most cultural organisations would have, I'm sure."

Since becoming manager, she has looked to add more family-orientated events to the Tuar Ard schedule.

"We always did programmes for children in schools, but Moate has a huge family base in the community and we've started to do a number of shows and workshops that families can attend together."

Another initiative Donna helped set in motion is a reminiscence project which will see older members of the community work closely with young people to create a special theatrical show on the theme of memories.

"It's something we're very excited about because we’re engaging with Moate Community School, just across the road, and the older members of our community.

"That's still in its beginning stages. In about two weeks' time we have the first workshop for that, so it's something we’re very excited about and we hope there will be scope to do something much bigger with that in future.

"Our initial plans are that by about April next year we would have a theatrical show and hopefully a film that we can show the community – something tangible at the end to show people what we've been working on."

Personally, Donna has always had "a fondness for drama" and she speaks about the importance of local drama groups, such as the one in Mount Temple which is staging 'The Cripple of Inishmaan' at Tuar Ard from this evening (Wednesday.)

"It's really important to have those groups at a local level so that people can get involved in them and have access to the theatre here," she says.

Asked about her hobbies, she replies: "Because of my involvement in heritage and archaeology I'd do a lot of visiting of heritage sites and I'm a member of my local historical society.

"I love to read and I do a bit of art. I wouldn't say I'm talented, but I like to do it at home, not necessarily to show anyone!"

She encourages readers to visit the website tuarard.ie to keep up to date with its forthcoming events.

The role is one she's found very enjoyable so far. "We are on a small budget, with a small team, and everybody works so hard. It’s been a great place to work," she says.

"Not many towns would be lucky enough to have something like (Tuar Ard) and it's brilliant to see people engaging with it."