Category: Previous Lectures

The contributions of women religious in Galway city and county are areas of increasing interest, with historians and the public eager to engage with the longstanding histories of religious orders. Groups whose names are familiar to Galwegians, such as the Poor Clare, Dominican, Augustinian and Carmelite foundations, all trace their origins to the seventeenth century. In this lecture, Dr. Bronagh McShane will explore the numbers and identities of women who joined these orders and elucidate where possible their family connections. Situating the experiences of these women within the broader context of conflict and upheaval that characterised seventeenth century Ireland, and within the wider context of European monasticism, new light shall be shed on this important but often overlooked dimension of local Galway history and heritage. Dr. Bronagh Ann McShane is a historian specialising in the history of women, religion and confessionalisation in early modern Ireland and Europe. Her research has been funded by the Irish Research Council, the National University of Ireland and the Royal Irish Academy. She has published widely in leading peer-reviewed journals including, British Catholic History, Archivium Hibernicum and the Journal of Historical Network Research. Her monograph, Irish Women in Religious Orders, 1530-1700: Suppression, Migration and Reintegration… Read the rest

What can fiction tell us about everyday life in Ireland and Northern Ireland during the 1930s, 40s and 50s? And perhaps just as importantly, what does it not tell us? Did male authors differ from female authors? Did the works of Catholics differ from those of Protestants? These, and other questions, will be explored by Dr. Caitriona Clear in this lecture. Novelists such as Patrick Purcell, Sheila Pim, John D. Sheridan, and Patricia O’Connor, are just a sample of those whose books will be considered. This presentation shall seek to ignite memories of, or stimulate curiosity about, these vivid and accomplished story-tellers; some of whom remain fondly remembered, whilst others are undeservedly forgotten. Dr. Caitriona Clear is a member of the Galway Archaeological & Historical Society, and lectures in history at the University of Galway. She has published widely on various aspects of Irish history, ranging from Women Religious in the nineteenth century, to women’s magazines in the twentieth. Dr. Clear was an invited contributor to the Irish President’s Machnamh 100 Seminar Series on Irish history in 2021, and is currently engaged with a number of projects, of which research on the contribution of Irish fiction to the analysis of… Read the rest

For many decades, historians and commentators avoided examination of the Civil War, regarding it almost with embarrassment. So it was within families and communities too, where the ‘War of the Brothers’ was often discussed only in hushed tones, if at all. However, since the arrival of Michael Hopkinson’s ground-breaking Green against Green in 1988 things have changed, and authorities such as Tom Garvin, Bill Kissane and – most recently – Diarmaid Ferriter have published books on the subject. In this lecture, Professor Michael Laffan, will examine how our views of this conflict have evolved in recent years. A graduate of University College Dublin and Trinity Hall Cambridge, Professor Laffan lectured at the School of History and Archives at UCD for over three decades. A former president of the Irish Historical Society, and a sought-after contributor on matters historical for the national media, he has also published extensively on Ireland’s Revolutionary Period. His seminal work on the original Sinn Féin organisation, The Resurrection of Ireland: the Sinn Féin Party, 1916-1923, remains the definitive text on that subject; whilst his more recent biography of W. T. Cosgrave successfully addressed a previous dearth in academic examination of the first leader of the independent… Read the rest

Léacht (Luan 14ú Márta: Harbour Hotel ag 20:00/8i.n.) Léargas ar an bpobal a mhair sa gceantar seo sa naoú haois déag ó thaobh cén uair ar tháinig siad ann, cé leis a raibh siad ag íoc cíosa, cén chaoi ar mhair siad ar muir is tír agus na hathruithe a bhí ag tarlú de réir mar a bhí an tréimhse sin ag dul ar aghaidh.  As Tír an Fhia sna hOileáin í Áine Ní Chonghaile. Thosaigh sí a saol oibre ag teagasc agus ansin chuaigh siad leis an aistriúchán, ceird ar chaith sí an chuid ba mhó dá saol oibre.… Read the rest

Lecture 17 January 2022 A discussion of the implications for the Irish Republic, the North, and Ireland’s relations with the wider world On 6 December 1921, the Sinn Féin delegation led by Arthur Griffith signed the ‘Articles of Agreement for a Treaty between Britain and Ireland’ at Downing Street, London. From both a revolutionary and a constitutional perspective this was a seminal moment in Irish history. The Treaty itself signalled a formal end to the Irish War of Independence against Crown forces; debates surrounding it proved a harbinger for a bitter civil war; whilst its ratification by the Dáil ensured that it served as the foundation document of the new Irish state: Saorstát Éireann. In this lecture, hosted jointly by the Galway Archaeological & Historical Society and the Moore Institute of NUI Galway, Dr Mary Harris will examine this (still) contentious moment in Irish history, and consider its implications for the Irish Republic, the North, and Ireland’s relations with the wider world. Originally from Cork, Dr Harris studied history, Irish and Spanish at University College Cork. She also completed her MA in medieval Irish literature at UCC, before attaining her doctorate in history at the University of Cambridge. From 1992-1996… Read the rest

This lecture will introduce the seminal monthly bilingual Irish-English newspaper An Gaodhal, the first serial dedicated to providing content to an Irish-language readership. An Gaodhal was established, edited, and printed from 1881 to 1898 in Brooklyn, New York, by Micheál Ó Lócháin (c.1836-1899) from Milltown, Co. Galway, who came to be regarded as the father of the Irish-language movement in America, a movement that inspired the emergence of the Gaelic League at home in Ireland. The contents of An Gaodhal reflect the cultural interests of Irish speakers in New York, Ireland, and the wider diaspora; Irish American life; New York history; and the development of the Irish language during the Celtic Revival period. A partnership between University of Galway and New York University is currently working to create a fully searchable digital edition of An Gaodhal by training artificial intelligence how to read the Cló Gaelach script printed in the newspaper. Deirdre Ní Chonghaile is a writer, musician, broadcaster, and curator from the Aran Islands. Her 2021 book Collecting Music in the Aran Islands: A Century of History and Practice, published by the University of Wisconsin Press, has been described as “one of the most important and fascinating books about… Read the rest

This talk will discuss the development of the annual Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireannin the 1950s, with particular emphasis on when the Fleadh came to Loughrea, CountyGalway in 1955 and the subsequent year 1956, when it was hosted in neighbouringCounty Clare, in Ennis. The Fleadh was first established by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann(CCÉ) in 1951, when the inaugural festival was held in Mullingar. That first Fleadh wasthe initial action of CCÉ, the nascent music revival organisation, itself as yet unnamed.Over the course of the 1950s, the annual Fleadh (and the developing structures ofcounty and provincial Fleadh) became the most important calendar event for the Irishtraditional music community of practice. In the 1950s, Loughrea and Ennis as locationswere key building blocks in Fleadh growth, but were not without tensions which spilledover into the performance space.  The Fleadh remains central to Irish traditional musicculture, now attracting over half a million people annually, however, it is these earlyfestivals which created many of the structures and patterns of festivalisation that arecentral the contemporary Fleadh model. Dr Méabh Ní Fhuartháin (Head of Irish Studies, Centre for Irish Studies, University ofGalway) lectures and researches in the field of Irish music and dance studies. Widelypublished, Méabh’s current research projects… Read the rest