Fearghus Ó Conchúir is UCD TRAPDOOR Dance Artist in Residence
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Image: Fearghus Ó Conchúir | credit: Amanda Alexander |
Through the generous support of Dún Laoghaire- Rathdown County Council, UCD’s School of Art History and Cultural Policy, Creative Futures Academy, and UCD Ad Astra Academy Performing Arts are delighted to welcome Dance Artist in Residence, Fearghus Ó Conchúir. Established through partnership with Dún Laoghaire- Rathdown County Council’s Arts Office, the residency will support him to connect with colleagues across the College of Arts and Humanities, and utilise both dlr and UCD facilities, including the new state-of-the-art performance theatre TRAPDOOR, to test and develop concepts and materials. |
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Having time to develop his own practice and engage with the spaces, people and resources of UCD, Fearghus explains,
Tá áthas an domhain orm go mbeidh mé mar ealaíontóir cónaithe Trapdoor 2025-26. With a welcoming context, resources and funded time, the TRAPDOOR Residency gives me an opportunity to deepen my creative research on Dúiche, a project that aims to bring the wisdom of dance to questions of Irish language, queer ecology and queer embodiment. With the range of different people that make up the university community, UCD offers an ideal frame for the way I develop work – in conversation, in collaboration and in physical studio-based practice. This approach also brings dance to contexts where it is less known, growing a set of wider possibilities and networks that help situate this work in a broader context, bring the knowledge of dance into new collaborations, and support my continued artistic development and viability. Táim ag tnúth go mór leis.
A choreographer, artistic director, performer and dance advocate, Fearghus engages in the creation of both live performance and film, including The Casement Project, one of the Arts Council's National Projects for Ireland 2016, part of the Ireland 2016 International Programme and of the 14-18NOW WWI Centenary Art Commissions. His wealth of experience spans dance, arts governance and academic research.
Fearghus will be supported by (opens in a new window)Dr Victoria Durrer, Assistant Professor of Cultural Policy in UCD (School of Art History and Cultural Policy), whose collaborative research with (opens in a new window)Professor Aoife McGrath (QUB) and dance and theatre practitioners and arts policymakers has supported the initiation of the residency and its aims to provide dedicated time and space for an artist’s research and development. More from the study is available in the Building Capacity in the Cultural Industries: Towards a Shared Island Approach in Dance and Theatre report.
17 September 2025