Celebrating Gaelic Poet with Close Ties to Inverness

An event celebrating the life of the Gaelic poet Mary MacPherson will take place on Saturday 1st March at Eden Court in Inverness as part of Seachdain na Gàidhlig 2025 (World Gaelic Week). Mary was a renowned 19th-century Gaelic bard who was known as ‘Màiri Mhòr nan Òran’ (Big Mary of the Songs). She composed numerous poems about the Highland Clearances and depopulation, and played a significant role in the crofters’ struggles for land. The bard had close connections with Inverness, having lived there for almost 30 years.

The event starts at 2pm and will include a short talk about Mary’s life, a selection of recordings from Tobar an Dualchais about her and some of her songs, as well as songs performed live by local Gaelic choirs Fonn Fonn Fonn, Còisir and Ceòl na h-Òige.

This free event is open to everyone and is being organised by Tobar an Dualchais (TAD) and Cultarlann Inbhir Nis (the Gaelic Cultural Centre in Inverness), in collaboration with An Comunn Gàidhealach (organisers of the Royal National Mòd), who are hosting a conference on the same day, also as part of World Gaelic Week.

Gwen Bowie, who is on the Board of Directors for Cultarlann Inbhir Nis, stated: “We hope that this bilingual event will highlight and build connections between the community of Inverness and its Gaelic culture and heritage, through raising awareness of the life and songs of Màiri Mhòr. We anticipate that this event will be the first of a series of events to celebrate Màiri Mhòr. We have already commissioned an artist to create a permanent tribute to her, in partnership with the Gaelic Society of Inverness, which will be unveiled in our Centre in June 2025.”

Flòraidh Forrest, Director of TAD, commented: “This is our first collaborative project with Cultarlann Inbhir Nis and An Comunn Gàidhealach, and World Gaelic Week is an excellent platform for the event. We hope that it will lead to other joint projects which will bring increased awareness of the Gaelic language, culture and heritage, and encourage people to engage with the language. We are very grateful for the funding we received for this event from Seachdain na Gàidhlig’s Small Grants Fund, with support from Bòrd na Gàidhlig.”

Following the afternoon event, there will be a free screening of ‘Màiri Mhòr: Her Life and Songs’ by Eden Court at 3.30pm. This hour-long drama-documentary was written by John McGrath and produced by Freeway Films. Tickets for the screening can be pre-booked on the Eden Court website.

Fiona J MacKenzie, the Local Mòd Officer at An Comunn Gàidhealach, remarked: “We’re delighted to be able to host the event about Màiri Mhòr as part of our conference and are also looking forward to the Màiri Mhòr nan Òran drama-documentary. We would like to thank MG Alba for giving permission for this special screening at Eden Court.

Our conference is being held for organisers of local Mods and will look at matters such as funding, promotion, equality, and diversity. It’s an honour for us that Kate Forbes, the Deputy First Minister, is going to be opening the conference and giving a talk about Gaelic in the community. Giving our volunteers an opportunity to come together to share ideas and their own experiences, as well as enjoying the two Màiri Mhòr events, should make for a very worthwhile day.”

World Gaelic Week is taking place from 24th February to 2nd March. It celebrates Scottish Gaelic across the globe and aims to raise the profile of Gaelic through community initiatives, schools’ engagement, projects and events. This year’s theme is ‘Ceanglaichean Gun Crìch/Building Connections’. For information about this and other events, go to https://seachdainnagaidhlig.scot/whats-on/