Hearty congratulations to all graduating students, many of whom are attending conferring ceremonies this week. Among them is our own Úna Kavanagh, graduating with her BA in Irish Studies. Úna is seen here with family and some of the team at the Centre for Irish Studies who were delighted to come together to celebrate the occasion. More congratulations are also due to Úna as she is this year's recipient of the Pj Mara Scholarship awarded for post-graduate study in History.
Wonderful to see Irish Studies graduate Shannon McNamee featuring in The Journal of Music! Shannon’s review of Lankum is in the current issue of JM
A review of NÓTAÍ/NOTES MUSIC AND IRELAND Research symposium at Boston College appears in this weeks Irish Echo. http://irishecho.com/2017/…/dance-halls-talk-a-bc-highlight/
The first of two research symposia planned by Verena Commins and Méabh Ní Fhuartháin, contributing speakers included Helen O'Shea (U of Melbourne), Adam Kaul (Augustana College, Illinois), Aileen Dillane (UL) among others. With topics ranging from recovered archives, to dance halls, monuments to busking, ...the breadth of disciplines speaking into the space of Irish Studies on the theme of Music and Ireland impressed the full house. The second symposium will take place at the Centre for Irish Studies in Spring 2018. Both events are part of the preparation for a special issue of Éire/Ireland the interdisciplinary journal of Irish Studies, scheduled for publication in January 2019 and edited by Verena and Méabh.
The Goteborg Book Fair, Scandanavia’s largest cultural festival, includes a showcase event featuring Louis de Paor’a Leabhar na hAthghabhála/Poems of Repossession on Saturday 30 September as part of its celebration of contemporary writing from Ireland.
Saturday 13.00-13.45
Voices from Ireland: Poems of repossession
The first language of the Republic of Ireland is not, as some might think, English; rather, it is Gaeilge, or Irish. This ancient language has a rich literary heri...tage, especially its poetic tradition, which traces back to the fili or bards of pre-Christian Ireland. However, much of this poetry is hidden from view of the majority of readers, even in Ireland, given the hegemony of the English language in both everyday and cultural life. In response to this, in 2016, Cló Iar-Chonnacht and Bloodaxe Books published Leabhar na hAthghabhála | Poems of Repossession, an anthology of 20th century Irish poetry – complete with English translations by renowned poets – in order to make visible and audible to non-Irish speakers the distinctive tradition and aesthetic of poetry in the Irish language. Join the anthology’s editor Louis de Paor and the Irish language poets Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill and Liam O Muirthile tolearn more about the Irish language and its poetry and to hear some of the poems in their beautiful originals and creative English translations.
Sean-nós singing workshops starting Wednesday, 27 September.
The workshops will be taught by Sarah Ghriallais, the recently appointed Sean-nós Singer in Residence at NUI Galway for 2017. Sarah who is originally from Muiceanach, Camus, is a renowned sean-nós singer with exceptional talent, a previous winner of the prestigious Corn Uí Riada, the premier sean-nós singing competition at the Oireachtas. Sarah’s singing has also featured on stage, in documentaries and in films.
...Sarah will give a series of five sean-nós singing workshops at the Centre for Irish Studies, NUI Galway. The first workshop in this series will take place on Wednesday, 27 September at 7pm. Workshops are free and open to all.
This project is funded by Ealaín na Gaeltachta, Údarás na Gaeltachta, An Chomhairle Ealaíon and the Centre for Irish Studies at NUI Galway.