Rua Red
FEEDYOURCREA—TIVITY
Arts Organisations
Supporting artists is at the core of what we do. Rua Red is a thriving creative community that is a nurturing environment to support artistic development and production. Rua Red provides a variety of residency opportunities for artists across artforms, creating space and resources for artists to research and develop their work and build relationships with the many artists and organisations based here.
CREATIVE
COMPANIES
2024
CONTACT Studio
CONTACT Studio is a recording studio that is run by South Dublin County Council’s Arts Office. It was established to support the development of arts programming in the county, and to make participation in the arts accessible to the local community.The studio has been based in Rua Red since it began operating in 2009. CONTACT Studio works in partnership with local arts and cultural organisations including Music Generation South Dublin, Rua Red, The Civic, South Dublin Libraries, Alternative Entertainment, and Tallaght Community Arts, to provide a wide range of arts programming and events for the communities in South Dublin County including NOISE Music and Sub Sounds. The studio provides a variety of services including recording & mixing, podcasting, and editing at affordable which are available on request.
- Contact
+353 86 176 3019
bfleming@sdublincoco.ie - NOISE Music by CONTACT Studio
NOISE Music is a music programme for young people who are interested in DJing, singing, rapping, & making beats. They work in a diverse range of genres like pop, hip hop, indie, techno & house music. The programme is delivered by a diverse group of musicians, producers and DJs who work with young people in the county on song-writing, music production & performance, and DJing projects. NOISE Music is a part of NOISE Dublin, the youth arts programme run by South Dublin County Arts Office, and is run by a partnership between CONTACT Studio and Music Generation South Dublin. It is funded by Music Generation and the Arts Council through the Creative and Collaborative Fund, and by South Dublin County Council’s Arts Office. - Contact
ghoran@sdublincoco.ie
Garbo Productions is a theatre producer committed to creating excellence in the field of theatre for young audiences. Garbo has toured plays and designed bespoke drama workshops and programmes for South Dublin Schools for over 15 years. Founded in 1999 by actor/writer/director Margaret Callan Bergin: Garbo plays are performed in both theatre, library and school contexts. Garbo strives to create a unique theatrical experience for young people of all ages that ignites their imagination and engages them in the wonder of theatre.
- Contact
01 464 2219
garbo@live.ie - Garbo Productions Online
Website
Facebook
Melissa Gray practice primarily works in fine art practices of Painting, Printing and Drawing. With a combination of all art forms including; sculpture, photography, video, sound, mixed media, creative writing, performance and collaborative arts. Investigating traditional styles of arts with a combination of contemporary. The work explores a therapeutic and educational practice of arts using technique with the combination of mixed media to explore and push the boundaries of art.
Mother Tongues is an organisation that promotes awareness of linguistic diversity and multilingualism to support speakers of minority and heritage languages and to enhance inclusion and integration of communities.We support mother tongue maintenance and heritage language transmission through art, advocacy, academic research, and education, both online and throughout the country. Working in partnership with schools, families, community groups, and artists we have involved more than 10,000 people in our educational and creative programmes in over 20 different languages in the last three years. Our schools programme Language Explorers was awarded the European Language Label and the Mother Tongues Festival was recently shortlisted for the EFFE Label Awards by the European Festival Association.
Gorm Media is an award-winning social enterprise. Our mission is to unify across differences and advance belonging for marginalised communities. Gorm's vision is to spark a movement of unity and shared understanding through innovative digital media, intercultural education, and events. In aiding in the sustainable goals of (10) reducing inequality and (16) peace justice & strong institutions, we believe that unity can be built by engaging across lines of difference.
Alternative Entertainments is a community arts organisation founded in 1982 with an emphasis on music-based projects. Alternative entertainments current programming includes:
- Des Carty Music School
The Des Carty Music School offers classes on guitar, keyboards, fiddle, banjo, voice, bass, mandolin, drums and tin whistle to music students aged 6-year and upwards. Catered to beginner, intermediate and advanced students in group and private classes.
The school was originally set up as a traditional music school, focusing on the song and dance music culture of Ireland. In that tradition tunes are passed down aurally, with less emphasis on written music. The school combined the traditional musician-to-musician approach with written exercises to retain the non-academic dissemination practices of the tradition, while employing simple music transcription to aid newcomers to the tradition.Over the years the school has expanded to include many genres and more popular instruments, but the focus and philosophy of the school remains – music for music’s sake. If students wish to pursue more academic paths in their musical study our professional team of tutors can guide them in that pursuit, while for those wishing to make music a part of their life a more informal course can be designed. The Des Carty Music School’s team of instructors is a professional, passionate group of musicians chosen for their desire to make music more accessible to everyone who has ever wanted to play. - The AltEnts Children’s Music Festival
The annual Children’s Music Festival utilizes the organisations experience in multi-disciplinary arts programming over more than 30 years. The festival runs each year with workshops, recitals, exhibitions, screenings, readings, rehearsals, concerts & performances in schools, libraries, community centres, creches, shopping centres, Tallaght Hospital & Rua Red.The festival events have been carefully selected in an effort to hone both intercultural and creative awareness, & to help in the critical development of artistic abilities from an early age. Additionally, the programme places participants in the special dual role of both performer and audience - a position that allows the children to explore their power to evaluate as well as create. Festival content has been developed in consultation with participating schools to compliment their arts curriculum & to increase children's exposure to, & involvement in, artistic creativity.In 2016 the festival’s focus changed and it became a music-based festival. Musicians, dancers, poets, film producers and storytellers worked with children to explore the many elements of music-making today. - Suburban Sounds
Suburban Sounds is an evening-course in music which is open to young people (aged 14 - 18yrs) with a passion for song writing, music composition and/or music performance. The participants work with professional musicians, host their own gigs, record a CD at the close of the programme, and take part in a variety of performances in the County throughout the course.Participants work on individual and group projects over the six-month period and, along with recording their work in the studio, they take part in an end of year performance in The Grand Social. The main body of the course will be delivered by a team of ‘mentors’ made up of experienced musicians and music industry professionals. Various supplementary talks and workshops will be given by industry-professionals in some of the areas listed above. Each participant will finish the series having created, recorded and performed new work. - Des Carty Sessions
The Des Carty Sessions is an annual traditional and folk music festival held in South County Dublin each October. Alternative Entertainments has been at the heart of a strong local traditional music scene since its inception and has programmed events to promote local musicians and to expose them to wider influences.In the 80s and 90s The Tallaght Traditional Music Seminar served this function, and for the past 12 years The Sessions has continued bribing the best Irish and world talent to the area. The festival has served as an important focus point for traditional music players and audiences in South Dublin County.Celebrated musicians from around the world congregate in venues in Tallaght, Rathcoole, Clondalkin, Saggart, Celbridge and Rathfarnham to play, teach, learn and discuss the country’s musical culture and its influence worldwide. - Contact
+353 1 452 0611
info@altents.ie - Music Consultant, Programme Development Consultant
Martin Moran - Secretary, Traditional Music Consultant, VisArts Consultant
Liam Morrissey - VisArts Manager, Arts Administrator, Festival Coordinator
Brenda Fuller
Address
Rua Red, South Dublin Arts Centre
Plás Parthalán
Tallaght, D24 KV8N
Gallery Opening Hours
Monday to Saturday: 10am—6pm
Building Opening Hours
Monday to Friday: 9.30am—9.30pm
Saturday: 10am—6pm
Café Opening Hours
Monday to Friday: 9.30am—4pm
Saturday: 10am—3pm
Information Desk
Rua Red's Reception is located straight on from the main entrance. Staff are happy to help with any questions you have.
Admission to the gallery is free. Rua Red is proud to be supported by the Arts Council, South Dublin County Council, Creative Ireland, and the Government of Ireland; Project Ireland 2040.
Registered Charity No. CHY 18403
© Rua Red 2025
