We are back with our second issue of OTwo!
The leaves are changing colour, and the deadline for changing modules has long passed. We really hope you’re enjoying your classes (and if you’re not please write about it to Agony Aunt!). In other news, it turns out reading horoscopes instead of the news everyday does not qualify you in astrology so we’re backing off and handing Mystic Mittens to our favourite Aunt E!
We, on the other hand, are introducing a new section where each of us will be spotlighting an upcoming arts and culture event. These will cover all areas of OTwo so make sure to check each issue for one you might like to attend.
If you are involved in an event you would like us to mention, get in touch!
In this issue, we sat down with Ava McKechnie, singer and songwriter from Greystones, Co Wicklow, who released her debut EP Daydreaming on October 10.
In Literature and Drama, News Editor John O’Connor reviewed ‘Dracula’ while in Film and Television, Robyn Crotty considered the issue of whether true crime such as Netflix’s Unknown Number is at risk of trivialisation. Over in Fashion, our section editor Polly Rogers discusses ‘Becoming’ at Dublin Independent Fashion Week, in Music, OTwo Editor Alice Keegan explains the importance of Kneecap’s support for Palestine. In Arts and Creativity, Clio Tulloch gives an insight into Dublin’s EPIC Museum while over in our Games section, Ciaran Purcell asks the question, is it time to accept the end of €60 games? In Food and Drink, some of the Observer staff got together to create a guide to the best spots for food in UCD. In Travel, Molly Kehoe breaks down everything you need to know for upcoming Erasmus applications, and finally in Nightlife, Helena Avetisjan explores the concept of ‘Bring Your Own Bottle and what it says about the nightlife economy.
From interviews to an insight into Ireland’s own fashion week, we hope you enjoy this issue!
All the best,
Alice and Laura x
OTWO EDITOR PICKS
Laura’s pick
Over the last few weeks I’ve been repeatedly playing music by the singer Little Dog Star. I have been particularly enjoying her most recent release, ‘Down To The Wire’, which came out on September 26. The single is Little Dog Star’s third release since beginning her music career.
Behind the stage name of Little Dog Star exists Isobel Steele, perhaps best known as the actress who played the character Olivia ‘Liv’ Flaherty on the British soap opera Emmerdale.
Despite playing a fan-favourite, and winning Best Young Actor at both the British Soap Awards and the Inside Soap Awards, Steele quit the show in 2022 to choose a different path.
Her music mirrors her own experiences of moving on and feeling lost in your twenties, something I’m sure many of our readers will relate to.
Alice’s pick
If your social media algorithms are anything like mine, Netflix's hotly anticipated historical drama House of Guinness has probably been inescapable the last few weeks.
Created by the mastermind behind Peaky Blinders, Steven Knight, it centres around Benjamin Guinness's children who upon his death in 1968 must deal with their late father's legacy, including managing the iconic brewery.
Each of the four siblings, played by Anthony Boyle, Louis Patridge, Emily Fairn and Fionn O'Shea, throughout the series grapple with the inheritance left by the family patriarch and their individual sibling dynamics in addition to their own personal secrets. Drama ensues, touching on politics, religion and society in 19th century Ireland.
It also has an electric soundtrack, containing the likes of Fontaines DC and Kneecap, and comes with Irish subtitles, so you can brush up on your Gaeilge.
Event Spotlight
Laura’s Event
Hodges Figgis (located on Dawson Street) is hosting a book launch on October 23th at 6pm. Chloe Michelle Howarth will be launching her book Heap Earth Upon It. The event is open to everyone and is free. No prior registration is necessary.
Howarth is an Irish novelist and is based in Brighton. Heap Earth Upon It is her second book to be released. Her debut novel, Sunburn, was published in 2023 by Verve Books. It tells the story of protagonist Lucy growing up in the Irish village, Crossmore, during the 1990s while navigating a complicated love affair.
Heap Earth Upon It is said to explore “rural Irish life at a specific moment in time and delve into claustrophobic relationships and tangled identities, leaving you wondering who to trust until the very last page”.
Alice’s Event
Doireann Ní Ghlacáin, the Gaeilgeoir, fiddle player, TV presenter and one third of the podcast 'How to Gael' has ventured into theatre with her upcoming one woman show, 'Studies on the Cailleach'.
Taking to Instagram to announce her debut, Ní Ghlacáin described it as a "journey through time, music and story". An illuminating way to get into the Oíche Shamhna spirit and explore Irish womanhood, it is coming to theatres across the country in the weeks preceding Halloween.
Catch it at An Taibhdhearc in Galway, Dolans in Limerick, or De Barra's in Clonakilty, West Cork and before finally it will make its way to the capital on the 29th of October, in the Pearse Centre and immerse yourself in Irish culture, folklore and heritage.