Irish Studies at Boston College

Spring 2010 Events

2010-02-16T17:35:00.003-05:00

BC Irish Studies events in spring 2010, including the Gaelic Roots concert series, the Film Series, and the Creative Writers Series, are now listed on the website.

Call for papers: Saints, Sinners and Scribes in the Celtic World

2009-11-16T09:48:00.003-05:00

The Celtic Studies Association of North America (CSANA) Annual Meeting convenes April 9-11, 2010 at the University of Notre Dame to discuss papers related to the conference theme: "Saints, Sinners and Scribes in the Celtic World." The organizers welcome proposals from faculty and graduate students in particular for individual 20 minute papers that address the conference theme or any aspect of the languages, literature, history, folklore, music, art and archaeology of ancient, medieval and modern Celtic cultures. Potential presenters should send a 200-250 word abstract suitable for reproduction, plus a brief biographical sketch (one-half page in length) before Feb. 1, 2010 to csana2010@gmail.com.

Graduate students are encouraged to present at the conference and the 2010 CSANA Graduate Prize will be awarded to the best graduate paper presented at the conference (membership required).

Scholarship: Institute of Irish Studies, University of Liverpool

2009-11-16T09:31:00.003-05:00

The Institute of Irish Studies at the University of Liverpool announces the creation of a number of fees-only studentships for prospective PhD students from any country outside the European Union. The scholarships are worth 25,200-28,200 GBP over 3 years. These can be in any area of Irish Studies, where is existing expertise in the Institute. Currently, the area of Irish Literature is over-subscribed. Candidates wishing to work in the following areas will be particularly welcome: Gaelic ecclesiastical history, the Vikings in Ireland, Irish theater/drama, W.B. Yeats, Irish women's history (particularly 19th and early 20th century) and contemporary Northern Irish history/politics. Scholarships may be taken up any time during 2010 after Feb. 1st. Applications (C.V., one page outline of the topic to be researched and names of two academic references) should be addressed to Dr. Diane Urquhart (urquhart@liverpool.ac.uk), The Institute of Irish Studies, University of Liberpool, 1, Abercromby Square, Liverpool L60 7WY England.

Lecture: Declan Kiberd

2009-11-11T11:00:00.003-05:00

Declan Kiberd presents "John Henry Newman and the Bonfire of the Humanities" on Nov. 17, 2009 at 6:30pm in the National Library Seminar Room of the National Library of Ireland in Dublin. Declan Kiberd is the Chair of Anglo-Irish Literature and Drama Department at University College Dublin. He is the author of several books, including Irish Classics (Harvard University Press, 2002) and The Irish Writer and the World (Cambridge University Press, 2005).This lecture is sponsored by the Society for the Study of Nineteenth-Century Ireland. Admission is free. No reservations are required.

Film Screening: Blazing the Trail

2009-11-11T10:59:00.002-05:00

The Boston Irish Film Festival presents Blazing the Trail: The Story of the Kalem Film Company in Ireland on Monday, Nov. 23, 2009 at 7pm at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, Mass. Blazing the Trail presents a selection of rarely-seen films with live musical accompaniment and interspersed with popular Irish parlor songs from the 1910s. All of the films have been digitally restored, with some receiving their first public screening in almost a century. Affectionately known as the "O’Kalems," screenwriter/actress Gene Gauntier, Sidney Olcott and their crew became the first American filmmakers to shoot overseas and the first to produce films that reflected the realities of the Irish experience. A sentimental mix of rebel dramas, folk romances, and tales of exile and emigration, their films proved tremendously popular with the Irish in America.

Tickets are $9.75 and are available online at www.coolidge.org or at the Coolidge Corner Theatre box office.

Call for papers: Young in Ireland, Old in America

2009-11-06T09:43:00.003-05:00

The European Association for American Studies Biennial Conference, "Forever Young"? The Changing Images of America, will take place March 26-29, 2010 in Dublin. There is a call for papers for the workshop "Young in Ireland, Old in America: Irish-American Communities of Thought," which aims to build on and expand the parameters of recent scholarship on Irish America and to unsettle some of the most problematic aspects of the Grand Narrative of Irish emigration to the U.S. The workshop will also address the importance of new strands of engagement with America in Ireland itself and the growing influence of the United States in Irish contemporary culture. Please submit papers to Sinead Moynihan (Sinead.Moynihan@nottingham.ac.uk or Marisa Ronan (marisa.ronan@gmail.com by December 1, 2009.

Conference: The Fourth John Butler Yeats Seminar

2009-11-06T09:34:00.002-05:00

The Fourth John Butler Yeats Seminar will be held Sept. 10-12, 2010 at The Swift Theatre, Trinity College Dublin. The Seminar will discuss the work of the Yeats family and their contemporaries over three days. There will also be a privately curated visit to the Yeats Museum at The National Gallery of Ireland. There are ten scholarships available to students. Register online

Scholarship: Radharc Archive Scholarship at UCD

2009-11-03T10:55:00.003-05:00

UCD School of English, Drama and Film is seeking a suitably qualified candidate for a postgraduate research scholarship leading to the award of a PhD in Film Studies. The research area is Historicising the Radharc Documentary. Commencing in January 2010, the duration of the scholarship is three years over which time tuition will be paid to a maximum of 5,500 Euro along with a stipend of approximately 10,000 Euro (each per annum). The successful candidate will be registered as a full time PhD student at University College Dublin, and will pursue primary research in the film and paper archives of the Radharc Trust deposited at the Irish Film Archive. On site training in the handling and cataloguing of film and paper archive materials will be provided by the Irish Film Archive as part of this scholarship. The successful candidate will be expected to process and catalogue the Radharc collections and produce a PhD dissertation based upon their findings and viewings addressing the broader topic of Radharc's social historical role and its unique contribution to Irish society and culture (dissertation title to be determined by the student in consultation with project supervisor). This scholarship is the result of a partnership between the Radharc Trust, The Irish Film Archive and University College Dublin.

The UCD School of English, Drama, and Film is a large, diverse and research-active unit with 70 students registered in our doctoral program carrying out research in English, Irish and American Literatures and cultures as well as in Drama, Performance and Film.

Applicants must have at least a first or upper second-class honors master's degree, or the equivalent, and be qualified for direct admission to a Ph.D. program.

Informal enquiries to Dr Harvey O'Brien, (mailto:harvey.obrien@ucd.ie). For more information and application procedures please visit www.ucd.ie/graduatestudies.

The closing date for applications is Friday, November 20, 2009.

Lecture: Chasing Bernie Madoff

2009-11-03T10:40:00.004-05:00

The Boston Irish Business Association welcomes Frank Casey, currently the President of Fortune Group, USA on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009 from 6 to 8pm at the University of Massachusetts Club (225 Franklin Street, Boston, MA). Frank Casey was named in the congressional hearings by Harry Markopoulos as one of his team of investment professionals that alerted the SEC to a suspected massive fraud at Madoff over many years. In early 1998, Frank Casey joined Rampart Investments where he met portfolio managers Harry Markopolos and Neil Chelo. The three formed the core team that began blowing the whistle to the SEC on Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme in May of 2000. This event is free for Boston Irish Business Association members, $25 for non-members. Register online for this event.

Boston College's digital collections: Bob Hanvey

2009-10-29T13:40:00.004-04:00

Bobbie Hanvey, Irish photographer, writer, and musician, has recorded people and life in Northern Ireland since the 1970s. The Burns Library at Boston College is the institution that holds the bulk of Hanvey's unpublished work. Holdings have accumulated to more than 19,000 photographs documenting personalities and life in Northern Ireland during and after the "Troubles." There are another 31,000 photos on the way. The photographs are in negative- and positive-film format; since film materials are not access copies, the digital surrogates will provide the only access to the collection.

To date, over 3,400 images have been digitized, and over 2,000 are available online. On Nov. 5, 2009 the Boston College Libraries will officially "launch" this project with a presentation at 4:00pm in the Francis Thompson Room in the John J. Burns Library. Bobbie Hanvey will attend. There will be an exhibit of photographs at both the Burns Library and at the Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr. Library.

Have a look at the images in Boston College's digital collections site or browse a selection in Flickr.

These collections connect to a wide array of disciplines: Irish studies; political science; anthropology; sociology; literature; history; art history; communications; theater... and this is just the start! Boston College has allowed Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works usage of the photographs, and supplied download-able jpeg files suitable for use in on the web, in projected presentations or in Word documents.

Photo of Seamus Heaney, Bobbie Hanvey Photographic Archives, John J. Burns Library, Boston College

Trauma and Faith: A Conversation

2009-10-20T10:37:00.002-04:00

The Boston College School of Theology and Ministry hosts "Trauma and Faith: A Conversation" on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009 from 7 to 9pm in STM Room 135. This event will be cohosted by a delegation from Belfast, Northern Ireland. For more information, contact Colleen Brown (colleen@niamh.co.uk).

Lecture: Michael Haren

2009-10-20T10:11:00.005-04:00

Michael Haren presents "The Dynamic of Fourteenth-Century Intellectual Contexts: Ireland, England and the Continent in the Development of Archbishop Fitzralph of Armagh as Pastor and Polemicis" on Monday, Oct. 26, 2009 at 7:30pm in the McGuinn Hall Third Floor Lounge (McGuinn 334). Michael Haren is the author of several books including Sin and Society in Fourteenth-Century England: A Study of the Memoriale Presbiterorum and Medieval Thought: The Western Intellectual Traditon from Antiquity to the Thirteenth Century. This talk is sponsored by the Boston Colloquium in Medieval Philosophy.

Book launch: Peaceable Kingdom Lost

2009-10-19T14:53:00.002-04:00

The Center for Irish Programs presents the book launch of Peaceable Kingdom Lost: The Paxton Boys and the Destruction of William Penn's Holy Experiment (Oxford University Press, 2009), by Kevin Kenny on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009, from 7:00-9:00pm in Connolly House (300 Hammond Street, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467). Copies of the book will be available for purchase at a 20 percent discount.

Kevin Kenny is Professor of History at Boston College. His principal area of research and teaching is the history of migration and popular protest in the Atlantic world. His latest book, Peaceable Kingdom Lost, explains how Pennsylvania's early religious tolerance and social harmony disintegrated during the eighteenth century, with disastrous consequences for the province's Indians.

Panel Discussion: Breaking the Immigration Stalemate

2009-10-19T14:07:00.004-04:00

The Institute for the Liberal Arts, the Winston Center for Leadership and Ethics, and the College of Arts and Sciences presents a panel discussion titled "Breaking the Immigration Stalemate" on Wednesday, November 4, 2009 at 4pm in Devlin 101. "Breaking the Immigration Stalemate" will address a new report from the Brookings-Duke Immigration Policy Roundtable that reflects the efforts of a group of individuals of divergent perspectives to establish some common ground across the policy and ideological divides that have stymied immigration reform. The panel will be moderated by David Quigley, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Featured speakers include Professor Peter Skerry (BC Political Science Department) and Professor Noah Pickus (Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University). Professor Daniel Kanstroom (BC Law School) and Jessica Vaughan (Center for Immigration Studies) will serve as respondents.

Call for papers: Irish Masculinities

2009-10-15T13:07:00.004-04:00

Irish Masculinities: An Interdisciplinary Conference is scheduled to take place Feb. 26-27, 2010 at Queen's University, Belfast. The aim of this conference to draw this diverse body of researchers together to locate and theorize Irish masculinities for the first time within the specific context of Irish Studies. Papers of 20 minutes' duration are invited on themes which may include, but are not limited to: Representations of masculinity in Irish literature, the Irish male on stage and screen, Irish masculinities and socio-cultural taboos, sport and the Irish male, historicising Irish masculinity and performing Irish masculinities. Please submit an abstract of no more than 300 words by Dec. 15, 2009 to Caroline Magennis and Raymond Mullen at irishmasculinities@googlemail.com.

Conference: Elizabeth I and Ireland

2009-10-15T11:52:00.003-04:00

Elizabeth I and Ireland Conference is scheduled to take place Nov. 13-14, 2009 at the University of Connecticut. This conference aims to bring together a diverse range of historians and literary scholars to explore both Elizabeth I's direct role in the shaping of Irish policy and the ways in which Irish events and people affected her political style. Register online

Lecture: Richard Martin

2009-10-14T15:18:00.004-04:00

Richard Martin will be giving a talk titled "Lost Boys and Lethal Toys: Attaining Manhood in Greek and Irish Saga" on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009 at 4:30pm in Higgins 300. Richard Martin teaches Greek and Latin literature at Stanford University. His research focuses primarily on Homeric poetry and how it functioned as a performance art in Ancient Greece. Born and raised in Boston, he studied Classics as well as Medieval and Modern Irish language and literature at Harvard University where he received his B.A. in Classics and Celtic Literature and M.A. and Ph.D. in Classical Philology. For information about this event, contact Franck Salameh (salameh@bc.edu). This talk is part of the Heinz Bluhm Lecture Series.

Image via The Human Experience

Lecture: Peter Hart

2009-10-14T11:08:00.003-04:00

Peter Hart, Canada Research Chair in Irish Studies at Memorial University in Newfoundland is award-winning author of Mick: The Real Michael Collins and The IRA and Its Enemies, will present a lecture contrasting two of Ireland's political icons during the 1922 founding of the Irish State, namely Eamon de Valera and Michael Collins. His presentation, with a reception to follow, will take place on Monday, Oct. 26, 2009 at 4pm in the Thompson Room of the Burns Library. Seating is limited. Please RSVP by phone (617-662-3938) or email (irish@bc.edu).

Blog: Pue’s Occurrences

2009-10-14T10:43:00.003-04:00

Pue’s Occurrences is an online blog about history in Ireland. The blog features book reviews, interviews with Irish History scholars, event listings, contributors’ PhD diaries and more. Pue's Occurrence is edited by Juliana Adelman, Lisa-Marie Griffith and Kevin O’Sullivan.

The Pure Drop: Traditional Irish Music at Berklee

2009-10-14T10:02:00.004-04:00

FUSION Magazine and The Liberal Arts Department present "The Pure Drop: Traditional Irish Music at Berklee" on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009 at 7pm at Cafe 939 in Boston. The evening features music by fiddler Oisin McAuley and harpist Kate Chadbourne, Berklee faculty and students. Tickets are free. For more information, please contact Joseph Coroniti (fusionmagazine@berklee.edu).

Conference: Legacy of Lemass

2009-10-14T09:43:00.005-04:00

The University College Dublin presents the "Legacy of Lemass" conference on Friday, November 6, 2009 at the Humanities Institute of Ireland in Dublin. Participants include former Burns Scholar Diarmaid Ferriter (2008-09) and Rob Savage, Boston College. There is no charge for attendance. For additional information, contact Diarmaid Ferriter (diarmaid.ferriter@ucd.ie).

Sean Lemass and Sean MacEntee (Left to right) via Life.com

Irish Echo Boston-Northwest Ireland Gateways to Tomorrow Conference

2009-09-14T11:16:00.003-04:00

Irish Echo Boston-Northwest Ireland Gateways to Tomorrow Conference takes place on Oct. 7-8, 2009 at the Seaport Hotel and World Trade Centre in Boston. The conference will focus on business and cultural links between Boston and the Northwest part of the island of Ireland (Derry and Donegal primarily) and will be of interest to students of Irish Studies, Peace Studies, International Affairs. Speakers include Minister Conor Murphy MP MLA and Liam Ó Cuinneagáin is the Chairman of Údarás na Gaeltachta (the Gaeltacht Authority). Register online.

Sean Tyrrell

2009-09-14T11:09:00.004-04:00

Sean Tyrrell opens the fall 2009 Gaelic roots series with "Message of Peace: Songs and Poetry of John Boyle O’Reilly, 1844-1890" on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2009 at 4:00pm in Connolly House. This event is free and open to the public.

Singer and multi-instrumentalist Sean Tyrrell traces the journey of poet, journalist, and author John Boyle O'Reilly through famine, revolution, Fenianism, and penal servitude. Surrounded by music all his life, Sean Tyrrell comes from a family immersed in the musical traditions of his native Galway. During the 1960s he performed in the city's premier folk club, the Folk Castle, honing his vocal and instrumental skills while rubbing shoulders with a host of celebrated artists who performed there. Sean has toured Ireland, England, Europe, America and Australia with such artists as Kevin Glackin and Ronan Brown; Davy Spillane; Three for the Ditch (Sean, Frankie Lane, and comedian Jack Lynch); Paddy Keenan; poet Mary O'Malley; and Tommy Peoples. His CDs include Message of Peace (2009), The Orchard (2006), Rising Tide (2006), The Cry of a Dreamer (1995), and Belladonna (2006).

For more information, visit the Gaelic Roots homepage.

Lecture: Richard English

2009-09-02T15:29:00.006-04:00

Richard English will give a lecture, in tandem with the launch of his latest book, Terrorism: How to Respond (Oxford University Press) on Sept. 14, 2009 at 4:00pm in the Thompson Room of the Burns Library. Author of award-winning books such as Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA (2003) and Irish Freedom: The History of Nationalism in Ireland (2006), English has been a frequent commenter on terrorism and political violence for the BBC and NPR, and has lectured widely in Europe and the United States. He is a Professor of Politics at Queen's University, Belfast.

Reading: Colum McCann

2009-07-01T09:14:00.004-04:00

Colum McCann reads from his newest novel Let the Great World Spin on Thursday, July 9, 2009 at 7:00pm at the Harvard Bookstore in Cambridge, Mass. Colum McCann is the author of the novels Zoli, Dancer, This Side of Brightness, and Songdogs, as well as two short story collections. A contributor to the New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine, the Atlantic Monthly, and the Paris Review, he teaches in the Hunter College MFA Creative Writing Program. This event is free; no tickets are required.

Bloomsday Boston

2009-06-05T09:40:00.004-04:00

Boston College hosts the 3rd annual Bloomsday Boston on Sunday, June 14, 2009. Bloomsday is a celebration of James Joyce's epic novel, Ulysses, which chronicles the life of Leopold Bloom as he meanders through the streets of Dublin on June 16, 1904. This celebration will include theatrical readings hosted by Brian O'Donovan of WGBH's A Celtic Sojourn, lively discussions led by Joyce experts, John Huston's film The Dead, and a reception with live music by Annalivia, an acoustic fiddle quintet.

Bloomsday Boston is sponsored by Boston College's Institute for the Liberal Arts and Center for Irish Programs. The event is free and open to the public.

2009 Worcester Irish Music Festival

2009-06-01T15:58:00.002-04:00

The Worcester Irish Music Festival kicks off on Friday, June 12, 2009 at the Hibernian Cultural Centre in Worcester, Mass. The three-day festival offers Irish music and dance, along with children's activities. Scheduled performances include The Town Pants, Glengarry Bhoys, Songs for Ceilidh, and P.V. O'Donnell. Advance tickets are available now: $10 for one day/$20 for a weekend pass.

The Irish Lord Lieutenancy, c.1541-1922

2009-05-26T09:32:00.004-04:00

The Royal Irish Academy Committee for Historical Sciences Conference presents The Irish Lord Lieutenancy, c.1541-1922, September 10 - 11, 2009 at Dublin Castle and Academy House, Dawson Street. For more than 300 years the government of Ireland was headed by the Irish Lord Lieutenant, a peer who combined the "efficient" direction of the Irish executive on behalf of the British crown with the "decorative" role of viceroy or surrogate of the crown at the Irish court. The conference is intended to explore, through a series of invited papers, the multiple dimensions of the Lord Lieutenancy as an institution – political, social and cultural. View the schedule of presentations. Register online.

Triptych: Celtic music and dance

2009-05-11T09:38:00.003-04:00

The Springstep Performance Series presents an evening of traditional music and step dance by Boston-based trio Triptych on Saturday, May 16, 2009 at 8pm at Springstep in Medford, Mass. Triptych features fiddler Laura Risk, guitarist/percussionist/vocalist Paddy League, and dancer Kieran Jordan. Tickets are $19 General, $16 Student/Seniors. Call 781-395-0402 or reserve tickets online.

29th Annual Celtic Colloquium

2009-05-11T09:18:00.003-04:00

The Harvard Celtic Department presents the 29th Annual Celtic Colloquium October 9-11, 2009 at Harvard University. Attendance is free.

The Harvard Celtic Department invites proposals for papers on topics which relate directly to Celtic studies (Celtic languages and literatures in any phase; cultural, historical or social science topics; theoretical perspectives, etc.). Papers concerning interdisciplinary research with a Celtic focus are also invited. Presentations should be no longer than 20 minutes. There will be a short discussion period after each paper. Papers given at the Colloquium may later be submitted for consideration by the editorial committee for publication in the Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium.

Potential presenters should send a 200-250 word abstract, plus a brief biographical sketch by Friday, May 15, 2009. Online submissions are preferred, but submissions may also be sent by e-mail (hcc@fas.harvard.edu), faxed, or posted to the departmental address.

2009 Irish Seminar

2009-04-06T11:15:00.001-04:00

The Keough Naughton Institute of Irish Studies at the University of Notre Dame presents the 2009 Irish Seminar from June 15-July 3, 2009 at the Keough Naughton Notre Dame Centre in Dublin. Titled "Apocalypse and Utopia," the program deals with a wide variety of issues in both Irish and English language literatures.

Seamus Deane will offer a week-long seminar series on themes to do with civilization and catastrophe in Irish and European modernisms; Kevin Whelan deals with literature, history and the trauma of the Northern Irish Troubles; Luke Gibbons discusses crises of subjectivity in Irish writing from romanticism to modernism; Breandán O Buachalla addresses apocalyptic and utopian thematics in Gaelic literature; Laura O'Connor's series considers Irish feminism, poetry and the politics of language; and Joe Cleary deals with twentieth-century Irish cultural criticism and the end of empire. As well as several other individual lectures, there will also be three public keynote lectures, followed by in-house talks and discussions, by Paul Bove (University of Pittsburgh and Editor of boundary 2), Elizabeth Butler Cullingford (University of Texas at Austin) and Declan Kiberd (UCD, author of Inventing Ireland).

The aims of the Irish Seminar are to promote ambitious new scholarship in Irish Studies and to generate a supportive environment that will nurture the intellectual poise of young scholars. To apply, visit the Irish Seminar website.

Lecture: Ireland from boom to bust- what's next after the Celtic Tiger?

2009-03-23T09:13:00.004-04:00

Historian Joe Lee presents "Ireland from boom to bust- what's next after the Celtic Tiger?" on Friday April 3, 2009 from 5:30pm to 7:30pm at the State Street Financial Center (K&L Gates LLP Conference Room) in Boston. Lee is the director of Glucksman Ireland House at New York University. Lee's columns have been collected and published as The Shifting Balance of Power: Exploring the 20th Century (2000), and he has recently edited, with Marion R. Casey, the Making the Irish American: The History and Heritage of the Irish in the United States (2006). He is a former member of the Upper House of the Irish Parliament, and a former member of the British-Irish Parliamentary Body.

RSVP to newenglanducc@gmail.com by Tuesday, March 31. Tickets must be reserved in advance. Tickets are $15; beverages will be provided. Payment is required at the door.

Poetry reading: Paul Muldoon

2009-03-20T10:53:00.004-04:00

Paul Muldoon will be reading at Suffolk University on Thursday, March 26th, 2009, 7:00pm, at the Mildred F. Sawyer Library's Poetry Center. Paul Muldoon is the author of 10 books of poetry, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning Moy Sand and Gravel, and, most recently, Horse Latitudes. He teaches at Princeton University and is poetry editor of The New Yorker.

The Mildred F. Sawyer Library, located one block from the Park Street MBTA stop, is wheelchair accessible. Seating at the Poetry Center will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. This event is free and open to the public.

2009 Richard Irvine Best Memorial Lecture

2009-03-20T10:27:00.004-04:00

Robert Schmuhl presents the Richard Irvine Best memorial lecture Wednesday, March 25, 2009 at 7:00pm at the National Library of Ireland. The title of the lecture is "Easter 1916 and America: a provisional appraisal." Schmuhl is the Walter H Annenberg-Edmund P. Joyce Professor of American Studies and Journalism at the University of Notre Dame, and is the current holder of the John Hume Research Fellowship at the University College Dublin John Hume Institute for Global Irish Studies. The respondent is Bernadette Whelan, Senior Lecturer, Department of History, University of Limerick. Admission is free but reservations are required. Contact Orla Sweeney (osweeney@nli.ie).

2009 Irish Film Series

2009-03-19T11:24:00.004-04:00

The 2009 Boston College Irish Studies Film Series continues with Fleá Ceoil and O'Donoghue's Opera tonight, March 19, 2009 at 6:30pm in Cushing Hall 001. Fleá Ceoil captures the resurgence of interest in traditional Irish music in the 1960s when Irish folk singers like Dolly McMahon, who appears in the film, were seen as part of a worldwide boom in folk music. O'Donoghue's Opera stars Ronnie Drew and his band of bohemian merrymakers, The Dubliners (shown above). Drew finds himself caught in a hangman's noose as a reward for his dubious career as "the best burglar in all Ireland." The film was shot in 1965, but was left uncompleted after the production ran into financial difficulties. In 1996, filmmaker Sé Merry Doyle oversaw its restoration, and it has since garnered cult status.

The Irish Film Series runs through Thursday, March 26. See the Irish Studies Film Series calendar for additional details.

Image from the International Federation of Television Archives.

Conference: Poverty and Welfare in Ireland

2009-03-19T10:54:00.004-04:00

The Institute of Irish Studies, Queen's University Belfast, presents the "Poverty and Welfare in Ireland c. 1833-1948," June 26-27, 2009. This conference will bring together a number of scholars currently researching different aspects of the history of welfare and poverty in modern Ireland, to exchange research findings and discuss agendas for future research. Plenary speakers include Larry Geary (University College Cork) on medical relief and the poor law in the 19th century, and Peter Higgenbotham, on his project to identify and record the sites and physical remnants of all 163 Irish workhouses. This conference is sponsored by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Royal Historical Society, and hosted by Queen's University Belfast and Oxford Brookes University. For more information, contact Olwen Purdue or Peter Gray (povertyconference@qub.ac.uk).

Faculty spotlight: Ann Morrison Spinney

2009-03-18T13:43:00.005-04:00

From rebel yells to the Dropkick Murphys, Irish Studies Assistant Professor Ann Morrison Spinney teaches Ireland's tumultuous history through music. Read more about Professor Spinney.

Image from the Boston Herald.

Irish School of Ecumenics: M. Phil. in Reconciliation Studies

2009-03-18T10:00:00.005-04:00

The M. Phil. in Reconciliation Studies is a taught Master's course offered at the Irish School of Ecumenics (Trinity College Dublin) in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Students benefit from the opportunity to live and study in a society transitioning from decades of conflict, and to engage with advanced scholarship about the roots of ethnic, religious, and political conflict and how such conflicts are transformed.

Teaching takes place in Belfast from late September to early April, followed by an optional spring school in Dublin which focuses on dealing with the past in South Africa and Northern Ireland and includes a visit to Glencree Centre of Reconciliation. Following this, students work on a dissertation to be submitted in September, and can opt to live in Belfast or Dublin.

M. Litt. And Ph.D. research degrees are also available in: inter-religious ethics and globalization; religious worlds and the politics of difference; peace building and reconciliation; and Northern Ireland.

The closing date for the M. Phil. is June 26, 2009. Applications will be considered after this if places are available. The research program intake is April or October. Contact reconsec@tcd.ie with questions.

2009 Irish Film Series

2009-03-17T13:51:00.004-04:00

The 2009 Boston College Irish Studies Film Series continues with Saviours and Learning Gravity tonight, March 17, 2009 at 6:00pm at the West Newton Cinema. Saviours is an intimate, gripping documentary following three young boxers from the same Dublin boxing club, St. Saviours Olympic Boxing Academy. Part manifesto and part memoir, Learning Gravity chronicles the life of Thomas Lynch, the renowned poet and essayist whose work won the American Book Award and inspired the HBO series Six Feet Under.

Saviours will also be shown on Wednesday, March 18, from 6:30-8:00pm at Boston College, in McGuinn Hall Room 121. The Irish Film Series runs through Thursday, March 26. See the Irish Studies Film Series calendar for additional details.

Image from Learning Gravity.

Yeats International Summer School

2009-03-17T13:47:00.002-04:00

The 50th anniversary Yeats International Summer School runs from July 25 to August 7, 2009 in Sligo, Ireland. The summer school features lectures, seminars, readings by renowned Irish authors, and dramatic presentations, including a performance of a Yeats play by the Summer School Drama Workshop. Scholarships are available. For more information, email info@yeats-sligo.com.

Concert: Noirin Ni Riain

2009-03-12T15:01:00.005-04:00

Nóirín Ní Riain and Company perform songs of sacred welcome on Friday, March 13, 2009 at 8:00pm in St. Mary's Chapel. A native Caherconlish in County Limerick, Nóirín Ní Riain is an accomplished singer, writer, and theologian.

The concert is part of the two-day Inter-Religious Hospitality Conference, which features 11 presentations from the five wisdom traditions. The conference is sponsored by The Guestbook Project and Institute for the Liberal Arts. Please contact James Taylor (Taylorjy@bc.edu) for further details.

Book launch: Earth Voices Whispering

2009-03-05T14:57:00.007-05:00

Center for Irish Programs and the John J. Burns Library present the American book launch of Earth Voices Whispering: An Anthology of Irish War Poetry 1914–45, edited by Gerald Dawe on Thursday, March 19, 2009, from 4:30-6:00pm in the Burns Library. Copies of the book will be available for purchase at a 20% discount. Please RSVP to Lori Shemanski, by email (lori.shemanski@bc.edu or phone (617-552-3282).

Gerald Dawe was the Burns Library Visiting Scholar in Irish Studies in the spring semester, 2005, and he credits his stay at Boston College as key to his work in compiling Earth Voices Whispering. Featuring over 250 poems by poets such as Francis Ledwidge, W.B. Yeats, and Seamus Heaney, and including new poems by Derek Mahon and Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, the anthology records the thoughts and experiences of poets as soldiers, patriots, observers, protesters, medics and mourners. Dawe is a Fellow of Trinity College Dublin, where he is also a senior lecturer in English and the director of the Oscar Wilde Centre for Irish Writing. He is the author of seven collections of poetry, including his most recent collection, Points West.

BC Irish music session

2009-02-23T16:01:00.021-05:00

The first BC Irish music session of the Spring 2009 semester was a great night of music and stories. The musicians enjoyed swapping new tunes and playing some old favorites. Pictures of the session are posted on the new BC Irish Studies flickr page.

We will hold two more sessions during this semester. All Irish musicians are invited to join our open sessions on the third Thursday of the month (March 19 and April 16) from 5:30-7:30pm in the Office of Marketing Communications conference room, located at 3 Lake Street (Brighton Campus).

Midwest Regional Meeting of the American Conference for Irish Studies

2009-02-23T09:19:00.002-05:00

The 2009 Midwest Regional Meeting of the American Conference for Irish Studies will be held October 17-19 at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. The conference theme is "Ireland: Medieval to Modern," but papers and panel proposals are welcomed on any topic related to Irish and Irish diaspora studies, and presentations may be given in English or in Irish. The plenary speakers are Mary O'Malley and Brian Conchubhair; Louis de Paor will be awarded the Charles P. Fanning Medal for his contribution to Irish Studies. Please send 200-word abstracts to Beth Lordan (lordan@siu.edu), Director, Irish and Irish Immigration Studies Program. The deadline for submission is May 1, 2009.

Call for musicians: BC Irish music session

2009-02-04T14:04:00.002-05:00

BC students and staff welcome musicians to participate in an open session at Boston College. Players of any traditional Irish instrument are invited to come for tunes on the third Thursday of the month (Feb. 19, March 19, and April 16) from 5:30-7:30pm in the Office of Marketing Communications conference room, located at 3 Lake Street (Brighton Campus). For more information contact irish@bc.edu.

Film Screening: Coming into Clover

2009-02-02T16:15:00.003-05:00

Boston Irish Film Festival Productions presents Coming into Clover: Ireland and the Irish in Early American Cinema Monday, Feb. 9, at 7pm at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline. Rarely-seen silent films will be screened with live musical accompaniment. Hosted by Brian O'Donovan of WGBH Radio's A Celtic Sojourn. Tickets are $10/general admission and $7/Coolidge and WGBH Members. Advance ticket sales are available through the Coolidge Corner Theatre website.

Mary Pat Kelly at the Boston Public Library

2009-02-02T09:16:00.003-05:00

Author and filmmaker Mary Pat Kelly reads from her new book, Galway Bay, at the Boston Public Library on Sunday, February, 15, 2009 at 2pm. Galway Bay is based in the story of Kelly's great-great-grandmother who escaped with her family from the Great Starvation of 1840s Ireland. A reception at Sólás Bar, Boylston Street, follows. This event is co-hosted by the Consulate General of Ireland, Boston and The Eire Society of Boston. It is free and open to the public.

Call for papers: Elizabeth I and Ireland

2009-01-30T09:22:00.005-05:00

The University of Connecticut presents "Elizabeth I and Ireland," November 12-14, 2009. The conference aims to bring together historians and scholars to explore both Elizabeth I's direct role in the shaping of Irish policy and the ways in which Irish events and people affected her political style. Proposals of no more than 300 words should be emailed to Brendan Kane, (brendan.kane@uconn.edu) by May 1, 2009.

Call for papers: American Conference for Irish Studies

2009-01-29T09:58:00.004-05:00

American Conference for Irish Studies (ACIS) will host two panels at the 2009 Modern Language Association (MLA) Convention in Philadelphia, December 27-30. Please send 200-word abstracts to Ellen Crowell (crowelle@slu.edu) by March 15, 2009. Presentations may not exceed 20 minutes. All panelists must be registered MLA members by April 1st, 2009; all panelists must also be registered ACIS members.

Panel 1: New Ireland: Race and emigration in contemporary Irish Art
Papers should address changing representations of race, ancestry, nationality and immigration/emigration in contemporary Irish writing, film, and/or the visual arts. Of particular interest will be papers addressing the 2007 Roddy Doyle/Bisi Adigun production of a revised Playboy of the Western World, Roddy Doyle's recent collection The Deportees, and John Carney's Once (2007).

Panel 2: Irish Temporalities
This panel will explore how changing representations of time anticipated and responded to the rise of the Irish nation-state. To what extent did the Celtic Twilight underwrite, or disable, the emerging free-state of the early twentieth century? What does the representational rise of the "Celtic Tiger," or Ireland's recent economic resurgence, say about the persistence of popular images of the Irish past, or about their supplantation? We welcome papers on any genre or literary period in keeping with a broad exploration of how conceptions of past, present, and future shape and are shaped by Irish literary endeavors.

Celtic FUSION

2009-01-28T09:32:00.006-05:00

FUSION Magazine presents Celtic FUSION, an evening of Celtic music on Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 8pm, at Cafe 939 in Boston. Featured performers include John McGann (mandolin), Natalie Haas (cello), Matt Glaser (violin), The Folk Arts Quartet, Kimberly Fraser (fiddle), Blue Moose and the Unbuttoned Zippers, and Boston College faculty member Jimmy Noonan (flute). Professor Joe Nugent of Boston College, Professor Tom O'Grady of UMass Boston, and Berklee's Henry Tate will read selections from James Joyce, W.B. Yeats, and original poetry. A Celtic Open Session will close the evening.

For more information, contact Fusion Magazine Editor-in-Chief Joseph Coroniti (fusionmagazine@berklee.edu).

CANCELED- Regional Styles in Irish Music: A Conversation

2009-01-28T09:24:00.003-05:00

The Gaelic Roots event "Regional Styles in Irish Music: A Conversation" with Dr. Ann Spinney scheduled for tonight, January 28, 2009, has been canceled, due to inclement weather. This event will be rescheduled.

Maeve O'Reilly Finley Fellowship for Graduate Study in Ireland

2009-01-27T13:24:00.001-05:00

Boston College alumna Maeve O'Reilly Finley established this fellowship out of appreciation of her alma mater and recognition of the Irish Studies Program. A longtime friend of Irish Studies, Ms. O'Reilly Finley expressed a great interest in encouraging graduate study in Ireland. The fellowship is awarded to Boston College students who have been accepted for graduate work in Irish Studies at a university in Ireland, or Boston College alumni who are graduate students in good standing at an Irish university. Students interested in being considered for the Maeve O'Reilly Finley Fellowship should submit: Curriculum vitae, transcript, short essay (3-5 pages) describing plan of study, and two letters of reference from Boston College faculty. Applications should be emailed to Rachel Bowes (irish@bc.edu) by March 1, 2009.

Adele Dalsimer Graduate Research/Dissertation Fellowship

2009-01-27T13:18:00.001-05:00

Each year, Boston College awards the Adele Dalsimer Graduate Research/Dissertation Fellowship in memory of the cofounder of the Irish Studies Program. The fellowship is designed to recognizeoutstanding Boston College Doctoral students in Irish Studies. Doctoral candidates applying for the Dalsimer Fellowship should submit: Letter of interest describing the applicant's research, curriculum vitae, and two letters of recommendation. Applications should be emailed to Rachel Bowes (irish@bc.edu) by March 1, 2009.

Call for papers: Ireland and the Fin De Siécle

2009-01-07T10:01:00.007-05:00

The Committee for Irish Literatures in English of the Royal Irish Academy presents Ireland and the Fin De Siécle, September 3-4, 2009. Panels will be drawn from the following areas: The New Woman in Irish Writing: Wilde and Irish Decadence, George Moore and the Irish Fin De Siécle; Visual culture and Irish Decadence; genre fiction; Irish/European connections. Abstracts of no more than 500 words should be sent to Dr. Eibhear Walshe (e.walshe@ucc.ie) and Dr. Derek Hand (derek.hand@spd.dcu.ie) by March 1, 2009.

Queens University Belfast: International Masters Bursaries

2008-12-11T11:15:00.003-05:00

The Institute of Irish Studies, Queen's University Belfast, is offering two bursaries for students undertaking any Masters program within the area of Irish Studies. Applications for these studentships are invited from non UK students. The bursaries will be for one year and cover both fees and a stipend of £6632. The normal entry requirement is a primary degree with high honors (usually a 2.1 or 3.3 GPA or equivalent) in a relevant subject. There is no separate form for this competition. Applicants should indicate that they wish to be considered for this Bursary on their University admission form. The deadline is January 23, 2009. Further guidance and information on the studentships is available by contacting Elaine McKay (e.mckay@qub.ac.uk).

Queens University Belfast: Post Graduate International Research Studentships

2008-12-11T11:05:00.003-05:00

The Institute of Irish Studies, Queen's University Belfast, is offering two full-time Postgraduate studentships for research leading to the award of a PhD. Applications for these studentships are invited from non UK students. These three year awards will cover both fees and a yearly stipend of £13,264. Applicants must have a primary degree with high honours (usually a 2.1, 3.3 GPA, or higher) in a relevant subject and would normally also have a masters degree or equivalent. There is no separate form for this competition. Applicants should indicate that they wish to be considered for this competition on their University admission form. The deadline is January 23, 2009. Further guidance and information on the studentships is available by contacting Elaine McKay (e.mckay@qub.ac.uk).

Strangers to Citizens: the Irish in Europe 1600 – 1800

2008-12-11T10:31:00.005-05:00

National Library of Ireland's exhibition Strangers to Citizens focuses on Irish migration to continental Europe from 1600 -1800. The exhibition features a selection of early 17th century Irish books from the Library’s rare book collection, including the original manuscript of Tadhg Ó Cianáin’s diary of The Flight of the Earls. Strangers to Citizens is on display through 2009.

An evening lecture series focusing on the themes covered in the exhibition will take place from January to March 2009. Find details on the National Library's events calendar.

Call for Papers: Remarkable Irish Women: Radicals, Republicans and Writers

2008-12-11T09:48:00.004-05:00

The Caspersen School of Graduate Studies at Drew University presents Remarkable Irish Women: Radicals, Republicans and Writers, June 19-20, 2009. This conference seeks to address the contribution of Irish women, both in Ireland and overseas, to the making of modern Ireland. Proposals for papers of no more than 750 words should be sent to Johanna Church (jchurch@drew.edu) by February 15, 2009.

The Heaney Summer School 2009

2008-12-04T13:43:00.003-05:00

The Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry announces the Heaney Summer School, July 20-24, 2009. For more information, visit the Queen's University Belfast School of English website.

BCMFest 2009

2008-12-03T12:59:00.007-05:00

Boston’s Celtic Music Festival is scheduled for January 9-10, 2009. BCMFest features music and dance from Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton, and Celtic traditions. Over 100 artists from the Boston area are scheduled to perform. The festival begins with the kickoff concert and the Boston Urban Ceilidh Friday night. The BCMFest Finale Concert on Saturday features Laura Cortese, Matt and Shannon Heaton, The Boston Kiltics, and Flynn Cohen. Events will be held at Club Passim, Springstep (Medford, Mass.), and First Parish Church in Cambridge.

Gaelic Roots Series: Spring 2009 Events

2008-12-02T15:25:00.009-05:00

Lecture, "Notai do Mholtóirí/ Notes for adjudicators: Codifying Irish traditional music and Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, 1951-1972," with Méabh Ní Fhuartháin.
Connolly House
Thursday, January 22
6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

"Regional Styles in Irish Music: A Conversation," with Dr. Ann Spinney.
Connolly House
Wednesday, January 28
6:30 to 8:00 p.m.

Donna Hebert: Concert of Traditional Franco-American Fiddle Music.
Connolly House
Tuesday, February 10
6:30-8:30 p.m.

Nightingale: Concert of Traditional Music from New England, Canada, Ireland, and France.
Featuring Becky Tracy (fiddle), Jeremiah McLane (piano and accordion), and Keith Murphy (guitar, mandolin, foot percussion, vocals).
Connolly House
Tuesday, March 24
6:30-8:30 p.m.

Ken Perlman and Alan Jabbour: Concert of Traditional American Fiddle and Banjo Music.
Connolly House
Wednesday, April 1
6:30-8:30 p.m.

Maeve Donnelly and Tony McManus: Concert of Fiddle and Guitar Music from Ireland, Scotland, and beyond.
Connolly House.
Tuesday, April 14
6:30-8:30 p.m.

Irish Dance and Céilí

2008-11-24T14:38:00.005-05:00

The second céilí of the Fall 2008 Gaelic Roots series was a great night of fun for everyone involved! Meghan Allen, T.C.R.G, taught and called several group dances for guests of all ages and experience levels. The Irish Room in Gasson Hall was full with live music led by Sullivan Artist-in-Residence Séamus Connolly. Along with the group dances, the evening also featured Irish step dancing by Meghan's students and tunes performed by BC students involved with the Irish music program.

James Joyce Course

2008-11-19T15:24:00.006-05:00

The James Joyce course (EN309), taught by Professor Joseph Nugent, has been spending the Fall 2008 semester reading Ulysses. In order to approach such a difficult text, the class has been employing numerous strategies, including a variety of web components that students use to share their reactions to the text. Students gather and process information through the wiki feature on the internal BCshare website. Each small group has their own blog and wiki where they can enter their findings and review the work of others. Additionally, students have been compiling textual data to create a Google Map of the characters' paths through Dublin. The groups' wikis will eventually be compiled and linked to the virtual map. View the class' mapping progress

Joyce in Ireland

2008-11-19T14:59:00.004-05:00

The Office of International Programs is sponsoring Joyce in Ireland, a summer course that runs from July 31 to August 22, 2009. Class will be held at the Center for Irish Programs- Dublin Office, overlooking St. Stephens Green. Students will investigate Joyce's works within the topography of Dublin. Students will take guided tours through Ireland's National Gallery, National Museum, International James Joyce Center, and the Phoenix Park. In addition to exploring Dublin, the class will travel to Counties Cork, Meath, Mayo, and Offaly to study Joyce's background. Students will spend at least one long weekend in Galway, taking in ancient castles, megalithic monuments, and royal residences.

Professor Joseph Nugent, an Assistant Professor of English in BC's Irish Studies department, will be teaching the course. The content of Joyce in Ireland is based on EN309, a course Professor Nugent teaches at BC, which has been mapping out Joyce's characters' journeys through the streets of Dublin. View the maps the class has created

Play: Faith Healer

2008-11-11T12:55:00.005-05:00

Produced by the Publick Theatre and directed by Nora Hussey, Brian Friel's Faith Healer tells the spellbinding story of the itinerant Irish healer and the wife and manager who trek the wilds of Scotland and Wales in search of that magic moment of affirmation. Featured performers include Diego Arciniegas, Suzanne Nitter, and Gabriel Kuttner.

For information and reservations call 617-933-8600 or visit the Boston Center for the Arts website. Faith Healer plays Wednesday-Sunday through November 22, 2008 at the BCA Plaza Black Box.

Sixty Years of the Cuala Press: A Collaboration of the Yeats Family and Mollie Gill

2008-11-07T09:21:00.007-05:00

The exhibit Sixty Years of the Cuala Press examines the contributions of the Yeats family, the Cuala Press, and Mollie Gill to the Irish struggle for a distinct cultural and political identity.

Sixty Years of the Cuala Press features the Cuala Press Printed Materials Collection, also known as the Mollie Gill Cuala Press Archives. "Cuala," pronounced COOL-a, is an early name for Dublin. The Cuala Press (originally the Dun Emer Press) was founded by Elizabeth Corbet Yeats in 1908 in Dublin, Ireland. Although Elizabeth Corbet Yeats died in 1940, two of her loyal assistants - along with her sister-in-law, Mrs. Georgina Yeats - kept the press running until 1946.

The exhibit features materials from the Burns Library's collection of Yeats materials, including W. B. Yeats's original poetical notebooks, letters from W. B. Yeats to his sisters "Lily" (Susan Mary Yeats) and "Lolly" (Elizabeth Corbet Yeats) and correspondence relating to the Cuala Press by Elizabeth Corbet Yeats.

View the Boston College Magazine slideshow

The exhibit is on display until March 2009 at the Burns Library.

Yeats's Anniversary Conference: "Voice and Mask: Performing Identities"

2008-11-06T12:23:00.003-05:00

Georgia State University, in association with Université Charles de Gaulle- Lille III and Emory University present Yeats's Anniversary Conference: "Voice and Mask: Performing Identities", May 15-16 2009. This conference seeks to address the whole corpus of Yeats's poetic and dramatic works, as well as his prose writings. Contributions on the conference theme or on other Yeats-related areas are welcome. Proposals for 20-minute papers shoud be sent to Margaret Mills Harper (mharper@gsu.edu) by February 1, 2009.

2008 Magners Irish Film Festival

2008-11-06T12:14:00.005-05:00

The Magners Irish Film Festival celebrates its 10th anniversary, November 13-24, 2008. This year's festival features an expanded program of events and more than 40 contemporary features, documentaries, and short films. For tickets and schedule

2008 ICONS Festival

2008-06-26T21:52:00.006-04:00

In case you missed it, the ICONS (Irish Connections) Irish Music and Arts Festival is changing its date again -- this time to Sept. 12-14, 2008 which should hopefully mean there's less chance of a summer-time inferno or a late-spring deluge.

Here's the line-up:

Liam Clancy

Lúnasa

Solas

Luka Bloom

Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill

Crooked Still

Beoga

Tony McManus

Sean Keane

Cara Dillon

The Clancy Legacy (Robbie O'Connell, Aoife Clancy and Donal Clancy)

David Munnelly Band

The Tannahill Weavers

Footworks Dance Ensemble

Le Vent Du Nord

Líadan

Chulrua with Paddy O'Brien

Annalivia featuring John Whelan

Gadelle (from Canada)

Gráinne Hambly and William Jackson

Revels Repertory (Harvest Show)

Shay Duffin (as Brendan Behan)

Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann

You can go to the ICONS Web site for more details -- they've also got a festival blog for news, updates and special features.

June 9 at Club Passim: Tribute to the Irish Accordion

2008-06-09T10:39:00.002-04:00

Boston Celtic Music Fest presents: Celtic Music Monday at Club Passim
"Thinking Inside (and Outside) the Box: A Tribute to the Irish Accordion"
June 9, 8 p.m.
Club Passim, Harvard Square
47 Palmer Street, Cambridge
Whatever one associates with the accordion -- endless choruses of "Ladies of Spain," men in lederhosen, or "Weird Al" Yankovic pop-song parodies -- it holds a venerable place in the Irish music tradition. This month's edition of Celtic Music Monday will feature a tribute to "the box" with three of Greater Boston's more noteworthy accordionists:
-Jack Conroy with the Morning Star Group (Peter Maguire, Helen Kisiel and Brendan Tonra), evoking the classic Boston Irish sound that influenced generations of musicians.
-Sean Gannon, a regular at sessions in Somerville's Burren pub who appeared in this year's "St. Patrick's Day Celtic Sojourn," with a Connemara-influenced style and repertoire
-Tess Ruderman with Catherine Joyce, representing the newest generation of Irish music

Catherine Joyce also will co-lead a special salute to her late father, Joe Joyce ("The People's Choice"), a legendary accordion player, singer and raconteur who enlivened the area Irish music scene for decades until his death last summer.
Admission is $12, $6 for members of Club Passim, WGBH and WUMB. Ticket reservations available at clubpassim.org or 617-492-7679. Information about Celtic Music Monday at bcmfest.com.

Ireland's Magdalen Laundaries

2008-05-08T19:17:00.002-04:00

Professor James Smith and his most recent book, Ireland's Magdalen Laundries and the Nation's Architecture of Containment have also been featured in an article from The Irish Times, "Cruelty hidden in plain view." Read it here (pdf).

Professor James Smith on RTÉ Radio 1

2008-04-28T17:59:00.004-04:00

Professor James Smith appeared on the RTÉ Radio 1 show "Today with Pat Kenny" on Tuesday, April 22nd to discuss his recent book Ireland's Magdalen Laundries and the Nation's Architecture of Containment. Listen to the show for the rest of this week here. (At the bottom of the right hand menu click Tuesday. The interview occurs about an hour and fourteen minutes into the show.)

April 14: BCMFest Celtic Music Monday at Club Passim

2008-04-08T17:15:00.002-04:00

The monthly BCMFest Celtic Music Monday series at Club Passim continues on April 14 with a "BCMFest Performer Showcase" featuring Aoife Clancy (left), former lead singer for Cherish the Ladies and one of Irish music's most distinctive voices.
Also playing:
-Susie Petrov & Dan Houghton: superb, sublime Scottish music on accordion, pipes, piano, flute
-Mairin Ui Cheide: majestic sean-nos singing in Gaelic and English
-Janine Sirignano & Sean Smith: engaging fiddle/guitar duo with an "extratradestrial" touch
The show begins at 8 p.m. at Club Passim, located at 47 Palmer St. in Harvard Square. Admission is only $12, $6 for members of Passim, WGBH and WUMB. Ticket information is available at http://clubpassim.org or 617-492-7679.
Celtic Music Monday, a collaboration between the Boston Celtic Music Fest (BCMFest) and Club Passim, presents some of the Boston area's best performers of Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton and other Celtic traditions.

The Legacy of Mayor James Michael Curley

2008-03-03T12:47:00.003-05:00

On Sunday, April 6th, the Jamaica Plain Historical Society will hold a talk on the legacy of Mayor James Michael Curley from 3 to 5 pm. The event will be hosted by Clint Richmond at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Brookside Avenue, JP. The event is free and open to the public; parking is available on site.

There will also be a viewing of campaign memorabilia and a showing of a 1957 interview with the Mayor by Edward R. Murrow recorded at Curley's JP home. This interview has not been shown in 50 years. It is also the 100th anniversary of the parish.

Irish Music Library Research Guide

2008-02-22T14:59:00.002-05:00

Beth Sweeney of the Irish Music Center at the John J. Burns Library at BC, has put together an online library guide for students and researchers. The guide has a list of helpful resources including books, online databases, periodicals, published collections, collections at BC, and online sites for instrumental music and songs. For anyone interested in studying Irish music, this is a great place to get started.

Student Spotlight: Ely Janis

2008-02-14T11:29:00.005-05:00

Ely Janis successfully defended his doctoral dissertation, entitled "The Land League in the United States and Ireland: Nationalism, Gender, and Ethnicity in the Gilded Age" on February 6th. Congratulations, Dr. Janis!

BCMFest "Celtic Music Monday" series at Club Passim

2008-02-05T15:09:00.000-05:00

Having rung down the curtain on its fifth festival, the Boston Celtic Music Fest (BCMFest) will be once again presenting the monthly "Celtic Music Monday" series at Club Passim, starting this coming Monday, Feb. 11.

BCMFest loves to encourage collaborations, and it's that spirit of coming together which enlivens this first show of 2008, which will present the debut of a new trio, followed by the long-awaited return of a guitar legend to the Boston Irish scene. Featured performers are: Dan Gurney, one of the Northeast's best young accordion players (he's played with John Whelan, Cherish the Ladies, and Matt and Shannon Heaton, among others, and appeared at BC); fiddler Duncan Wickel, who has toured with John Doyle and James Devine's Tapeire; Mark Simos, a widely acclaimed composer and songwriter who has accompanied some of the legends of Irish music on guitar; and Forrest O'Connor, whose mandolin playing comes from a strong bluegrass background.
The concert will begin with the first-ever public appearance of an exciting collaboration between Gurney, O'Connor and Wickel. They will be playing what can be loosely described as a mix of bluegrass, Irish, and jazz — although, as Gurney says, "the music we've been working on doesn't sound completely like any of those styles. It's something that we've never heard before, and we're looking forward to seeing what the audience thinks of it." The second half will focus on Irish tunes, as Gurney and Wickel are joined by Simos, whose guitar accompaniment will at long last emerge from semi-retirement.
BCMFest Celtic Music Monday
Feb. 11, 8 p.m.
Club Passim, 47 Palmer St., Harvard Square
Tickets $12, $6 for members of Passim, WGBH or WUMB
Go to http://www.passimcenter.org or call 617-492-7679

BCMFest

2008-01-18T14:20:00.000-05:00

The fifth annual Boston Celtic Music Fest (BCMFest) took place this past weekend (Jan. 11 and 12), with more than two-dozen acts featuring music, song and dance from Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton and other Celtic and Celtic-derived traditions. Festivities began on Friday night with a "kick-off concert" at Club Passim in Harvard Square and the Boston Urban Ceilidh -- an occasional event that bills itself as "contra dance meets mosh pit" -- at Springstep in Medford.

The festival started up again Saturday morning and continued all afternoon, with concerts at Passim and three different stages in the First Parish Church of Cambridge. Among the featured acts this year were Matt and Shannon Heaton with Kieran Jordan and Dan Gurney; The New Tyme Sisters (Emerald Rae and Eden Forman with guest Emma Beaton); Flynn Cohen and Liz Simmons; The Boston Kiltics; The Burren Youth Session, an Irish music group comprised mainly of high school students; Tina Lech and Ted Davis; the trio of Helena Delaney, Chris Stevens and Andy Collins; Amanda Cavanaugh and Sean Gannon; and an ad hoc version of Local Hero, a Scottish music ensemble directed by keyboardist-accordionist Susie Petrov, who recruited cellist Natalie Haas, fiddler Calum Pasqua and -- from Edinburgh -- piper Dan Houghton for the occasion. A special event this year was a tribute to the landmark Andy Irvine-Paul Brady album of 1977, performed by Matt Heaton and Flynn Cohen.

A finale concert, "Celtic Roots, American Branches," in the First Parish Church topped off the weekend. Produced and directed by BCMFest co-founders Laura Cortese and Shannon Heaton, who led the evening's "house band," the concert had at least one representative from every act involved, and included some special guests, such as Lissa Schneckenburger, and tradition-bearers Brendan Tonra, Jack Conroy and Helen Kiesel.

Climaxing the concert was the debut of "Before We Sleep," a song penned by Cortese and Heaton to celebrate the spirit of BCMFest, followed by a lively, en masse version of the popular Irish reel "The Bucks of Oranmore."

As was noted during the concert, BCMFest is no longer a once-a-year affair; through a collaboration with Club Passim, BCMFest presents a series, Celtic Music Monday, on the second Monday of each month, that showcases some of the area's best Celtic music performers. (The series continues next month, Feb. 11, with brilliant young accordionist Dan Gurney and special guests, including guitarist Mark Simos.)
Photos, including those above, from this year's and previous BCMFests can be viewed at the BCMFest Myspace page, at http://www.myspace.com/bcmfest (you don't have to register to access them). For more information about BCMFest, go to http://bcmfest.com.

Student Spotlight: Adam Chill

2008-01-16T12:01:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to Adam Chill, who graduated from the history PhD program this past December. Adam's dissertation, “The Boundaries of Britishness: Nationalism, Ethnicity, and Boxing in Britain, 1770-1830” examines the flexibility of British identity and its ability to include those of Irish, African and Jewish origins through the sport of boxing.

Gaelic Roots Series: Spring 2008 Events

2007-12-18T10:17:00.000-05:00

www.bc.edu/gaelicroots
Directed by Séamus Connolly, Sullivan Artist-in Residence, Boston College

Wednesday, January 16
Irish dance and céilí: Directed by Meghan Allen, T.C.R.G.
Live dance music by Séamus Connolly (Sullivan Artist-in-Residence), Larry Reynolds, and friends.
Location & Time: Gasson Hall Irish Room, Boston College. 6:30 p.m. beginner instruction; 6:45-8:45 dances taught (all levels)

Wednesday, February 6
Lecture/Recital: "The Irish Music Manuscripts of Henry Hudson at the Boston Public Library," presented by visiting Fulbright scholar Jimmy O'Brien Moran.
Location & Time: John J. Burns Library, Thompson Room, Boston College, 6:30-8:00 pm

Thursday, February 28
Lecture/Concert: Lecture on Séamus Ennis' Gaelic song translations, by visiting Fulbright scholar Jimmy O'Brien Moran; concert of Irish songs performed by Bridget Fitzgerald and Mary Lee Partington, with uilleann piper Jimmy O'Brien Moran.
Location & Time: Connolly House, Boston College, 6:30-9:00 pm

Tuesday, March 11
Exhibit: Portraits of Boston Irish musicians by Skip Toomey; Reception with live music. Co-sponsored by John J. Burns Library.
Location & Time: John J. Burns Library, Boston College, 4:30-6:30 pm. RSVP 617-552-3282

Thursday, March 27
Concert: Jimmy O'Brien Moran (visiting Fulbright scholar) -- uilleann pipes
Location & Time: Connolly House, Boston College, 7:00-9:00 pm

Tuesday, April 1
Concert: Cillian Vallely and Kevin Crawford -- uilleann pipes and Irish flute
Location & Time: Connolly House, Boston College, 7:00-9:00 pm

Tuesday, April 15
Concert: Len Graham -- songs from the Ulster tradition
Location & Time: Connolly House, Boston College, 7:00-9:00 pm

Gaelic Roots Christmas Ceili

2007-12-07T00:12:00.001-05:00

This year's Christmas Ceili, on December 5th was a great success! Irish dance teacher Meghan Allen taught and called the dance, to live music led by Seamus Connolly. During a break in the group dances, some set dancers from Comhaltas were featured, along with solo steps by BC Irish dancers and young girls from a community dance school. If you missed this semester's ceilis, keep an eye on the Gaelic Roots schedule for more coming up!

Irish Studies programs on BC's Front Row

2007-12-04T15:31:00.000-05:00

Boston College Front Row offers streaming viewing of many academic and cultural programs held on BC's campus in an online archive. This diverse collection includes many of the lectures, literature readings, and music hosted by Irish Studies. Click here to browse the programs.

Christmas Celtic Sojourn

2007-11-29T12:53:00.000-05:00

WGBH and the Cutler Majestic Theatre are presenting A Christmas Celtic Sojourn with Brian O'Donovan at Emerson College (219 Tremont Street, Boston). The show will run for eight nights from December 13th through the 22nd. The concert will feature traditional singing, music and dance.

Tickets can be bought by calling 1.800.233.3123 or by visiting th Cutler Emerson Majestic Theatre Box Office (in person) or www.telecharge.com

Christmas Open House and Annual Grand Drawing

2007-11-29T12:31:00.000-05:00

The Irish Cultural Centre is holding their Christmas Open House and Annual Grand Drawing on December 8th at 6 pm.

Proceeds from the evening benefit the ICC, funding their year-round programming. The grand prize is $30,000.

For more information, visit the Irish Cultural Centre of New England.

Alumni Accomplishments: Nadia Smith

2007-11-27T06:40:00.000-05:00

Nadia Smith received her PhD from Boston College in 2003 and is now working as an adjunct professor in the history department. She has just published Dorothy Macardle: a Life (Dublin: Woodfield Press, 2007).

She is also the author of A 'Manly Study'? Irish Women Historians, 1868-1949 (Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006).

Focus on Faculty: James Smith

2007-11-25T10:34:00.000-05:00

The University of Notre Dame Press has just published Associate Professor of English and Irish Studies Jim Smith’s Ireland’s Magdalen Laundries and the Nation’s Architecture of Containment. The Magdalen laundries were workhouses in which many Irish women and girls were effectively imprisoned because they were perceived to be a threat to the moral fiber of society. Originating in the eighteenth century, they were operated by various orders of the Catholic Church from the post-famine period until the last laundry closed in 1996. The Magdalen laundries have become an important issue in Irish culture, especially with the 2002 release of the film “The Magdalene Sisters.” Focusing on the ten Catholic Magdalen laundries operating between 1922 and 1996, Smith’s book offers the first history of these institutions in the twentieth century. Because the religious orders have not opened their archival records, Smith argues that Ireland's Magdalen institutions continue to exist in the public mind primarily at the level of story (cultural representation and survivor testimony) rather than history (archival history and documentation). Copies can be obtained from the press at http://www3.undpress.nd.edu/main.php. Read an Irish Times review of Professor Smith's book here.

Irish Language Film Screening

2007-11-05T14:18:00.000-05:00

Cré na Cille
Saturday, November 10
Harvard Film Archive, 5:00 pm

Cré na Cille, an irish-language film adaptation (w/ english subtitles) of the celebrated Irish language novel of the same title, will premiere at the 9th Magners Irish Film Festival in Boston.

The film has received both national and international recognition since its premiere in Galway in December 2006. Set in a cemetery, Cré na Cille is a darkly humorous tale of the intense jealousy and hatred between two sisters, which worsens with age, and continues into the afterlife.

Cré na Cille has impressed judges from all over the world. The full length Irish language feature was selected for competition at the prestigious Shanghai International Film Festival in June 2007. In Ireland, the Kerry Film Festival has described it as: “…the best Irish Language Film of this year.”

For any further information:

Loretta Ní Ghabháin

+353.87.799798

loretta@rosg.ie

Preserving the Tara Complex

2007-10-09T12:09:00.000-04:00

The Anthropology and Sociology Departments at Bridgewater State College are co-sponsoring a pair of events on Sunday, October 28 and Monday, October 29 centering on the preservation of the Tara Complex in Ireland.

On the afternoon of Sunday, October 28, Dr. Ronald Hicks, an internationally renowned expert on Celtic Bronze and Iron Age culture, will present a lecture titled “Ireland’s Threatened Heritage: Lismullen and the Tara Complex.” This will be a fund-raiser with a suggested donation of $25.00 per person. Following the lecture there will be a wine-and-cheese reception and an Irish harp-flute duet. The event will take place in the Large Ballroom of the College’s Campus Center.

On Monday morning, October 29, Dr. Hicks will present a less formal discussion on “Ireland’s Royal Sites.” This talk will be free for BSC students, faculty, staff and the general public. It will take place in the John J. Moakley Center Auditorium.
For details of either event, please contact Dr. Curtiss Hoffman, Chairperson, Department of Anthropology at Bridgewater State College. Dr. Hoffman can be reached at c1hoffman@bridgew.edu

Ecumenism in Ulster

2007-09-26T15:14:00.000-04:00

Burns Library’s Thompson Room
5pm, Monday, October 22, 2007

The Center for Irish Programs/Burns Library Special Presentation

Ecumenism in Ulster: Evaluating the Role of the Church of Ireland, and the Roman Catholic Church, during “The Troubles” in Northern Ireland

Dr. Daithí Ó Corráin, Trinity College Dublin, is our guest scholar presenter. Ó Corráin holds a BA and a Ph.D. degree in history from TCD, as well as a postgraduate diploma in computer science from University College Cork.

He has been, since November 2003, a Research Fellow at Trinity College where, together with Professor Eunan O’Halpin, Ó Corráin has been engaged in a monumental project which will be published by Yale University Press. The first volume of this study, entitled The Dead of the Irish Revolution, 1916-1921, will appear in 2008.

Dr. Ó Corráin is also the author of a number of journal articles, chapters in books, and a highly acclaimed monograph published by the University of Manchester Press, entitled Rendering to God and Caesar: The Irish Churches and the Two States in Ireland, 1949-1973. Oxford University Professor Roy Foster has hailed this study as a pioneering work which utilizes both oral and documentary sources not previously employed in studies which have examined the relations between the Church of Ireland and the Catholic Church, and the governments of the Republic and of Northern Ireland.

Presentation and Q&A – 5pm
Reception in Burns Foyer – 6pm

Please do us the kindness of telephoning either Catherine at the Center (617-552-4847), or Lori at the Burns Library (617-552-3282) by 3pm Monday, October 15, 2007 if you do plan to attend. The seating capacity in the Thompson Room can be moderately expanded if we have sufficient advance notice.

Second Call for Papers: Children, Childhood, and Irish Society, 1700-2007

2007-09-17T13:15:00.000-04:00

Éire-Ireland: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Irish Studies welcomes submissions for a Spring/Summer 2009 special issue that will consider the theme of "Children, Childhood, and Irish Society, 1700-2007." Childhood figures insistently across a wide range of contemporary discussions and representations of Irish life, from constitutional referenda and tribunals of inquiry to blockbuster films, memoirs and award-winning novels, from the emergence of Gaelscoileanna to the citizenship debate. The guest editors seek essays that place these recent developments in a broader social, cultural, and historical context. We are especially interested in essays that offer interdisciplinary perspectives from history, literature, visual culture, social welfare and social policy. We also invite submissions informed by new sources of archival research. We encourage articles responding to the following areas:

Changing conceptions of childhood in Irish society in the period 1700 to the present.
The child and the state
The child and religion
Childhood and social class
Childhood and educational policy/practice
Childhood in the two Irelands: Anglo and native, North and the Republic
The marginalised and/or institutionalized child
Irish childhood and the Diaspora
Children and family: nuclear, single parent, adopted, foster
Idealised childhood and nostalgia
Childhood sexualities
Imaging children and childhood in film, documentary, and art.
Literary Childhoods: fiction, poetry, drama, and memoir

The deadline for the receipt of proposal (two pages) is November 1, 2007, and completed articles (6000-8000 words) will be due by April 15, 2008. Send proposals to Professor Maria Luddy at m.luddy@warwick.ac.uk and Professor James Smith at smithbt@bc.edu

Boston College-Ireland Lecture Series 2007-8: The New Irish

2007-09-12T11:40:00.000-04:00

One of the key issues in contemporary Ireland is the place and future role of the New Irish. Following on from Boston College’s involvement with the US State Department sponsored programme in 2006, “Leaders of Ethnically Diverse Communities in Ireland and Northern Ireland”, this year’s Lecture Series will bring together speakers to discuss the multitude of issues that relate to the New Irish. Each meeting will feature two or three speakers who will outline the main issues, and then engage the audience in discussion.

25 September 2007: The New Irish – the big issues

Speakers: Cllr Rotimi Adebari (Mayor of Porlaoise)

Bryan Fanning (UCD), Editor of Immigration and Social Change (Manchester, 2007)

Alice Feldman (UCD) Co-Director of the Migration and Citizenship Research Initiative

All meetings begin at 6.00 pm at Boston College, 42 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin. If you have any queries, please call Tel. 01 614 7450, email gilien@bc.edu, or visit www.bc.edu/dublin. These are public events, so all are welcome.

ASSOCIATIONAL CULTURE IN IRELAND AND THE WIDER WORLD c. 1750 - c. 1940

2007-09-04T11:22:00.000-04:00

International Conference 16 - 18 May 2008
A distinctive feature of modern non-totalitarian societies is the flourishing, within the context of a stable state, of voluntary formal associational life (clubs, societies, etc) as distinct from the more traditional forms of sociability such as religious feast days and popular fairs.

The Associational Culture in Ireland (ACI) project (principal investigator, Prof. R.V. Comerford) at NUI Maynooth is running a three-day international conference exploring the nature of associational culture in Ireland and the wider world throughout the period 1750-1940.

Proposals for papers are invited on any aspect of associational culture during this period.

The conference organisers welcome proposals for panels and individual papers. Proposals for roundtable discussions and poster sessions are equally welcome.

The deadline for submissions is 31 October 2007.

Proposals should include a short summary of the paper and a brief curriculum vitae as well as contact details, for each contributor.
Please send proposals to: Dr Jennifer Kelly, Department of History, NUI Maynooth, Maynooth, Co.Kildare.
Tel: (353) 1 7083200
Email: Jennifer.Kelly@nuim.ie

Visiting Fellow in Irish Studies at Boston College – Ireland

2007-09-04T11:09:00.000-04:00

Visiting Research Fellow in Irish Studies, Centre for Irish Programmes,
Boston College: Ireland, Spring term 2008

Boston College’s Centre for Irish Programmes, based in Dublin, is pleased to offer a Visiting Fellowship in Irish Studies. The Fellowship is open to any scholar of postdoctoral standing working in any area of Irish Studies, and would be ideal for someone on research leave from their own institution and seeking a base for their research in Ireland. The Fellow will be given an office in the Centre for Irish Programmes building at 42 St Stephen’s Green, and full computing and administrative support. The building is in the heart of Dublin and a short walk to the National Library and National Archives. The Centre runs a full lecture and research seminar programme throughout the year, and the Fellow would be invited to present a lecture during their tenure. Although there is no stipend attached to the Fellowship, there will be a payment of €5,000 to the Fellow to assist with travel to Ireland and some basic research costs.

The Fellowship is for a period of between two and six months, and is available from January 2008.

If you wish to apply for the Fellowship, please send a curriculum vitae and a two page rationale of the research that you wish to undertake while in Dublin. The deadline for applications is 17 November 2007.

For further information, please contact the Director of the Centre, Mike Cronin by e-mailing croninmr@bc.edu or call 00353-(0)1-6147450. For further details see: http://www.bc.edu/dublin/

Call for Papers: Ireland in the World.

2007-08-27T12:24:00.000-04:00

The School of Communications at DCU and Boston College-Ireland’s Centre for Irish Programmes invite papers for a one-day conference to be held at Boston College-Ireland, 42 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin on 9 May 2008.

The conference seeks to explore how Ireland was presented and represented through official and quasi-official cultural channels from the 1930s to the 1960s but with a particular focus on the period from 1945 to 1960. The immediate post-war period saw Ireland actively seeking to emerge from the isolation experienced during the Second World War. The need to portray Ireland as a competent manager of funds in a bid to secure Marshall Aid, and to attempt to bring Irish-Americans onside in a renewed bid to bring the “evil of partition” to the attention of the world created a new political context for cultural production. In that respect even the 1948 announcement by John A. Costello of the establishment of the Republic whilst on a trip to Canada can be read as performative, designed to demonstrate the re-emergence of a new Ireland at least as much to an international audience as to a domestic one.

The conference seeks to explore how this pre-Economic Development outward embrace was manifested in state-sponsored/related activities. We are seeking to define such activities in the broadest possible manner. Thus in addition to the establishment of bodies such as the Cultural Relations Committee within the Department of External Affairs, we would also be interested in papers related to:

• The planned Short Wave Radio Transmitter for Radio Eireann in 1948,
• The establishment of the Irish News Agency in 1948
• The establishment of the Arts Council in 1951
• Those touristic representations offered by the Irish Tourist Board and related institutions such as Aer Lingus and An Toastal,
• The establishment of a national soccer team representing the 26 counties
• President Kennedy’s visit to Ireland
• Images of Ireland projected through ‘official’ ephemera (stamps, coins etc.)

This is merely an indicative list and far from exhaustive. Abstracts of no more than 200 words, together with short personal descriptions should be mailed to Roddy Flynn and Mike Cronin at roderick.flynn@dcu.ie and mike.cronin@bc.edu by 31 December 2007.

The Black Hand of Republicanism: the Fenians and History

2007-08-27T12:20:00.000-04:00

A Conference marking the 150th anniversary of the founding of the IRB
Belfast, June 20-21 2008

The Irish Republican Brotherhood was a secret, oath-bound organisation which plotted political revolution in Ireland between the 1850s and the War of Independence, 1919-21. Far from being an exclusively Irish entity, Fenianism represented an international phenomenon with a well-organised presence throughout Britain, North America, and the Pacific. As well as orchestrating military operations in several states, Fenians constructed political machines in urban America, participated in political struggles in Ireland, and infiltrated the island’s literary and sporting cultures. This joint University of Ulster and Queen’s University of Belfast conference – marking the 150th anniversary of the founding of the IRB – seeks to bring scholars working on Fenianism together to consider the history of the organisation. Papers looking at the IRB in a diasporic, transnational, or imperial context are particularly welcome. Other key themes include memory and commemoration, British counter-intelligence and counter-insurgency, and popular culture, religion, and identity.

Enquiries or abstracts (of 250 words by February 1 2008) should be sent to Fearghal McGarry (QUB) and James McConnel (UU) at: irbat150@yahoo.co.uk

Dr James McConnel
Lecturer in History
School of History and International Affairs
University of Ulster, Magee
Londonderry
BT48 7JL
028 713 75278

Learn Irish Gaelic Now

2007-08-27T12:18:00.000-04:00

Only a few places remain in our online Irish language classes which begin the end on August. Sign up now. Classes being offered for Fall 2007 include Elementary Irish 1, Elementary Irish 3, Intermediate Irish Grammar. Call 718-960-6722.
www.lehman.edu/cunyiias

The Field Day Archive

2007-08-27T12:16:00.000-04:00

Field Day, the theatre and publishing company, has just published a guide to the correspondence, minutes, photographs, scripts, programmes, reels of film, audio recordings and other items that comprise its files. Compiled by Cormac Ó Duibhne of the Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology, the guide is a valuable resource for scholars interested in Irish literary and political culture since the company’s formation in 1980.
For details, see: www.fielddaybooks.com

Benefit Concert for Jerry Holland

2007-08-27T11:58:00.000-04:00

Beth Sweeney writes:

We are looking for help spreading the word on the upcoming benefit concert for Jerry Holland coming up on Sunday, September 9th, 2pm at The Jacob Sleeper Auditorium at Boston University.

A wonderful group of musicians and dancers will be performing including Séamus Connolly, Eileen Ivers, Alasdair Fraser, James Keane, Joe Derrane, Kieran O’Hare, Joe Cormier, Andrea Beaton, Kimberly Fraser, and many others, coming together to celebrate their friend Jerry Holland.

So please spread the word as we come down to the final few weeks. I am attaching our flyer to post in your favorite establishments, and I hope you will forward this email to anyone who you think might be interested and plan to come to a wonderful concert Sunday, September 9th, 2pm at The Jacob Sleeper Auditorium at Boston University.

Tickets are $30. Advanced tickets are available by sending a stamped self addresses envelope to:

C/O Mary Lamey

27 School Street

Natick, Ma 01760.

Make Checks payable to: concertforjerry

For complete details or for more information, please check the benefit website at www.concertforjerry.org or contact Mary Lamey at 508-653-3482.

Donations also graciously accepted. Checks are payable to: concertforjerry

Call for Papers: Ireland in the World

2007-07-25T12:00:00.000-04:00

The conference seeks to explore how Ireland was presented and represented through official and quasi-official cultural channels from the 1930s to the 1960s but with a particular focus on the period from 1945 to 1960. The immediate post-war period saw Ireland actively seeking to emerge from the isolation experienced during the Second World War. The need to portray Ireland as a competent manager of funds in a bid to secure Marshall Aid, and to attempt to bring Irish-Americans onside in a renewed bid to bring the “evil of partition” to the attention of the world created a new political context for cultural production. In that respect even the 1948 announcement by John A. Costello of the establishment of the Republic whilst on a trip to Canada can be read as performative, designed to demonstrate the re-emergence of a new Ireland at least as much to an international audience as to a domestic one.

The conference seeks to explore how this pre-Economic Development outward embrace was manifested in state-sponsored/related activities. We are seeking to define such activities in the broadest possible manner. Thus in addition to the establishment of bodies such as the Cultural Relations Committee within the Department of External Affairs, we would also be interested in papers related to:

The planned Short Wave Radio Transmitter for Radio Eireann in 1948,
The establishment of the Irish News Agency in 1948
The establishment of the Arts Council in 1951
Those touristic representations offered by the Irish Tourist Board and related institutions such as Aer Lingus and An Toastal,
The establishment of a national soccer team representing the 26 counties
President Kennedy’s visit to Ireland
Images of Ireland projected through ‘official’ ephemera (stamps, coins etc.)

This is merely an indicative list and far from exhaustive. Abstracts of no more than 200 words, together with short personal descriptions should be mailed to Roddy Flynn and Mike Cronin by 31 December 2007.

4th of July in Dublin

2007-07-19T10:19:00.000-04:00

Boston College-Ireland hosted a back yard tailgate 4th of July BBQ for BC interns, Alumni and friends. With a fortuitous break in the (seemingly endless) rain, a good time was had by all.

Photographs have been posted on the Alumni Association Ireland Chapter website - click on photo albums.