Summer school, book recall Fenians on 150th anniversary
Tuesday, August 5th, 20082008 is the 150th anniversary of the birth of Fenianism, and Brendan O’Cathaoir notes in today’s “Irishman’s Diary” section of the Irish Times that the anniversary “is passing by largely unnoticed”. The Fenians were an Irish Republican organistion with branches in both Ireland and the US.
As O’Cathaoir explains, the Famine exodus played a large role in the development of the organisation. The article is well worth reading – see it on the Irish Times website.
The Fenians are the focus of this year’s Kickham summer school in Mullinahone, Co. Tipperary on August 8-10.
Anyone interested in the Fenians’ raids into Canada will be interested in the Toronto’s Globe and Mail review of “Delusion” by Peter Edwards, which explores the raids from the Canadian perspective – more specifically, that of Henri LeCaron, Canada’s first spy. LeCaron managed to infiltrate Irish-American Fenians (and American Civil War veterans) who were plotting the storming of Canada, and hoping to hold it for ransom in exchange for a free Ireland.
See the review on the Globe and Mail website.
Read more about the Fenian Brotherhood on Wikipedia.
Member Publication: “Memories of the Past”
Friday, August 1st, 2008Ottawa’s Irish Drop-In Group has created a wonderful miscellany called “Memories of the Past: Stories and Recipes from Ottowa’s Irish Drop-In Group”. The eclectic collection of reminiscences, poems, jokes, photographs and more is a splendid insight into the lives of the 40+ seniors in the drop-in group, which meets every week at Margaret Mary’s Church in the south end of the Canadian capital.
Some of the contributions focus on individual stories of emigration and Irish and Canadian life, while others focus on the Irish history and heritage of the Ottawa area. Irish immigration to the area began in the early years of the 19th century, with sponsored immigration schemes; judging by this book, the Irish heritage of the area is rich and deep.
The book also contains about 60 recipes, including such traditional favourites as barm brack, colcannon, champ, porter cake, beef stew, and many soda bread recipes. A treat!
For more information, visit the website for the Irish Society of the National Capital Region.
Pictures of the launch event are also available. (scroll down in the centre section until you see the link to the June 8 event.) You can also hear contributors to the book at The Gaelic Hour website.
Would you like to share what your group is doing? Drop a line to noreen@ean.ie and I’ll share it with Ean members.
Summer roundup: From Galway to Turkey, exhibitions reveal emigrants’ lives
Friday, August 1st, 2008Exhibition Roundup
There are a number of interesting exhibitions that those interested in emigration might be interested in, no matter what part of the world you find yourself in this summer.
Dublin: Strangers to Citizens: The Irish in Europe 1600-1800 is continuing at the National Library of Ireland through December 2008. It’s a fascinating look at a little-known aspect of Irish emigration history.
Liverpool: Fis 2008 celebrates Irish culture and explores links between Ireland and Liverpool. It’s taking place at the Novas Contemporary Urban Centre on Greenland Street, and will last until 7 September. For more information, see the artinliverpool website.
New York: Catholics in New York 1808-1946 at the Museum of the City of New York explores the social and political history of the establishment of the Catholic Church in the city. Much of the exhibition focuses on the experience of the immigration Irish and later generations. It’s on until December 31. See more at the museum’s website.
New York: “To Love Two Countries: Ireland’s Greatest Generation in America” features photos taken in New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia by John Minihan – a portait photographer better known for his work with people like Samuel Beckett, Edna O’Brien, Ray Charles, and Al Pacino. A book accompanies the exhibition, which runs through December 2008. This exhibition was opened by the Taoiseach on his visit to New York. See the Irish Arts Center website for more information.
Galway: The Galway City Museum has two exhibitions of interest: a photography exhibition focusing on the experience of Irish emigrants in Britain, and another focusing on President John Kennedy’s ‘homecoming’ visit to Galway 45 years ago.
Turkey: An exhibition focusing on one of Ireland’s most famous 20th-century emigrants, Samuel Beckett, is on display in Diyarbakir at the Diyarbakir Chamber of Commerce and Industry. It is part of a series of cultural events marking the 2008 European Year of Intercultural Dialogue. For more information, see the Turkish Daily News website.
Boston: “Celebrating Celtic Prize Fighters: 1820-Present” is an eclectic collection of boxing photography and artifacts. Runs through September 2008 at the John J. Burns Library at Boston College. For more information, see the website.
“Women Religious and the Political World”. Galway, August 2008
Thursday, July 31st, 2008
In 2008, the Historians of Women Religious of Britain and Ireland (H-WRBI) will hold their fifth annual conference: WOMEN RELIGIOUS AND THE POLITICAL WORLD.
This conference will be held on 22nd-23rd August 2008 at the National University of Ireland, Galway. It will be an exciting programme of medieval, early modern, and modern papers on such themes as:
- Literary/visual negotiations of contemporary developments
- Political activism and participation
- Internal politics of the order
- Impact of the political world on communities of women religious
- Missionary work
For the provisional programme and booking form, please visit:
http://www.rhul.ac.uk/Bedford-Centre/history-women-religious/events.html
Mexico: SILAS, July 2009. “Heroes, victims or villains?”
Thursday, July 31st, 2008Second Conference of the Society for Irish Latin American Studies (SILAS)
“Heroes, victims or villains? Irish Presentations and Representations in Latin America and the Caribbean”
Morelia, Mexico
15-18 July 2009
Organised by the Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo
Call for Papers
The time has come for SILAS to convene its first conference in the Americas. The Second SILAS Conference will be held in colonial Morelia, with the local support of the Instituto de Investigaciones Históricas of the Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo. Researchers, students and independent scholars will share their work and experience on different aspects of Irish-Latin American relations.
Under the general title “Heroes, victims or villains? Irish Presentations and Representations in Latin America and the Caribbean”, this meeting proposes to foster international and multidisciplinary approaches to the study of connections between Ireland, Latin America, the Caribbean and Iberia.
SILAS was founded in July 2003 to promote the study of relations between Ireland and Latin America. The range of interest of the Society spans the settlement, lives and achievements of Irish migrants to Latin America and their descendants, the contemporary presence of Ireland in the life and culture of Latin America and the presence of Latin Americans in Ireland.
The Society invites papers on any aspect of Irish-Latin American links from scholars and students in disciplines such as humanities and social sciences, including for example history, literature, geography, politics, economy and the arts. The aim of the conference is to promote the exchange of views and research findings on a diverse range of issues and on an inter-disciplinary basis. For further details and updates, please see the conference pages.
Abstracts in English, Portuguese or Spanish (c.300 words) should be sent by email to the conference organisers, to arrive no later than 1 November 2008. Should you wish to attend the conference without presenting a paper, please register by sending your details to the organisers by 1 April 2009.
Organising Committee
Lourdes de Ita, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo
MartÃn Pérez Acevedo, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo
Miguel �ngel Sánchez de Armas, Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla
Laura Izarra, Universidade de São Paulo
Edmundo Murray, University of Zurich
Send Paper Proposals to: mexico2009@irlandeses.org
Conference Pages: www.irlandeses.org/mexico2009.htm
Anecdotal report highlights emigration
Wednesday, July 30th, 2008Anecdotal evidence that emigration is rising is continuing to appear in the media. There is a report in the Corkman local newspaper suggesting that builders have already started to emigrate.
The report quotes a 21-year-old local man who lost his job as an apprentice electrician that he may be forced to go abroad:
I can’t even begin to describe how frustrating it is to spend years working towards qualification and now find myself in a situation where I can not even get a labouring job. Already some of my friends have gone to England to find work. Unless I can find a job within the next few weeks I will have no option but to join them.
Figures released today by the Central Statistics Office show a sharp rise in the number of people signing onto the Live Register this month. There are now 238,000 people on the Live Register – the highest in more than a decade. The figure jumped by more than 17,000 from June, the second-largest monthly increase on record.
The unemployment rate is also rising rapidly, standing at 5.9% in July, up from 4.8% in the first quarter of this year.
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