Tue, 07/01/2025
10:30 - 11:30
James Scannell is a Fellow of the Genealogical Society of Ireland, current Honorary President and life member of the Old Dublin Society and the Bray Cualann Historical Society. He is a holder of the Old Dublin Society Medal and the Robbie Brennan Memorial Award of the Dun Laoghaire Borough Historical Society. A regular presenter of talks to local history societies, community groups and contributor of articles to local history publications. Since 1993 he has compiled the weekly "Diary of the Local History Meetings" which is broadcast on local radio. He is also Honorary Correspondent for the British Association for Local History. This talk looks at life during the years of the 1939-1945 Emergency and how it impacted on day to day life through the imposition of restrictions on various civil liberties: rationing, postal censorship, restrictions on travel and reductions in the level of public transport. Also covered is the manner in which De Valera manipulated the declared policy of Neutrality in favour of the Allied cause such as allowing Irish citizens to travel to Britain to work in war industries or enlist in the armed forces, the sending of Irish firefighters in April 1941 to Belfast in the aftermath of the German blitz on the city, how German intelligence gatherers were treated, and the great push for people to be involved in the voluntary services (Civil Defence), Local Defence Force, the Local Security Force and some of the bombing incidents that took place on Irish soil.
Tue, 14/01/2025
10:30 - 11:30
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) is considered to be the most popular Russian composer of all time with great appeal for the general public by virtue of his tuneful, open-hearted melodies, impressive harmonies and colourful picturesque orchestration, all of which evoke a profound emotional response. A prolific composer, his collective body of work constitutes some 169 pieces, including six symphonies, eleven operas, three ballets, one violin- and three piano concertos, eleven overtures, four cantatas and songs. In the musical profile to be presented, we will hear brief extracts of his music, including extracts from Swan Lake, Eugene Onegin, and Romeo and Juliet..
Tue, 21/01/2025
10:30 - 11:30
Paula Murphy is an Emeritus Professor in UCD Art History and Culture Policy. She has specialised in the history of sculpture. Her books include "19th Century Irish Sculpture", "Native Genius Re-affirmed" (2010) and "Sculpture 1600-2000, Vol 3", "Art and Architecture in Ireland" (2014). She co-edited "Ireland: the Matter of Monuments" (2014). She was awarded a RHA Gold Medal in 2015 and held a Senior Fellowship at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (2016-2017) in Washington DC. Her essay on John Henry Foley is in the Autumn 2024 edition of the Irish Art Review. Irish sculptor John Henry Foley died in 1874, 150 years ago. Born in Dublin in 1818, he studied at the RDS schools before leaving for London where he established his career. Rising to become one of the leading British sculptors of his generation, Foley was commissioned for many important sculptural works in the UK, mostly in London. He was also to receive many commissions for public work in Ireland, largely in Dublin. It was Foley who would be offered the two most significant commissions for a British/Irish sculptor in the 19th century: the statue of Prince Albert on his elaborate memorial in London's Kensington Gardens, and the monument to commemorate Daniel O'Connell for the centre of Dublin.
Tue, 04/02/2025
10:30 - 11:30
Chris Morash is the Seamus Heaney Professor of Irish writing in Trinity College Dublin where he was formerly Vice-Provost. He is the author of books on a number of aspects of Irish literature and culture, more recently "Dublin: a Writer's City". He has also written histories of Irish theatre and Irish media, a study of Yeats's theatre, the first book on Irish famine literature and is currently editing "The Cambridge History of Irish Novel". He chairs the judging panel for the Dublin Literary Award and is a member of the Royal Irish Academy. There are few cities that have been as comprehensively imagined and re-imagined by its writers as Dublin. Since the publication of his 2023 book "Dublin: a Writer's City", Chris Morash has been asking how a knowledge of the city's literature shapes the ways that we inhabit Dublin. Unlike a city's architecture, for instance, a city's literature constitutes a kind of invisible infrastructure, but one no less important in identifying the elements of urban life that we choose to value, and hence the planning decisions we make for the future - questions important in all cities, perhaps, but for which Dublin's history and heritage offer a unique focus.
Tue, 11/02/2025
10:30 - 11:30
Saint-Saens was a Frenchman and considered himself to be a "true Parisian". He was a musical child prodigy and gave his first recital in 1846 at the age of 11. Saint-Saens wrote his music in the true French classical style and for most of his compositional career he studiously avoided moving to the modern expressionist and impressionist styles of music which were becoming predominant at the time. yes, Saint-Saens composed the Carnival of the Animals and we will listen to his beautiful piece The Swan. He also composed a wide range of music, some of which we will listen to at the presentation, for example : excerpts from the opera Samson and Dalila and from a range of concerti, romances, sonatas, and perhaps the requiem. He also composed music for a range of folk stories that are both lively and interesting. One very interesting piece of music is his romance for horn and piano - we will hear and come to understand his construction and use of the original horn here that dates from the era of the composer's life. The music of Saint-Saens is melodious, harmonic, tonal and displays a wide range of his use and understanding of musical instruments. All in all the music of Saint-Saens is a pleasure to listen to and relax with. I hope that you will enjoy this presentation.
Tue, 18/02/2025
10:30 - 11:30
Brian Crowley is employed by the Public Works as Curator for Kilmainham Gaol and the Pearse Museum. As well as curating exhibitions in Kilmainham and the Pearse Museum, he has published several historical essays and an illustrated biography of Patrick Pearse entitled " Patrick Pearse, a Life in Pictures". Recent publications include "That They Might Obtain the Shelter of a Prison: Kilmainham Gaol and the Great Famine", which appeared in "Dublin and the Great Famine" and "Queering Kilmainham: uncovering the LGBTQ+ stories in a national shrine" which appeared in "Studia Hibernica", vol. 46. Kilmainham Gaol was profoundly affected by the Great Famine. As desperate, impoverished families arrived in Dublin in search of relief, the prison population grew too. Annual committals to the gaol rose from 1814 in 1845 to 9034 in 1850. The systems introduced in the previous decades to improve Irish prisons and to promote the reformation and rehabilitation of prisoners were largely abandoned as the prisons struggled to cope with the influx of poor prisoners. In the case of Kilmainham Gaol, nearly half of these prisoners were women and children, which presented a particular challenge to the prison authorities. The Famine continued to have a significant effect on Irish prisons for years to come and ultimately to the decision to close the majority of Irish gaols at the turn of the century.
Tue, 04/03/2025
10:30 - 11:30
Gisela Holfter studied in Cologne, Cambridge and Saint-Louis and worked as an Assistant Teacher in Belfast and as a Lektorin at the University of Otago in New Zealand before joining the University of Limerick. She is Professor of German and Director of the Centre for Irish-German studies in UL, a Fellow of the Centre for British studies at the Humboldt University of Berlin and a Member of the Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung. She has published many articles and edited over 20 books. Her monographs include "Erlebnis Irland" (1996), "Heinrich Böll and Ireland" (2011) and "A Irish Sanctuary: German speaking Refugees in Ireland: 1933-1945" (2017). This presentation will reflect on Irish-German relations in the last 100 years, including case studies from diverse areas such as diplomatic relations, business connections, literature, art and music, and will also cover a number of fascinating individuals who played important roles but are (unfortunately) generally forgotten today. The general idea is to present a happy and hopefully intriguing pot pourri of the many facets that shape binational relations without attempting to give a complete history.
Tue, 18/03/2025
10:30 - 11:30
provisional date to be confirmed.
Tue, 01/04/2025
10:30 - 11:30
Provisional date - To be confirmed.
Tue, 15/04/2025
10:30 - 11:30
Provisional date - To be confirmed.
Print Date: 27 Dec 2024