This year we were finally able to gather in person again to celebrate Eoin's tribute night. The event took place in the Spailpín Fánach on the first of September. As always, the room was full of love, creativity and friendship, just the way he would have wanted it to be. Thanks as always to Eoin's close friends in organising and performing on the night. It was really lovely as well to see poets from past years coming back with their family and friends to perform and support. One of our ambitions with the scholarship was to create a supportive community of writers in Cork, and we really saw that coming to fruition this year. It was also as always a lovely opportunity to catch up with each other and a remember Eoin together. 

You can see the full playlist here. 

Eoin's very talented friend, Annie Bloch, recently released the official music video for her song; "The Saint".

​Annie has written a number of songs about Eoin, her relationship with him and her processing of her grief at his passing. She was a very close friend of Eoin's and we are always so happy to spend time with her when we can and to enjoy the music she creates and shares with us.

The annual Eoin Murray Tribute night will take place this August 25th, upstairs in The Long Valley bar - the site of weekly poetry night, O Bhéal.

This year the night is particularly special as it is the first scholarship showcase night.  Our 2018 winner, Ali Bracken Ziad, will preform work from his newest chapbook, which he wrote with the support of the scholarship fund.  Runner up Melanie Butler O' Reilly will also recite some of her original work.

We are very excited about the night.  We look forward to both remembering Eoin and supporting emerging poetic talent in Ali Bracken Ziad and Melanie Butler O' Reilly.  

The night will also include musical performances, a stall of poetry books & related art work and a raffle in aid of the scholarship.

It is our intention that these nights become inclusive events for all lovers of poetry and music, regardless of attendees having known Eoin personally.  In that spirit we welcome all to the night.

You can read more about the event on Facebook.

Colette Sheridan from The Evening Echo contacted us via the site to ask for information on an article about Eoin, the scholarship and the marathon that Brian is running to raise funds.  The article came out this October 10th and it was a heart-warming thing to see and read.  Colette chose beautiful photographs of Eoin and printed one of his poems - The Stream - with the article. 

The interview is mostly with Brian, and he has some great anecdotes and insights into Eoin's personality.  Some of my favourite quotes are....

"He was an amazing guy. I feel lucky more than anything to have had time with him. I’ll never again have the kind of conversations I had with him. He was amazingly artistic and very clever. He had been in local bands, playing drums and bass. He also played the piano and a bit of ukulele and he acted in plays."

“I’ll always remember one particular weekend. On Friday night, he was doing a gig in Cork. On Saturday night, he was playing in Belfast and on Sunday night, he was in Kerry doing a play as Gaeilge. He was about 18 at the time.” 

"(Eoin) would literally read and write all the time. It wasn’t him saying ‘I’m going to be a writer’. He was really doing it. He would tell people he was sorry he couldn’t meet them as he had books to read."

Click here to read the full article online.

​On Saturday the 12th of August we held both the third tribute night for Eoin and the launch of the Eoin Murray memorial scholarship.

It was a wonderful night with an intimate and healing atmosphere.  The love for Eoin was palpable in the room, and the tributes to him in both song and spoken word were beautiful. 

We raised almost €1000 that night and we're very happy with this as a start to the fundraising activities. 

You can view the full playlist of tributes from that night by clicking here.