St Mary’s to Hold Irish History Month Seminar

The Centre for Irish Studies (CIS) at St Mary’s University, Twickenham is to host a seminar day as part of Irish History Month in Leeds on Saturday 22^nd March. The day, which has been organised with the Irish Arts Foundation, will contribute to Irish History Month, showcasing the latest research of the CIS and demonstrating the subjects that can be studied on the MA Irish Studies programme at St Mary’s. The seminar will also act as an opportunity to learn more about a distance learning and online study option for the MA, which is currently being developed. The day will begin with Dr Mary Hickman, Professional Research Fellow for the CIS, whose talk Aspects of Irish Diaspora will explore the migration of Irish workers and their descendants and determine whether it can be used to understand contemporary Irish identities. Dr Ivan Gibbons, Programme Director and Senior Lecturer in Irish Studies at St Mary’s, will continue from his talk at the West London Labour History Day in February by discussing The 1913 Dublin Lock-Out and the subsequent “Strange Death of Labour Ireland”. The Lock-Out was one of the most severe industrial disputes in Irish political history, and the poor leadership of the Irish Labour Party during the crisis resulted in a loss of influence and a secondary role in Irish politics that the party still sees today. The final talk of the day will be from Prof Lance Pettitt, Director of the Centre for Irish Studies and Head of St Mary’s School of Arts and Humanities, who will deliver a presentation looking at the 1985 film version of the 1949 Seán Ó’Faoláin short story The Woman Who Married Clark Gable and how it represents Ireland and Irish culture of the 1980s. Ó’Faoláin lectured at St Mary’s from 1929 to 1933, writing his first two books during this time, and received the highest honour to be bestowed upon Irish artists (Saoi of Aosdána) in 1986. The seminar day will be take place between 9.30am and 2.15pm at Bewleys Hotel in Sweet Street, Leeds. For more information on how to reserve a place, please contact Chris O’Malley of the Irish Arts Foundation at chris@irisharts.com.