St Mary's Academics to Present at the Irish History Festival

Members of the Centre for Irish Studies at St Mary’s University, Twickenham will be participating in this month’s Irish History Festival arranged by the Leeds Irish Arts Foundation. Dr Charles Barr, former Research Fellow in Media Studies at St Mary’s will be lecturing on film director John Ford’s portrayal of Ireland on screen, particularly his 1936 film of The Plough and the Stars and the controversies it generated. MA Irish Studies graduate John MacDonough will be talking on his dissertation topic Easter 1916: Family Remembrance and Identity which examined modern reactions from his extended family to his grandfather, Patrick Rankin, the only Newry man to fight in the GPO in 1916. Finally, Dr Ivan Gibbons, Programme Director of the St Mary’s MA Irish Studies programme and author of the recently published British Labour Party and the Establishment of the Irish Free State 1918-1924 will talk on Irish parliamentarians killed in the First World War. This event will take place on Saturday 19th March 2016 from 11.30am - 4:00pm (registration and coffee from 11:00am) at Heart, Bennett Road, Headingley, Leeds LS6 3HN. The event is free to attend and all are welcome. For further information please contact ivan.gibbons@stmarys.ac.uk