Bronagh Lawson

artist

[Bronagh Lawson @bronagh]

Constance - YBlog - YB Tracking https://t.co/DdYNjRcZCc

[Bronagh Lawson @bronagh]

Masonic hall in Newtownards Road TONIGHT Movement and Translation experimental film Bodyverses : Nalam Nalam on Alistair Maclennahan with @bbeyond performance art rocks https://t.co/xtlXGH0sJf via @BelfastFilmFes1

[Bronagh Lawson @bronagh]

The Orange and the Green https://t.co/YbVIUmdxOB via @BelfastFilmFes1

[BUCHANAN: Dublin Time Machine @RobLooseCannon]

Mary Dunne, fondly known as 'Dancing Mary', was a common yet curious sight on O'Connell Street for nearly 20 years. The lady from Dun Laoghaire was always immaculately dressed, with trademark skirt and high heels. I can still hear me Ma saying "her gear is gorgeous!".

Mary danced for hours in all weather, seemingly in religious ecstasy and with the energy of a woman half her age. She'd occasionally have an unofficial shrine to the Virgin Mary near the Anna Livia statue I saw a few times and she loved the Rosary.

When she wasn't lost in her trance for Jesus, she'd interact with the busy or bemused pedestrians that made up her audience. She'd also smile and wave if you caught her eye (always a bonus), with her rosary in one hand and sometimes a flower in the other, like a less insufferable Morrissey.

In the great tradition of Dublin "characters" Mary was rightly celebrated for her glorious individuality, dedication to Christ and a fading innocence, which could still be found when ordinary people in our city could be familiar to thousands.

Born Mary Margaret Dunne in 1927, she was a devout Catholic all her life, got married and had six kids. In the 1950s, she owned a hairdresser and was so successful that she was a contestant in the World Hairdressing Championships in Vienna! Her career eventually made her move to Switzerland in 1968 for a few years. Luckily for us, she returned home to Dublin and began the unique public celebration of her Catholic faith in the 1980s.

Such was Mary's cultural impact, a mini festival featuring music, poetry, and (of course) dancing was held in her honour on O’Connell Street in 2010. When reporters at the event asked Mary the million-dollar question "Why do you dance?" she answered, "for the Trinity and Holy Mary". Obviously!
I've read that as Mary was then 83 and was living with her son in Deansgrange, she couldn't attend in person.

Her legend always reminds me of that quote attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche: "And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane, by those who couldn't hear the music."

Mary Dunne passed away peacefully in 2014, aged 87. She is buried in Deansgrange cemetery, but I suspect a part of her is still joyfully dancing in a place where the music never ends.

[Bronagh Lawson @bronagh]

Back in my enterprise centre days I would have been all over this https://t.co/00BmOJ9Ud6

[Northern Ireland Historical Photographical Society @ireland_society]

The SS Canberra, Belfast. 1961. (courtesy/ Gary Graham)
https://t.co/zGrowosfeg

[The International Fund for Ireland @FundforIreland]

Our 40th anniversary Fund Focus is out now, with participant voices, project case studies and a look at the road ahead. Read it here: https://t.co/5HqzJKr2oM

[Bronagh Lawson @bronagh]

Movement and Translation Masonic screening #EastBelfast @performanceart Bodyverse https://t.co/xtlXGH10yN via @BelfastFilmFes1

[Elle Lookbook @EvaLovesDesign]

The Most Beautiful Words in Classic Literature

[Bronagh Lawson @bronagh]

......

[Northern Ireland Historical Photographical Society @ireland_society]

Pedestrians trying out the new Sydenham By-Pass. c1959.
(EPC)
https://t.co/zGroworHoI

[Bronagh Lawson @bronagh]

Takkuuk https://t.co/9ZxHIeLh5W via @isacs like you have never seen before

[Arts Council of Northern Ireland @ArtsCouncilNI]

Applications are now open for our Rosy James Memorial Trust Awards.

For the first time, one award of £20,000 is available for an established craft maker, alongside three awards of £5,000 for emerging craft makers.

These unique bursaries support craft makers to develop their careers by creating new work that would otherwise be unattainable without funding.

Applications close at 12 noon on Monday 9 November 2026.

Visit https://t.co/j5ERcF21pF to find out more and apply.

[Bronagh Lawson @bronagh]

Last night @UniAtypical Bounce festival thw most accessible music event I’ve ever been at #singersongwriters

[The International Fund for Ireland @FundforIreland]

From pioneering programmes in 1986 to a legacy shared worldwide today, our 40th anniversary timeline traces four decades of peacebuilding, one chapter at a time. See how it all unfolded here: https://t.co/8nBHPKjj7w

[Bronagh Lawson @bronagh]

https://t.co/3ZH3NPuKtV

[Bronagh Lawson @bronagh]

https://t.co/gj9aLAJ5QD

[Alexandra Epps @ArtGuideAlex]

Lisianthus in a Clear Jar
#PeggieBlizard

[The International Fund for Ireland @FundforIreland]

Today is the UN International Day of Peace. For 40 years the IFI has backed the people and places making peace an everyday reality in Northern Ireland and the border counties, not as a single event, but as a daily, patient practice. #InternationalDayOfPeace

[Bronagh Lawson @bronagh]

All sorted for Sunday #almoating @belfastcc from 11-30 Queen Mary Entrance #meetup

[Bronagh Lawson @bronagh]

…….

[Alexandre Blaineau @AlBlaineau]

L’or et la grâce d’un Fra Angelico