Little Hills
Little Hills tells the story of one remarkable Rathfriland woman, who like thousands of other Irish people, north and south, Protestant and Catholic, fled poverty and famine of the 1840s to create a new life in America and Canada.
Catherine O’Hare, aged 16, left Rathfriland in 1850 to become a housemaid in Boston but within a few years went on another extraordinary journey to reach Canada. By then married to Augustus Schubert from Dresden Germany and with 3 small children, she became the first settler woman to cross the Rockies, chasing the goldrush of the 1858. And she was pregnant with her fourth child at the time. She gave birth in the wilderness, assisted by First Nations women, and is today a celebrated figure in Canadian history and folklore.
Written by John Shannon and starring Sinead McAleavey, John Shannon, Sean O’Boyle, Bronagh Lynch and Caleb Shannon, Little Hills brings Catherine's story back home. Local band Whiskey Before Breakfast perform songs and tunes that also crossed the Atlantic and then found their way home again.
The play was written as part of a Public Records Office project focusing on women in the area, which also involved local organisations Rathfriland Regeneration Group and Drumgath Ladies group.
Performance Times:
Door Open at 7pm - Performance Starts at 8pm - Tickets £10
Sunday 10th March at 8pm