Max HeyraudA new theatre piece arriving in Cork this summer explores Ireland’s club history through the lens of the women who helped shape its culture, from its pioneering days through to the present.
Áine Ní Laoghaire’s HouseWork combines documentary, sound design and performance to revisit Ireland’s 80s and 90s dancefloor culture. It draws on interviews with female DJs, promoters and vocalists who helped shape a scene that often celebrated its mythology while overlooking the people working within it.
The work features contributions from women, including Aoife Nic Canna and Sally Cinnamon, alongside figures such as Gina Johnson (Sir Henry’s), Chord Memory (Ar Ais Arís / Pawn Shop / BassBin), Sara Colohan (Asylum), and Tracey K (Fish Go Deep vocalist), among many others who have been involved in Irish club culture over the past three decades.
“The role of women in Ireland’s 80s /90s underground DJ culture has been historically ignored & undocumented bar a pioneering few, e.g. Miss Ken D, DJ Dandelion, & Aoife Nic Canna.”
“Their marginalisation mirrors broader issues at a time when Irish women’s rights were significantly curtailed, with limited access to family planning, divorce rights, and legal protections against domestic violence (Divorce Referendum ‘95, Domestic Violence Act ‘96).”
“These women forged a role for themselves & future generations, and their story feels especially urgent now, as Ireland once again fights for its club culture and nighttime legislation.”
The piece moves between spoken testimony and sonic reconstruction, with fragments of pirate radio, basement clubs, warehouse parties and regional nights appearing across a culture still being pieced together.
It also situates these personal histories within the wider social backdrop of Ireland in the 80s and 90s, a period of shifting cultural norms, political referenda and rapid economic change, where dancefloors often became one of the only spaces where contradiction could exist without resolution.
The Cork run places HouseWork back into one of the city’s most central to Ireland’s club mythology, where venues such as Sir Henry’s helped define an era of Irish house music that continues to reverberate, even as nightlife evolves under new pressures.
As part of Cork Midsummer Festival, HouseWork will show at CTC Studio at Triskel Arts Centre on June 11 (preview), 12th and 13th at 9 pm. Tickets available here.
