Ulster Folk Museum works with award-winning filmmaker to bring 175 years of Ulster Scots Folk tradition to life through new music collaboration

The Ulster Folk Museum is deepening public engagement with the rich linguistic and cultural heritage of Ulster through a new creative collaboration of music and storytelling, rooted in its long-established language archive.

The Folk Bards of Ulster project, commissioned by the Ulster Folk Museum and funded by the Northern Ireland Screen Ulster‑Scots Broadcast Fund, brings together acclaimed contemporary folk artist Joshua Burnside and award-winning filmmaker Ross McClean to re-examine the work of 19th-century Ulster-Scots poet and songwriter Robert Huddleston for a new audience.

Huddleston, known as ‘The Bard of Moneyrea’, was a farmer, poet, and songwriter from rural County Down and thousands of manuscript pages written by Huddleston, including Ulster-Scots poems, songs, letters and even an unpublished novel, are held in the National Museums NI Library and Archives. Written in a distinctive dialect shaped by Scots, English and Irish languages, Huddleston’s work provides a vivid linguistic and cultural record of our linguistic diversity, revealing how central language is to exploring heritage and identity and to enabling cultural expression.

Joshua Burnside, an acclaimed experimental folk singer, songwriter, producer and performer from Comber, County Down - whose folk work blends Irish and Scottish traditions with contemporary themes – was invited by the Ulster Folk Museum to celebrate these archives and bring Huddleston’s work to a contemporary audience. Burnside’s songwriting, known for its honesty and social insight, echoes Huddleston’s role as a chronicler of his own time, framing Burnside as a present-day ‘bard’ of County Down. 

The folk singer-songwriter selected two of Huddleston’s compositions to interpret and perform in his own distinctive musical style at what ended up being a sold-out, intimate event at the Ulster Folk Museum in Cultra, County Down, in October last year. The event was part of Ards and North Down Borough Council’s Leid and Lairn celebration of Ulster-Scots Language and Heritage.

The follow-up digital project presents intimate, cinematic performances of the two new works by Joshua Burnside, shot on location at the Ulster Folk Museum by Nightstaff Productions. Shot in one day in Nightstaff’s signature poetic style, the films beautifully capture the atmosphere and spirit of the songs, intersecting live performances from Joshua with archive film from Northern Ireland Screen's Digital Film Archive. 

This work sits within the museum’s wider ‘Languages of Ulster’ programme, an initiative that uses its extensive archives, trails and research partnerships as a vital thread to explore how language shapes identity, illuminates shared heritage and reflects the diverse voices of Ulster today. 

Rosie Le Garsmeur, Creative Programmer at National Museums NI said: 

“We were so delighted to undertake this project with Joshua and the team at Nightstaff.  It’s been a real pleasure to introduce contemporary musicians and filmmakers to our Huddleston archives, let them take the lead in interpreting them and make something very beautiful in the process.  

“At the Ulster Folk Museum, we believe that our archives have relevance in the modern world and can continue to inspire and move us in unexpected and wonderful ways as this project demonstrates so well.”

Reflecting on the project and connecting 175 years of storytelling, language and lived experience, Burnside said: 

“Growing up around the same sort of area as Huddleston, I didn’t realise there was such a rich, cultural heritage just at my feet, on my doorstep. It’s been a meaningful and personal project for me – discovering this and connecting with where I’m from.”

This project was made possible with support from the Northern Ireland Screen Ulster‑Scots Broadcast Fund, whose funding enabled the creation and filming of these new musical works, further amplifying Ulster‑Scots language, heritage and artistic expression.

Ulster-Scots Broadcast Fund Manager, Heidi McAlpin, added: 

“Through 'The Folk Bards of Ulster', two folk bards from County Down, separated by over 150 years, have been connected. Burnside and Huddleston, while from vastly different times and contexts, are both rooted in the places they call home and use songwriting to understand and comment on the world around them.

“This project demonstrates that the Ulster Folk Museum archives are more than historical documents. They are resources that continue to move us and help us learn from the past - inspiring creativity in modern artists and thinkers, while also teaching us about language, cultural identity and our place in a fast-paced modern world.”

The full suite of films lives exclusively on the Ulster Folk Museum website and social media channels, in collaboration with Joshua Burnside and Northern Ireland Screen, ensuring audiences everywhere can continue to explore and enjoy this unique cultural collaboration.