MA Irish Literature & Culture

My guest for this edition of Bluiríní Béaloidis is writer and documentary maker Manchán Magan, whose recent book '32 Words For Field' is a meditation on old Irish words and the nuances of a way of life that is vanishing with them. The book considers the 'richness of a language closely tied to the natural landscape' which 'offered our ancestors a more magical way of seeing the world'. It considers the 'sublime beauty and profound oddness of the ancient tongue that has been spoken on this island for over 2,000 years'. In this discussion, we consider how language and tradition binds us to the landscape, expolore the role of tradition in modernity and speculate on the ancient connections between Ireland and India.
Manchán's book '32 Words For Field' has been nominated for numerous awards, and (as of December 2020) is already in its fourth printing.

Copies can be purchased from all good independent book shops: http://www.easons.com/thirty-two-words-…gan-9780717187973

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The Banshee is a well known supernatural figure in Irish folk tradition. In origin a patron goddess caring for the fortunes of her people, the banshee of folk belief is usually considered to be a harbinger of death, being said to follow certain families from generation to generation. Traditions about her are spread widely throughout the country, and for this episode of the podcast Jonny has the privilege of speaking with Professor Patricia Lysaght, who is the world authority on the topic of the Banshee.

Their discussion takes in the rich array of customs and beliefs concerning her, starting with an exploration of the names by which she is popularly known, before moving on to the ways in which she manifests to the people. Her function as a prognosticator of death in the community, the attitudes to life and death that are expressed through her, and the ways in which ancient ideas and motifs concerning her have survived to the modern day are further explored, with archival audio excerpts supplementing the conversation.

Patricia's book 'The Banshee: The Irish Supernatural Death Messenger' is the authoritative work on the topic, and is available to purchase online: www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchRe…anshee&kn=&isbn=

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UCD Decade of Centenaries: Kevin Barry Centenary Public Seminar | UCD videos series commemorates centenary of execution of Kevin Barry

A new series of videos explores the life, death, and historical legacy of Kevin Barry, the first Irish republican to be executed during the War of Independence. It marks the Centenary of the Execution of Kevin Barry on 1 November 1920 and is part of the UCD programme of events to commemorate the Decade of Centenaries.

Kevin Barry, a UCD Medical Student and member of H Company, 1st Battalion of the IRA’s Dublin Brigade, was captured on 20 September 1920 during a failed arms raid on British soldiers at Monk’s Bakery on Upper Church Street, near the corner of North King Street in Dublin city centre. Three British soldiers, Henry Washington, Matthew Whitehead, and Thomas Humphries, died as a result of the IRA ambush in which Kevin Barry was captured.

Barry was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death by hanging at Mountjoy Prison.

His death sentence provoked a massive reaction, nationally, globally, and among his fellow students at UCD. His eventual execution, coming a week after the death on hunger strike of Terence MacSwiney, Lord Mayor of Cork, galvanised opposition to the British campaign of counterterror in Ireland which was at its height in the winter of 1920.

In 1934, UCD graduates commemorated Kevin Barry with a stained glass memorial which is now located in the UCD Charles Institute of Dermatology on the Belfield Campus.

 Mary Daly, Emeritus Professor of History, University College Dublin
 Conor Mulvagh, Assistant Professor in Modern Irish History, University College Dublin
 Síofra O’Donovan, Kevin Barry relative and author of Yours ‘Til Hell Freezes: A Memoir of Kevin Barry (Currach Books, 2020)
 Eunan O’Halpin, Emeritus Professor of History, Trinity College Dublin, Kevin Barry relative and author of Kevin Barry: An Irish Rebel in Life and Death (Merrion Press, 2020)

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UCD Decade of Centenaries: Kevin Barry Centenary Public Seminar | UCD videos series commemorates centenary of execution of Kevin Barry

A new series of videos explores the life, death, and historical legacy of Kevin Barry, the first Irish republican to be executed during the War of Independence. It marks the Centenary of the Execution of Kevin Barry on 1 November 1920 and is part of the UCD programme of events to commemorate the Decade of Centenaries.

Kevin Barry, a UCD Medical Student and member of H Company, 1st Battalion of the IRA’s Dublin Brigade, was captured on 20 September 1920 during a failed arms raid on British soldiers at Monk’s Bakery on Upper Church Street, near the corner of North King Street in Dublin city centre. Three British soldiers, Henry Washington, Matthew Whitehead, and Thomas Humphries, died as a result of the IRA ambush in which Kevin Barry was captured.

Barry was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death by hanging at Mountjoy Prison.

His death sentence provoked a massive reaction, nationally, globally, and among his fellow students at UCD. His eventual execution, coming a week after the death on hunger strike of Terence MacSwiney, Lord Mayor of Cork, galvanised opposition to the British campaign of counterterror in Ireland which was at its height in the winter of 1920.

In 1934, UCD graduates commemorated Kevin Barry with a stained glass memorial which is now located in the UCD Charles Institute of Dermatology on the Belfield Campus.

 Mary Daly, Emeritus Professor of History, University College Dublin
 Conor Mulvagh, Assistant Professor in Modern Irish History, University College Dublin
 Síofra O’Donovan, Kevin Barry relative and author of Yours ‘Til Hell Freezes: A Memoir of Kevin Barry (Currach Books, 2020)
 Eunan O’Halpin, Emeritus Professor of History, Trinity College Dublin, Kevin Barry relative and author of Kevin Barry: An Irish Rebel in Life and Death (Merrion Press, 2020)

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UCD Decade of Centenaries: Kevin Barry Centenary Public Seminar -

Kevin Barry, UCD Medical Student and a member of H Company, 1st Battalion of the IRA’s Dublin Brigade, was the first Irish republican to be executed during the War of Independence. He had been captured on 20 September during a failed arms raid on British soldiers at Monk’s Bakery on Upper Church Street, near the corner of North King Street in Dublin city centre. Three British soldiers, Henry Washington, Matthew Whitehead, and Thomas Humphries, died as a result of the IRA ambush in which Kevin Barry was captured. Barry was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death by hanging at Mountjoy Prison. Kevin Barry’s death sentence provoked a massive reaction, nationally, globally, and among his fellow students at UCD. His eventual execution, coming a week after the death on hunger strike of Terence MacSwiney, Lord Mayor of Cork, galvanised opposition to the British campaign of counterterror in Ireland which was at its height in the winter of 1920.

In 1934, UCD graduates commemorated Kevin Barry with a stained glass memorial which now sits in the UCD Charles Institute of Dermatology on the Belfield Campus.

To mark the centenary of the execution of Kevin Barry, UCD has organised a series of videos which explore Kevin Barry, his life, times, death, and legacy.

This series features
Mary Daly, Emeritus Professor of History, University College Dublin
Conor Mulvagh, Assistant Professor in Modern Irish History, University College Dublin
Síofra O’Donovan, Kevin Barry relative and author of Yours ‘Til Hell Freezes: A Memoir of Kevin Barry (Currach Books, 2020)
Eunan O’Halpin, Emeritus Professor of History, Trinity College Dublin, Kevin Barry relative and author of Kevin Barry: An Irish Rebel in Life and Death (Merrion Press, 2020)
Each contributor offers their individual reflections and insights on Kevin Barry in life and death followed by a roundtable discussion on the significance of Kevin Barry in Irish history and in subsequent commemoration up to the present.


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UCD Decade of Centenaries: Kevin Barry Centenary Public Seminar | UCD videos series commemorates centenary of execution of Kevin Barry

A new series of videos explores the life, death, and historical legacy of Kevin Barry, the first Irish republican to be executed during the War of Independence. It marks the Centenary of the Execution of Kevin Barry on 1 November 1920 and is part of the UCD programme of events to commemorate the Decade of Centenaries.

Kevin Barry, a UCD Medical Student and member of H Company, 1st Battalion of the IRA’s Dublin Brigade, was captured on 20 September 1920 during a failed arms raid on British soldiers at Monk’s Bakery on Upper Church Street, near the corner of North King Street in Dublin city centre. Three British soldiers, Henry Washington, Matthew Whitehead, and Thomas Humphries, died as a result of the IRA ambush in which Kevin Barry was captured.

Barry was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death by hanging at Mountjoy Prison.

His death sentence provoked a massive reaction, nationally, globally, and among his fellow students at UCD. His eventual execution, coming a week after the death on hunger strike of Terence MacSwiney, Lord Mayor of Cork, galvanised opposition to the British campaign of counterterror in Ireland which was at its height in the winter of 1920.

In 1934, UCD graduates commemorated Kevin Barry with a stained glass memorial which is now located in the UCD Charles Institute of Dermatology on the Belfield Campus.

 Mary Daly, Emeritus Professor of History, University College Dublin
 Conor Mulvagh, Assistant Professor in Modern Irish History, University College Dublin
 Síofra O’Donovan, Kevin Barry relative and author of Yours ‘Til Hell Freezes: A Memoir of Kevin Barry (Currach Books, 2020)
 Eunan O’Halpin, Emeritus Professor of History, Trinity College Dublin, Kevin Barry relative and author of Kevin Barry: An Irish Rebel in Life and Death (Merrion Press, 2020)

UCD Twitter: http://twitter.com/ucddublin
UCD Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/universitycollegedublin
UCD Instagram: http://instagram.com/ucddublin
UCD Homepage: http://www.ucd.ie

UCD Decade of Centenaries: Kevin Barry Centenary Public Seminar | UCD videos series commemorates centenary of execution of Kevin Barry

A new series of videos explores the life, death, and historical legacy of Kevin Barry, the first Irish republican to be executed during the War of Independence. It marks the Centenary of the Execution of Kevin Barry on 1 November 1920 and is part of the UCD programme of events to commemorate the Decade of Centenaries.

Kevin Barry, a UCD Medical Student and member of H Company, 1st Battalion of the IRA’s Dublin Brigade, was captured on 20 September 1920 during a failed arms raid on British soldiers at Monk’s Bakery on Upper Church Street, near the corner of North King Street in Dublin city centre. Three British soldiers, Henry Washington, Matthew Whitehead, and Thomas Humphries, died as a result of the IRA ambush in which Kevin Barry was captured.

Barry was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death by hanging at Mountjoy Prison.

His death sentence provoked a massive reaction, nationally, globally, and among his fellow students at UCD. His eventual execution, coming a week after the death on hunger strike of Terence MacSwiney, Lord Mayor of Cork, galvanised opposition to the British campaign of counterterror in Ireland which was at its height in the winter of 1920.

In 1934, UCD graduates commemorated Kevin Barry with a stained glass memorial which is now located in the UCD Charles Institute of Dermatology on the Belfield Campus.

 Mary Daly, Emeritus Professor of History, University College Dublin
 Conor Mulvagh, Assistant Professor in Modern Irish History, University College Dublin
 Síofra O’Donovan, Kevin Barry relative and author of Yours ‘Til Hell Freezes: A Memoir of Kevin Barry (Currach Books, 2020)
 Eunan O’Halpin, Emeritus Professor of History, Trinity College Dublin, Kevin Barry relative and author of Kevin Barry: An Irish Rebel in Life and Death (Merrion Press, 2020)

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Seals have been an integral part of coastal life in Ireland for generations, and as such there exists a large body of tradition, belief and narrative regarding them. They were described in tradition as being enchanted people, wise women, fallen angels and drowned (or indeed reincarnated) fishermen, and encounters with them often relate how they would speak to, plead with or warn those fishermen who were about to attack or kill them out at sea or on the shore. Certain families in Ireland (Coneelys, O'Kanes, Dowds, O'Sheas and Gallaghers among them)were considered to have been the result of a union between a mortal and an enchanted seal, and many narrative accounts collected in Ireland describe how such unions came about when a mortal man who came upon a seal-woman in human form on the shore stole her cloak (which allowed her to change form) took her home, married her and had children with her, until one day she discovered her hidden cloak and left her children and husband to return to the sea.

For this month's edition of Blúiríní Jonny is joined by Ailbe van der Heide to discuss the topic of seals in folk tradition, join them as they traverse the coasts and islands around Ireland and further afield to consider the interplay between nature, culture, appearance and reality which is brought across by these liminal beings.

Some material mentioned in this episode:

'Monolingual Irish Speaker': www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP4nXlKJx…hannel=AnGhaeilge
Seán Ó hEinirí (John Henry) in conversation with Professor Séamas Ó Catháin of the Department of Irish Folklore. This video is from a documentary called 'In Search of the Trojan War' from 1985.

'People of the Sea' by David Thomson: www.goodreads.com/book/show/309401…eople_of_the_Sea

Bairbre Ní Fhloinn: 'Tadhg and Donncha...' in Islanders and Water Dwellers (1996) www.fourcourtspress.ie/books/folklor…ter-dwellers/

Linda May-Ballard: Seal Stories and Belief on Rathlin Island in Ulster Folklife

Martin Puhvel, 'The Seal in the Folklore of Northern Europe' Folklore, volume 74 issue 1: www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080…7X.1963.9716898

Bo Almqvist 'Of Mermaids and Marriages. Seamus Heaney's 'Maighdean Mara' and Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill's 'an
Mhaighdean Mhara' in the Light of Folk Tradition', Béaloideas, Iml. 58 (1990), pp. 1-74 (Available online through JSTOR)

Alexander H. Krappe, 'Scandinavian Seal Lore', Scandinavian Studies , Vol. 18, No. 4 (1944)
pp. 156-162

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Official Launch of Belfield 50 - A celebration of 50 years of University College Dublin at the Belfield campus and the official launch of the component parts of the project.

29 September 2020 marks the 50th anniversary of the main move by UCD from Earlsfort Terrace to Belfield, with University administration, and the faculties of arts, social sciences, law and commerce joining science on the new campus. We will be taking the opportunity over the coming year to celebrate what makes this campus so special, its foundations, its buildings, its memories and its people. Over the past six decades generations of students have spent their formative years on the Belfield campus and their time at UCD has helped mould their life journeys.

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