Production underway for spoken-word album of Pat Ingoldsby's poetry

Production is underway for One Good Sparkle, a spoken-word album based on Irish poet, playwright and television presenter Pat Ingoldsby’s poems.

The first two singles, ‘Words to the Virus Which Found Me in 1942’ (read by Ingoldsby) and ‘Da Down the Garden’ (read by Daragh Fleming), were released earlier this year. A third single, the title track 'One Good Sparkle' (read by Anna D), will be released in coming weeks.

The 18 featured poems are set to music by Welsh composer, Philip May. The rest of the poems on the album will be read by spoken artists such as Mikey Cullen, Emmet O’Brien and Stephen Maguire, among others.

One Good Sparkle comes following the poet’s death in March 2025 and seeks to celebrate his work. Earlier this year, Luain Press, the team behind the album, created a fundraiser seeking €5000 to cover contributor fees and distribution costs.

As of last month, the team had raised about €3200 towards their goal.

Dublin-born Ingoldsby performed his own poems in venues across Ireland and wrote columns in various Irish newspapers. He was best known for his eccentric children’s TV shows that aired in the 1980s, and more recently for his poetry.

In the 1990s, he began devoting all his time to writing and selling his books on the streets of Dublin.

Former President Michael D. Higgins and singer Brush Shiels were among those who paid tribute to him after his death last year. The poet was also the subject of acclaimed 2022 documentary, The Peculiar Sensation of Being Pat Ingoldsby.

“What I love about Pat’s poetry is his sense of the absurd, because let’s face it, life is pretty absurd,” said Seamus Murphy, the creator of The Peculiar Sensation of Being Pat Ingoldsby, in a 2022 interview with Hot Press.

“He’s this incredible, Dickens-like character documenting the streets and the people of Dublin – the people that you probably wouldn’t really get to know that well.”

Luain Press plans to release the spoken-word album digitally, alongside a limited number of physical copies.

The funding campaign can be found here and the released tracks can be listened to here.