Miss Mousie’s Ball is a FREE arts and music class introducing the children of Ringsend, Pearse Street and the South Docks to the many wonders of Irish traditional and folk songs.

Presented as part of Dublin Culture Connects’ ‘Cruinniú na nÓg’, the one-day workshop invites local kids aged 8-10 to hear and learn songs of their neighbourhood such as: Fall Down Billy O’Shea, the infamous tale of a group of Dublin young lads who fall asleep on John Rogerson’s Quay and wake up onboard a ship; and Johnny Doyle, the story of a Ringsend woman who disguises herself as a man to sail on board a pirate boat and find her sailor husband.

The afternoon is hosted by singer and curator Macdara Yeates (Skipper’s Alley, The Night Before Larry Got Stretched) and musician and artist Branwen Kavanagh (Twin Headed Wolf, Widow D’Arcy) and will feature a series of warms ups and games, a song workshop, and an arts and crafts class where the children will create art based on the songs learned on the day. At the day’s end, parents will be invited to hear the children perform the songs and display their artwork.

Miss Mousie’s Ball is a light hearted and fun approach to teaching traditional singing, veering away from the more common competition-based methods, and focusing on fun, interaction and the introduction of local repertoire to children, instilling a sense of location and local pride and planting the seeds of tradition in the region’s youth, so that the songs may live on for another generation.