Mountshannon Arts Committee 2025
Flight is Mountshannon Arts Festival 2026 theme and we are working hard to unleash our creativity!
Let’s introduce you to the community behind the events.
All events are available to view on the website (past years as well in the archives) and we are looking forward to presenting an exciting selection of events in 2026
Meet the team.
Thanks to Stephen Minogue for making this video.
Mel White
Mel White, visual artist, and Chairperson of Mountshannon Arts Festival is based in Mountshannon.
Mel’s vision is to help bring artists and community together, create a variety of events every quarter and have a permanent art space in Mountshannon. Mel joined the committee 4 years ago and was instrumental in the setting up of the pop-up art shop and more recently she was one of the driving forces behind HUSH HUSH, a fundraising art exhibition initiative back in December 2021 and 2022.
Justine Cooper
Originally from New Zealand, Justine joined the Mountshannon Arts Festival Committee in Sept 2025 and lives in Whitegate, East Clare.
With a background as a freelance dance artist, teacher and choreographer working across the mediums of dance, theatre, film, sound, visual art & healing.
Justine looks forward to being part of the team who help bring this beautiful Mountshannon Arts Festival into being and contributing in any way she can.
Bó Owen has been working within the Irish Festival and Events Industry for nearly 25 years now. Passionate about supporting musical artists from the ground up and has had a part to play in such projects as Knockanstockan Music Festival, Sweeney's Live Bar, Gateways Festival and Undergrowth Gathering.
Bó Owen
Erin Fornoff
Erin Fornoff is an Appalachian poet, writer and performer based now in East Clare.
Books: Hymn to the Reckless, Folk Heroes. Play: We Are An Archipelago. Pie contest winner.
CE KRAEMER
Claus-Eckhard Kraemer trained as a journalist / photographer. Studied at Trier University. Editor / editor-in-chief of a number of news outlets.
Pursued a long career in international PR in Munich and Brussels, including the position of Media Delegate in Formula 1.
Took up painting as a way of expression around 2010 and later moved on to his present style of Art, combining photography with strong colourful graphical elements.
Started exhibiting his Photo Graphic Works in 2015. Participated in about 30 International and National Art Shows in Austria, France, Ireland and Germany.
To date CEK had 12 Solo Shows in Germany, Albania and Ireland.
He is a Member of VAI (Visual Artists Ireland), the Killaloe Writers’ Group and KAVA (Kinvara Area Visual Artists).
CEK lives in Scariff, County Clare.
Jyoshna La Trobe
Jyoshna is a songwriter, ethnomusicologist from NZ living locally in Derroren.
Róisín Bugler
Róisín Bugler from Mountshannon has been a part of the committee since 2018. She loves creative expression through words - literature, poetry, lyrics and theatre.
She coordinates a radio programme titled 'A Flow of Words' on behalf of Mountshannon Arts for Scariff Bay Community Radio which showcases local and national writers and poets.
'Volunteering with Mountshannon Arts takes time and energy but I love the opportunity to work with such a creative group of people in a shared vision to bring exciting and innovative Arts experiences to this beautiful community in which we live. I would say to anyone thinking about volunteering to help us run our festival in any capacity to go for it. It is demanding but ultimately very rewarding'.
Helen Blackhurst
Helen Blackhurst from Cappaduff, Mountshannon is a writer and dramatherapist and is interested in story in all its forms as a way of building empathy and creating connections.
Annie Dinner
Annie Dinner from Mountshannon, a long-standing member of the committee loves gardening and is our precious treasurer.
Credit Photo Annie Dinner. Lough derg swimmer
Mountshannon Arts Amateur Photography Competition competition has been created in 2018 and is organised every year by Shulagh Colleran!
Shulagh Colleran
Shulagh Colleran, lives in Mountshannon and works locally as a teacher.
She enjoys working with the committee to bring the Arts to our community.
John Tynan
John Tynan previously worked for 40 years at the Irish Examiner, acting as a sub-editor and equestrian correspondent.
John’s poetry has been published in Ireland, the UK and the US and his latest work appears in the newly published Blue Mondays Poetry Anthology 2021, which he co-edited.
John is the co-writer of the winning entry in the 2019 Cork International Folk Festival Song Contest, and he has staged two solo exhibitions, featuring works combining his poetry and his photography.
Delving into film (scriptwriter/producer/director) has seen his first short, ‘Sorry’, make its debut at the Fastnet Film Festival and feature in the 2021 Mountshannon Short-Film Fleadh. He hopes to have his second film completed in Spring 2022.
Laurence Martineau
Laurence Martineau looks after our website.
Credit CE KRAEMER