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Centre for Irish Studies Newsletter

Nuachtlitir Ionad an Léinn Éireannaigh                                 Issue 8          Winter 09

| Cover Stories |   Features | Back Issues |

FEATURES 

• Three more PhD Students gain IRCHSS Fellowships this year
• IRCHSS Post-Doctoral Fellowship
• Visiting Research Fellow
• Dr Elizabeth Ball
• BA CONNECT with Irish Studies
• MA in Irish Studies 2008-2009
• Kilfenora Ceili Band
• Omós Áite, Irish Studies Seminars and Meitheal
• Breaking News 
  

Three more PhD Students gain IRCHSS Fellowships this year

Congratulations to Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh, Thérése McIntyre and Tim Collins who were the three students in the Centre who were awarded IRCHSS scholarships this year.  Tim’s thesis investigates the concept of ’regionalism’ within the cultural world of Irish traditional music. It seeks to broaden our understanding of how a ’music region’ is constructed by exploring the engagement of traditional music, song and dance culture with the concepts of Place, Identity and Memory in Sliabh Aughty, a musically rich upland region encompassing east Clare and southeast Galway. In addition, the thesis explores how regional music and its associated place narratives, function in identity formation among Sliabh Aughty’s music diaspora.

Thérèse McIntyre, was part of the first group to graduate from the Centre for Irish Studies with a Diploma in Irish Studies in 2002.  She subsequently received her B.A. in History and English from NUI Galway (2008) and recently completed her Masters in Irish Studies, also at NUI Galway (2009).

Her PhD is titled  ’Historical ’Fact’ versus ’Folk’ Memory:  The Creation and Representation of ’Heroes’ in Irish Traditional Song and Ballad’ and it continues the work begun during the Masters programme.  This project explores the construction of ’heroes’ in the Irish vernacular song tradition, their relationship to accepted historical narratives, and the song’s influence on the social memory of the modern day Irish community.  Her research presents an opportunity to examine the Irish vernacular song tradition within Irish Studies by applying established theoretical frameworks from History, Folklore Studies, and Ethnography in an innovative and interdisciplinary way which, it is hoped, will change approaches to the field and will offer a unique insight into the relationship between these subjects that begins to address the void in Irish Studies with respect to the ballad and song tradition.

Chaith Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh bliain i Nua Eabhrac ar scoláireacht Fulbright ag teagasc na Gaeilge, is tá tréimhsí caite aici sa Fhrainc chomh maith, in Épernay, Rennes agus Bordeaux. File is ea í le leabhar dar ainm Péacadh. Her PhD thesis is entitled ’The French Connection: The influence of French writing on the Gaelic Revival 1893-1939’. The aim of this thesis is to trace the direct and indirect influences of French writing on emerging Irish language literary and critical writing through a systematic investigation of the work of key figures in the Gaelic Revival (1893-1939).  The short fiction of Patrick Pearse and Pádraic Ó Conaire will provide a case study through which we can assess the successful incorporation of French influence. Using a combination of literary and historical analysis, it will contextualize their work in a European setting.  This will involve examining the literary milieu of both authors in Dublin and London respectfully and uncovering the various conduits for this French influence.

Ailbhe and Therese are two of the three new PhD students at the Centre this year. The third is Sara Hannafin. Sara has already been awarded an IRCHSS but postponed her studies until this year.

Sara Hannafin, an IRCHSS scholar, has a BA in Geography (University of Wales) and completed the MA in Irish Studies in 2006.  Her PhD thesis is titled ’Coming ’home’: Place, identity and second generation return migration’ and is a continuation of research carried out as part of her MA.  Having moved to Ireland in 2004 she is interested in the experience of the second generation Irish from Britain who, like her, have also chosen to return to their parental homeland.  This is a return movement which is unlikely to be a new phenomenon however it is rarely acknowledged and has never previously been studied academically. In particular, she aims to explore the multiple meanings of home to migrant communities, the emotional attachment people develop for particular places and the way in which this feeling of connection to place can shape identity.  Anyone interested in taking part in this research might please contact the Centre or s.hannafin2nuigalway.ie

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IRCHSS Post-Doctoral Fellowship

Our own Dr John Eastlake was recently awarded an IRCHSS Post-Doctoral Fellowship to be hosted by Roinn an Bhéaloidis and Roinn na Nua-Ghaeilge in University College Cork. He recently completed his PhD in Irish Studies at the Centre for Irish Studies, National University of Ireland, Galway.

His new project is entitled: ’Jeremiah Curtin: Cross-cultural, Collaborative Textual Production of Irish and Native American Mythologies’.  Ethnographer, folklorist, and ’mythologist’, Jeremiah Curtin, made a crucial contribution to Irish Studies at the end of the nineteenth century. This study will  evaluate his Irish publications in comparison with his work on Native Americans, which will allow for a contextualised understanding of Curtin and his contributions to the development of Irish Studies.

Curtin (1835-1906) is one of the more remarkable figures of a period not lacking in larger-than-life personalities. He was raised in Wisconsin, graduated Harvard College in 1863, and served in the United States' legation to Russia in 1864. In 1883 he took a post with the Bureau of American Ethnology (BAE) in the Smithsonian Institute. He also worked as a translator, with eventual commercial success, allowing him to pursue his own interests more freely. His primary interest throughout his life remained the acquisition of languages for the purpose of collecting myths and folklore from diverse 'primitive' cultures. He was purported to have been competent in 70 languages, including Irish by the time of his death. (What is missing is the way John raised one eyebrow when he read this out – ed.)

This study of Jeremiah Curtin and his publications of Native American and Irish mythologies will contribute to the scholarship of the development of Irish Studies at the end of the nineteenth century in Ireland. Additionally, this will provide a perspective on an American contribution to the climate of the period, one that was neither stemming from the revival of Gaelic and indigenous traditions, nor from antiquarian, Anglo-Irish or British projects. In doing so, theproject stands to make a significant contribution to an underdeveloped area in Irish Studies: cross-cultural, collaborative textual production examined through comparative study, an area identified in the Florence Irish Studies Forum Report (2006). Finally, the project has the potential to pave the way for a broadly interdisciplinary collaborative piece of scholarship bringing together critical appraisals of Curtin and his work from the various regions and disciplines that he impacted around the world.

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Visiting Research Scholar

Dr Ed Madden, Visiting Research Scholar at the Centre for Irish Studies

Ed Madden will be in residence at the Centre for Irish Studies this spring as the IACI-NUIG visiting fellow.  Ed is an associate professor of English and director of the undergraduate program in Women's and Gender Studies at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina.  He is the author of Tiresian Poetics: Modernism, Sexuality, and Voice 1888-2001 (2007), as well as a book of poetry, Signals, which won the 2007 South Carolina Poetry Book Prize.  His current project focuses on representations of marginal masculinities--especially gay and working class men--in Irish literature and film since 1977.

Dr. Madden will be doing a presentation at the first Meitheal of 2010. The title of his paper is “Gently, Not Gay: Masculinity and Intimacy”, and will take place on 20th January at 2.00 pm at th Centre for Irish Studies.

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Dr Elizabeth Ball

We have a Doctor Ball! Congratulations to Liz who successfully defended her thesis last November. It was entitled Truth, Power and Bloody Sunday.  This study was a comparison of the competing and complementary representations of the events of Bloody Sunday in the Saville Inquiry and in two docudramas released while the Inquiry was in session; namely Jimmy McGovern’s Sunday and Paul Greengrass’s Bloody Sunday.

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BA CONNECT with Irish Studies

The BA CONNECT with Irish Studies, established in 2008 as a four year degree programme, consists of a traditional two subject BA in addition to a specialised programme of Irish Studies. Core elements of the programme include the following:

Writing Ireland: A study of modern Irish literature with its dual traditions of poetry, prose and drama since the late nineteenth century

Performing Ireland: An exploration of Irish music and dance traditions since the late nineteenth century.

This is a very exciting development for the Centre for Irish Studies as it embeds the discipline of Irish Studies in undergraduate teaching at NUIG.  Small-group teaching is a feature of the programme and there are currently 16 registered students in Second Year and 17 in First Year.  An impressively diverse cohort, our students are drawn from near and far, with the four provinces represented, and this year a student from Portugal.  A particularly attractive aspect of the BA with Irish Studies is the third year, in which students spend the first semester abroad at an international institution. Charles University, Prague, Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium and Lille University, France are among the colleges that the Centre has established links to act as hosts for our students in autumn 2010.

Our enterprising first years have set up a new Irish Studies Society, which will be organizing events throughout the year with fieldtrips and theatre nights among the planned activities. You can contact the auditor Aisling Nolan for details ( a.nolan3nuigalway.ie).

Any queries please contact Méabh Ní Fhuartháin, Coordinator, BA CONNECT with Irish Studies ( meabh.nifhuarthainnuigalway.ie ).

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MA in Irish Studies 2008-2009

Órla McConigley, Des Lally, Keith Bohan, Ciaran McDonough, Louise Malone, Eira Parry, Thérèse McIntyre, Thomas Fisher and André Heller who attended the Graduation Reception at the Centre for Irish Studies, NUI Galway, November 2009

Ciaran McDonough, Thérèse McIntyre, Keith Bohan and Eira Parry, MA in Irish Studies 2008-09

John Parry, Mary Parry, and Margaret Parry who celebrated Eira’s graduation at the Centre for Irish Studies, November 2009

Eira Parry, Wales (MA in Irish Studies 2008-09)

Wedi penderfynu fy mod eisiau dod i’r Iwerddon i weithio, rhaid oedd ymgyfarwyddo ag iaith a diwylliant y wlad honno.  Gan nad oedd gennyf fawr ddim gwybodaeth am ei hiaith, ei diwylliant na’i hanes, penderfynais ddilyn cwrs MA mewn Astudiaethau Gwyddelig.  Penderfynais ar Brifysgol Galway gan fod dinas Galway ar gyrion y Gaeltacht (yr ardal lle siaredir yr Wyddeleg) ac, felly, yn y brifysgol hon y cawn y cyfle gorau i glywed yr iaith yn cael ei siarad yn naturiol, yn hytrach nag yn un o brifysgolion eraill yr Iwerddon.

Fel rhan o’r cwrs MA mewn Astudiaethau Gwyddelig astudiais iaith, hanes a llenyddiaeth yr Iwerddon. Ni chefais fy siomi gyda’r cwrs gan i mi fwynhau pob agwedd ohono er, rhaid cyfaddef, parodd ysgrifennu traethodau am y tro cyntaf er dwy flynedd ar bymtheg dipyn o sioc i mi.  Buan iawn y des i arfer eu hysgrifennu, fodd bynnag!

Bedwar mis ar ôl gorffen y cwrs, rwyf yn dal i fwynhau fy hun yma ac yn gobeithio y medraf aros yma yn yr Iwerddon, os nad yn Galway ei hun – amser a ddengys!

Having hardly any knowledge of either the language, history or culture of Ireland prior to taking the MA Irish Studies programme, I was relishing the opportunity to learn about these aspects. One area I did not anticipate enjoying was literature but, as it happened, apart from seeking to learn Irish, Irish-language literature was the subject I enjoyed studying most over the course of the year. Reading Robin Flowers’ translation of Tomás Ó Criomthain’s An tOileanach, made me want to read other translations of works of authors such as Peig Sayers, Maurice O’Sullivan, Flann O’Brien, Liam Ó Flaherty, Padraig Ó Conaire, amongst others. Who knows, one day perhaps I’ll be able to hold a proper conversation in Irish, after all as you say; De réir a chéile a thógtar na caisleáin.

Des Lally, Galway (MA in Irish Studies, 2008-09)

My first experience of University life was returning as a “mature” student to try my hand at a Diploma in Irish Studies, which led to a BA Degree in English and History. This “project” entailed an 80 hour round trip two nights a week for four years; I enjoyed every moment of it. Returning to the Centre for Irish Studies to complete my MA has been equally enjoyable and exhilarating, while at the same time being much more demanding and challenging.

The mix of nationalities in the class was both stimulating and enlightening; and indeed I was prompted to question my own sense of “Irishness” as I learned from those youthful articulate minds, who opened up a new door into how I view my own country. Dr Louis de Paor, Dr Nessa Cronin, all the lecturers and Samantha in the office have created an atmosphere of learning that gives all who attend the Centre an equal voice and an equal opportunity to blossom in their own field of interest.

I returned to University, not for career advancement or qualifications, but for the sake and reward of learning itself. The Centre for Irish Studies is an open house for those who share a love and appreciation of Irish culture and who also are willing to challenge themselves and learn from others. Long may it continue.

Erin Kraus, USA (MA in Irish Studies, 2008-09)

When I came to Galway in September, I was unsure of what to expect, both from living in a new city and from starting a new academic program. Galway has proved to be a wonderful city in which to live and study, and the varied opportunities to experience Irish culture have made my experience all the richer. The programme was more than I could have ever asked for.  Having been given the opportunity to study Irish history, literature, and language from within Ireland is a privilege that I will not soon forget.

The atmosphere of the University, particularly within the Centre for Irish Studies, was welcoming and intellectually stimulating. The faculty and staff, as well as my fellow students, were full of enthusiasm and obvious love of their subjects. It was wonderful just to be in a place where my own interests were understood and appreciated. Lectures were colorful and challenging, and forced us, as students, to become better academics.

Our varied backgrounds, and the interdisciplinary nature of the program, meant that I have a better understanding of Ireland and the Irish people than I ever could have obtained in a more traditional program. For a student with many interests, the program could not have been a better fit.  I feel incredibly well prepared to complete my own original research, and to expand it later on into PhD work and a lifelong career.

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Kilfenora Ceili Band

John Lynch, musical director of the Kilfenora Ceilí Band, who was conferred with Master of Music (honoris causa).

With the Centre’s ongoing association with all kinds of traditional music and dance, particular pleasure was taken in a recent acknowledgment by the University of its place in Irish society. Tim Collins has been a member of the KIlfenora Ceili Band for many years now and on 25 November 2009, his colleague John Lynch, as representative of the Kilfenora Ceili Band, was awarded an honorary Master of Music MMus by NUIG. University chaplain Fr. Diarmuid Hogan delivered a speech in honour of the occasion that just has to be recorded:

Even in the context of North Clare villages, Kilfenora is small, very small. Corofin, Ennistymon, Ballyvaughan, Lahinch and Lisdoonvarna are major centres of population and commerce compared  to this tiny hamlet. The parish has a population of about 600. Three pubs – Vaughans, Nagles and Linnanes. Two shopkeepers – John O’Gorman and Gerry Howley. Nagles also have a drapery shop, well known as a great place to get a wedding outfit. Marie Hogan, my sister-in-law, is the                      Post Mistress. There is a three teacher National School and a small parish church. Tourists do come  to see the ruins of an eleventh century cathedral dedicated to St. Fachanan and to photograph the four remaining of an original seven twelfth century high crosses. They remain intrigued by the most peculiar historical anomaly that makes the Pope bishop of this place and they visit the small interpretive centre for the Burren which opened in 1976. However, as far as infrastructure and demographics, Cill Fhionnúrach,  ’the church on the fair brow’ might be considered by some who know no better as inconsequential.

Click on link for complete speech 

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Omós Áite, Irish Studies Seminars and Meitheal

Tim Collins, apart from his musical activities is also involved, with Dr. Nessa Cronin, in Ómós Áite. This is a post-grad reading group that explores the intellectual development of  Space/Place theory across a broad spectrum of academic disciplines. The group meets once a month at the Centre for Irish Studies, where the work of key Space/Place theoreticians is interrogated. The theme of this year's meetings is 'Influential Space/Place thinkers in the 20th century' and traces the trajectory of Space/Place theory from the infuential writings on ’Region’ by American Geographer Carl Sauer to the plethora of scholars who have influenced the ’spatial turn’ in the social sciences. For further information on Ómós Áite, contact either Nessa or Tim.

The other seminars, both Meitheal and the ’Irish Studies’, continue and there were some excellent papers presented with plenty of debate and participation. It is proposed in the next edition of the Newsletter to deal in more detail with some of the topics that arose.

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Breaking News

On a finishing note, the editor regrets, and apologises in advance, for the following so called news items. An ancient student, bilious and begrudging of demeanour has somehow inveigled someone to carry these items. All criticisms, even libel suits, will be promptly and cheerfully directed back to the same source:

Education:

The premises of the new Centre for Ironing Clothes was opened at a moving ceremony at NUIG yesterday. A visiting Professor welcomed the first intake of students and stated that this was a milestone in educational thinking. Gone were the old elitist ideas about academia that produced an exclusive clique that perceived themselves as above the common weal. The veils of these cloisters were being rent asunder and all were now being welcomed into the hallowed domains of learning. A minute’s silence was held for all those who had never been able to avail of the opportunities that were now being presented. An unsolicited outburst of applause resulted when the merits and foresight of the Minister of Education was mentioned. The aims of the government were steadfast and unflinching, he said - every man, woman and child were going to avail of third level education, they were not going to rest until every household had at least one PhD.

At a press conference later the Professor dismissed suggestions that ironing, or smoothing as some quarters would have it, was somewhat lacking in cerebral activity. ’This demonstrates the classical inability to think outside the conventional parameters’ he said. When questioned as to the literacy requirements for these courses, his response was uncompromising – ’We will not tolerate these outworn constructs to wheedle their way back onto the curriculum and once more intimidate those who believe that articulate communication is not important. I might remind you that the indifferent and apathetic of this nation have their entitlement to be cherished equally, as well.’ There was an immediate response by the indifferent when a press release of theirs stated enthusiastically that ’they had a vague feeling that the Professor had some kind of a point.’

Was Markievicz’s bad clothes sense not just an insensitivity to fashion?

“For more than 20 years former journalist and US naval officer John J. Turi has researched the life of Eamon De Valera, the man dubbed the founding father of the Irish Republic, and his controversial findings are revealed in a no holds barred tome which claim the Easter Rising politician was a British spy … [the title of this] hard-hitting publication, is “England’s Greatest Spy: Eamon De Valera.” (The Irish Post, and yes that’s the prose used.)

 A coterie of historians, upset at the publicity given to this ’hard hitting, no holds barred tome’ on De Valera, have pointed out that suspicions of cowardice etc. at Bolands Mills would not be sufficiently cogent to persuade him to pass information to the British.  After an exhaustive analysis  of photographs and images, they can now tentatively suggest (in a ’it could be argued’ manner) that there could quite well be other reasons why DeValera might possibly have been open to blackmail.

Apparently only two photographs exist that show both De Valera and Countess Markievicz together and rigorous laboratory testing has shown one of these to be a fake. The other photo shows a figure who is quite clearly somebody else bearing a passing resemblance to the lady and dressed up accordingly. Trawls through all public records demonstrate that it ’could be argued’ and, it is distinctly possible, that  De Valera and Markievicz were at no time seen together at any public meeting.  Both were tall figures given to dramatic stances and, it is suggested (and ’it could be argued’) that a little judiciously applied make up could ’possibly’ complete the impression of an interchangeability of identity. A spokesman for the coterie of historians, an academic himself, demurred at this reporter’s suggestion that Dev and Madam were one and the same person – ’We are not in the business of unwarranted speculation’, he said disapprovingly.

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This online newsletter is published by the Centre for Irish Studies.  Any views, comments, or suggestions are welcome and should be forwarded to Leo Keohane, Editor at leo.keohanenuigalway.ie or Samantha Williams, Technical Editor at samantha.williamsnuigalway.ie

 

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