Film Preview Highlights Irish Arts Week

EAST DURHAM – A film preview of Two Roads Diverged was one of the highlights of opening day at this year’s Catskills Irish Arts Week held in East Durham from 7/15 – 7/20.

The as-yet-undistributed documentary, shown at the Shamrock House, is based on a long-running series of lectures given by Irish folklorist and musician Mick Moloney and Lenwood “Leni” Sloan, an African American dance and cultural historian. Moloney, who died just two years ago, was a presenter along with Sloan at the CIAW in 2022.

Produced and directed by Susan Wittenberg, the film explores the complicated history between enslaved African Americans and indentured Irish immigrants. It describes the cross influence of their traditional music and dance and its impact on broader American culture. After the Civil War, the competition for jobs inflamed the relationships between the two groups.

Wittenberg, the producer of the 25th Anniversary of Riverdance, introduced the film saying she had been inspired over the years by the work of both Moloney and Sloan. It’s easy to understand why. Both men are captivating. Moloney was born in Limerick, Ireland, a place where it “rains 376 ½ days a year.” Sloan is from Pennsylvania, but admits to a deep connection to New Orleans, where “almost any day is a day you can dance in the streets.” 

Moloney, who played tenor banjo, later became an American citizen, initially living in an African American neighborhood where he “found instant common cause with the neighbors.” Sloan, a former dancer and choreographer, unexpectedly learned as a child that he had a white grandfather. Sloan observes that up to 38 percent of African Americans have Irish DNA: “I say welcome, cousins.”

Both men have impressive backgrounds in culture and community service. In brief, Sloan, an award-winning community organizer and a noted Griot (African storyteller), has participated in a number of national public television documentaries including Re-imaging Ireland and the Emmy Award–winning Dance Black America. Moloney played in and produced 70 albums, cofounded Green Fields of America, a traditional Irish ensemble still in existence, and later got a PhD in Folklore and taught at Georgetown University.

Pointing out that the tenor banjo had its origins in the ngoni of West Africa and that American tap dancing is the “grandchild” of African and Irish dance, Moloney says, “Art, in the end, wins out.” 

Attending the film preview was Ellen Flanagan, Vice Consul with the Consulate General of Ireland, New York. Flanagan says she was proud to attend and support the festival, noting that the “team does a really good job promoting” the event. Also on hand were representatives from the NYC-based Irish Repertory Theater, Ciaran O’Reily and Charlotte Moore, coproducers of the film, who called Sloan and Moloney “master storytellers.”

The film, nearing final production, will likely be available through various sources, including PBS, later this year. Wittenberg says she hopes the film will trigger further conversations.

The Catskills Irish Arts Week (CIAW) offers classes in Irish language, creative writing, and dance in addition to music. A grand finale will be held from Noon to 6 PM on Saturday, July 20, at the Michael J. Quill Irish Cultural and Sports Centre.  This event is open to the public with admission. 

Two Roads Diverged screening: from left: Catskill Irish Arts Week Artistic Director, Paul Keating; Irish Repertory Theatre’s Ciaran O’Reilly; film producer Susan Wittenberg; Charlotte Moore, who along with O’Reilly is a founding member of the Theatre; and Irish Vice Consul Ellen Flanagan.