Paper Short Abstract:

Mumming is a dramatic mid-winter house-visiting custom notable for its use of rhyme and masks, featuring a scene of combat followed by death and resurrection. This paper examines the novel performances of professional mummers, Armagh Rhymers, that span the ritual calendar. The Armagh Rhymers founded in the late 1970s to bring Protestant and Catholic schoolchildren together during the conflict known as the Troubles to engage in mumming performances, which was so successful that they expanded their dramatic repertoire to perform for repeat audiences throughout the year. In my 2022 fieldwork, I experienced their creative interpretations of mumming throughout the ritual calendar, acknowledging the Celtic quarter days and other high points in the year. I demonstrate how the dramatic features of mumming can be applied to modern creative contexts.

Paper Abstract:

Mumming is a dramatic mid-winter house-visiting custom notable for its use of rhyme and masks, featuring a scene of combat followed by death and resurrection. This paper examines the novel performances of professional mummers, Armagh Rhymers, that span the ritual calendar. The Armagh Rhymers founded in the late 1970s to bring Protestant and Catholic schoolchildren together during the conflict known as the Troubles to engage in mumming performances, which was so successful that they expanded their dramatic repertoire to perform for repeat audiences throughout the year. In my 2022 fieldwork, I experienced their creative interpretations of mumming throughout the ritual calendar, acknowledging the Celtic quarter days and other high points in the year. I demonstrate how the dramatic features of mumming can be applied to modern creative contexts.

First, I provide background on the custom of mumming in Ireland based on my archival research conducted on mumming in the twentieth century. The Armagh Rhymers acknowledge the Celtic quarter days by incorporating ritual elements found in Irish folklore more broadly. I focus in on a children’s workshop for St. Brigid’s Day that incorporates elements of mumming, particularly rhyme and music, as well as the ritual of jumping through the críos bride and the crafting of St. Brigid’s crosses. I also discuss three performances for the summer solstice, one performed for television, that incorporate fire-jumping as a purification rite. I examine the way these performances are metatextual and incorporate an element of spirituality not found in traditional mumming.