Ode to Sweeney's 

The film is based around a poem I wrote about a once thriving music arts venue called Sweeney’s, a bar which was formerly based on Dame Street in Dublin. This venue was a flourishing space for just about every kind of art imaginable and many people were sorry to see it close.

 

Given the current precarious situation of venues, it seemed like the right time to create this piece. It is at times, abstract, surreal, irreverent, and chaotic, which was at least in part,why the place was loved so much. The energy of the poem varies from bouts of absurdity to the frantic lows of those who engage in life with a certain sort of reckless bravery.

 

However, most of all Ode to Sweeney’s is reflective and its’ tone deeply appreciative. It is an homage to a place that was a home and adoptive family for many and a creative, alternative influence that has persisted long after its doors have closed. For me, most important of all was that it should be a reminder, especially now, that the community and spirit of such places reside in people, their connections, relationships, and friendships no matter how great or small. Such things do not end by a closing of a physical space, they remain waiting for an opportunity to be revived and thrive once more.

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 I created the film Ode to Sweeney’s in collaboration with different people including Bob Glynn as director, Ruth Kerr as director of photography and editor, Jef Jef Jef and Shazbot as lighting designers and David Griffin as sound designer.

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Philip Kenny, 2021