Last Sunday at Saint Patrick's Church of Ireland on the Newtownards Road, I listened as the Reverend John Cunningham explained to the congregation some of the Irish etymology of Ballymacarrett (Baile Mhic Ghearóid, MacGearóid's settlement) and Ballymena, to name but a few place names.

In previous conversation, he spoke of arriving to a parish where a member of the  congregation, while sitting on a tram going up the road, experienced her parent being shot dead in the 1920s and falling on her lap.

The Rev Cunningham is one of the ecumenical ministers who attends to some of the walkers in a side chapel on the Camino de Santiago each year. With the historical divisions that exists in matters of the spirit, he is able to give communion on the Camino trail but not in a Catholic Church in Ireland

As Easter approaches and folks attend their own rituals and commemorations, at a recent Arts and Business event the two participants from Derry told me they were surprised to hear their own children singing Teenage kicks by the Undertones — only to find out that it was part of Derry's Walled City Passion from April 14-16. The song came out around a month before I became a teenager and I certainly remember singing and dancing along to it. I’m happier now to see it sung with just as much energy but with much less violence around.  

The Passion has live performances and will be televised on BBC and RTÉ.

A local artist with a lifelong passion for depicting the Easter story is James Millar, a member of the Royal Ulster Academy, painter and etcher extraordinaire.

Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid to cut into the unprotected part of a metal surface a create a design. In printmaking, the metal is then used to create an image on paper by hand.

CHRIST IS DEAD: James Millar's The Shroud
2Gallery

CHRIST IS DEAD: James Millar's The Shroud

Explains James: "The themes of death and resurrection have attracted me since the eighties, although I don’t like to put them together in one piece.”

He told me he's attracted to the etching process because the work becomes more alive, giving the images more body.

"Etching is an obsessive process that can require years of trial and error to get it just right. But a night class in etching at Belfast print workshop was how I returned to my artistic practice after a hiatus. The physicality of the process is part of the attraction. Taking physical prowess and exacting hand-eye co-ordination to produce the perfect print and the seduction of making more than one print from the same metal sheet once your marks are made, are compelling."

According to the latest research on missing arts audiences as Covid restrictions are lifted, attendance is still down at cultural events compared to pre-Covid levels.

One of the reasons given was that people wanted to visit family first before enjoying cultural experiences.  

But for those who feel they have seen enough family, a few free cultural options include a visit to the Ulster Museum (which no longer requires people to book an entry ticket) and, as usual, there is lots on at the Mac — which has developed Imagination Stations with free art materials for families.

Happy Easter. wherever it takes you.