Irish Immersion Week
If you're interested in learning the Irish language, practicing the footwork of traditional Irish dance, and/or reconnecting with your heritage, consider attending the Irish Immersion Week to be held in Butte, Montana, from July 19-26. The immersion course is a non-credit course for all ages and focuses on imparting a conversational knowledge of Irish along with traditional music and the basic steps of the most popular Irish Céilí and set dances. Classes will run from 9:00-5:00 each day, with a break between 12:00-2:30 for lunch and recreational activity. For more information or to sign up online, visit the Irish Montana website.
Sean Tyrell
The Irish singer Sean Tyrell will perform in Missoula on Friday, May 9, at 8:00 p.m. at The Loft - Higgins Alley (upstairs, 424 N. Higgins). Tyrell's current show is based upon the words and life of the Irish poet, John Boyle O'Reilly, and thus will provide a convergence of Irish music, history, and literature in one entertaining evening.
A Swell Music Season
Following on the heels of Eileen Ivers's Missoula concert last month, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova of The Swell Season arrive for a May 1 show at the Wilma Theater (8 p.m.). Hansard appeared in Alan Parker's 1991 film version of Roddy Doyle's novel The Commitments, and is better known these days as the lead singer of The Frames, one of the most popular rock bands in Ireland. His partnership with Irglova, a pianist and vocalist, produced an Academy Award (for best original song) following their work in John Carney's film, Once. The nearly legendary Liam Ó Maonlaí, once the lead singer of Hothouse Flowers and now a solo artist specializing in traditionals sung in Irish, is the opening act and special guest.
Lecture: The "New" Ireland
The Irish Studies Program is pleased to welcome Professor Mark Maguire to campus for a public lecture to be offered on Thursday, April 17, at 7:30 p.m. in Gallagher Business Building 119. The talk is entitled "Reflections on the 'New' Ireland: A General Overview of Immigration to Ireland with Discussion of Case Studies." Dr. Maguire is a Lecturer in the Department of Anthropology, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, and Fulbright Advanced Scholar and Visiting Professor at Stanford University and the Western Institute of Irish Studies. His lecture on immigration to Ireland raises a topic that has important ramifications for the globalization of culture, community, economics, and politics in the early 21st century. Dr. Maguire is the author of Differently Irish (Woodfield Press, 2004) and he is co-editing, with Lawrence Taylor, the forthcoming The Dublin Reader. He has also completed a visual exploration of U.S. migration to Ireland with the artist Maeve Hickey and written about the Irish asylum system.
More UCC Visitors!
Two faculty members from University College Cork -- Professor Damian Bracken of the History Department and Professor Mary Breen of the English Department -- will be visiting U.M. this week to deepen the ties between the two schools. On Wednesday afternoon, April 9, at 12:00 noon in LA 138 and as part of the "brown bag" lecture series (bring your lunch!), Professor Breen will present a lecture entitled "'Some Fragments of Autobiography': The Creation of Anglo-Irish Identity in Elizabeth Bowen's Autobiographical Writing." Then, on Wednesday evening, also April 9, Professor Bracken will give a public lecture entitled "'The Wild and Wooly West': Conversion and Identity in Early Ireland." The talk will begin at 7:00 p.m. in Gallagher Business Building L09.
Summer Scholarship in Cork
The 2008 International Summer School in Irish Studies of the College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences at University College Cork in Ireland has offered two scholarships to University of Montana students to participate in this year's program, entitled "To the Waters and the Wild: Cultural Revival and the Making of Irish Identity." One scholarship will include full board and tuition; one covers tuition only. The School features lectures, discussion, and field trips focused on the works and lives of W.B. Yeats, Jack Yeats, Douglas Hyde, and Elizabeth Bowen, as well as an optional introductory course in the Irish language. Students may earn three (3) credits in literature and in history. For more information, click here. To apply, submit a 1-2 page letter of intent; an academic transcript (a 2.85 GPA or above is required to take the course for credit, and a GPA of 3.0 or above is recommended for a scholarship application); 2-3 academic references (include the professor's name, email address, and phone number); a writing sample (include a paper of any length that you have written for a class; it may include the professor's comments). The committee recommends humanities papers); a resume is optional. These materials should be submitted to Laure Pengelly Drake, Director of External Scholarships and Advising, Davidson Honors College 102. Questions may be directed to Dr. Pengelly Drake at 243-6140 or at laure.pengellydrake@umontana.edu. Transportation to and from Cork and regular meals are not included in the cost of the program.
A Lauded Lament
Click here to read The Missoulian's conversation with Professor Ó Coileáin and preview of this Friday's reading of "The Lament for Art O'Leary." The story includes this slide show featuring images and a reading of a portion of the poem.
Irish Poetry Class
The Irish Studies Program and The University of Montana are excited to welcome to our campus the esteemed visiting scholar, Professor Sean Ó Coileáin. Professor Ó Coileáin, who teaches in the Department of Modern Irish at University College Cork, will be teaching a one-credit course at U.M. entitled "Poems of the Dispossessed: Irish Poetry in Translation." The class, which is free to U.M. students already registered for nine or more credits, will meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:00-12:00 (in LA 210) from March 4-14. The course will conclude with a public lecture on Friday evening, March 14, at 8:00 p.m. in Gallagher Business Building (GBB) 119. Students interested in registering for the special course should see Xavier Leggett in the English office (LA 133).
Stones in His Pockets
The Montana Repertory Theatre presents a production of Northern Irish playwright Marie Jones's Stones in His Pockets. The tragi-comic play, which invokes The Quiet Man and other collisions between Hollywood and rural Ireland, is directed by Bobby Gutierrez and will be performed nightly at 8:00 p.m. between February 12-16. Tickets are available via PARTV box office (243-4581) and at the door
Evening Class
If you're interested in learning Gaelic, the native language of Ireland, or about the Emerald Isle's history and culture, Professor Terry O'Riordain of The University of Montana's English Department and Irish Studies Program, is offering two evening classes that will meet once a week for twelve weeks, beginning on February 11. Irish History and Culture will be taught from 6:30-9:00 p.m. on Mondays (beginning February 11) in Room 140 of the Language Arts Building (LA 140) and Beginning Irish will be taught from 6:30-9:00 p.m. on Wednesdays (beginning February 13), also in LA 140.
Tuition is $170, which includes learning materials. For more information about the classes, contact Erin Falls (kotariley@hotmail.com).
Student Trip to Ireland
Twenty students from The University of Montana visited Ireland and Northern Ireland for two and a half weeks during the winter break in January. They were accompanied by the tour leader, Professor Laure Pengelly Drake of the Davidson Honors College, Professor Ione Crummy of the Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures, and Professor Eric Reimer of the English Department and the Irish Studies Program. The group visited Dublin, Belfast, Derry, Killarney, Galway, and Cork, and visited such attractions as the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland, the Catholic Bogside in Derry (site of Bloody Sunday), the grave of W.B. Yeats, the General Post Office, St. Patrick's Cathedral and the Book of Kells in Dublin, the Cliffs of Moher, the Dingle Peninsula, and the extraordinarly monastic sites of Clonmacnoise and Glendalough. The trip has been a great success for two consecutive years (January 2007 and 2008) and may be repeated again in either 2009 or 2010.
Synge's Riders to the Sea
John Millington Synge's Riders to the Sea, directed by Dr. Bernadette Sweeney of University College Cork, will be performed on the University of Montana campus on September 27-30 at 7:30 PM. Admission is $5.00. Click here for more details ..