Island Voices 2015

ISLAND VOICES 2015

AUTUMN LECTURE SERIES Thursday 24th September Thursday 29th October Thursday 26th November

TOWER MUSEUM

www.derrycityandstrabanedistrict.com/museums

ISLAND VOICES 2015

Derry City and Strabane District Council Tower Museum, Derry AUTUMN LECTURE SERIES

Derry City and Strabane District Council invites you to Island Voices: a series of thought-provoking talks which explores the languages of Irish and Ulster-Scots within the context of our shared cultural heritage. This year’s series will address how socio-economic factors, such as migration and famine have impacted upon the linguistic landscape of Ireland.

2

ISLAND VOICES 2015

The Rhyming Weavers of Ulster Laura Spence

Thursday 24th September 12.30-2.00pm Tower Museum ‘The Rhyming Weavers’ refers to a group of Ulster writers who mainly lived and flourished during the 18th and 19th centuries. This was an era during which Ulster’s economy was based on cottage industries, before industrialisation drove many to seek work in the cities.

The weavers were often well-educated artisans and they used their position in society to communicate, observe and commentate.

Their poetry shines a light on this period in Ulster’s history – a time of radicalism, close communities, religious piety, cultural development and increasing self-awareness.

This talk by Laura Spence introduces a number of the foremost poets of the time revealing how their poetry captures the mood, lives and vibrant Ulster-Scots

language of the people of Ulster during this fascinating period of history.

Laura Spence from Comber in County Down, was a producer with BBC Northern Ireland for 14 years, before leaving in 2013 to establish her own company, Stone Circle Consulting.

Laura provides a range of services, primarily in the area of Ulster-Scots, including walks, bus tours, classes, media consultancy and research projects.

A published author (A Chronicle of Comber: Town of Thomas Andrews, Shipbuilder 1873-1912; and Remembering Rollo: The Story of the Statue in the Square), she is currently researching and writing two books on vernacular poets and is also working as a part-time project manager for the Ministerial Advisory Group (MAG) on the Ulster-Scots Academy.

DERRY CITY AND STRABANE DISTRICT COUNCIL AUTUMN LECTURE SERIES

3

Migration and Language Dr Patrick Fitzgerald

k

This talk will look at how human migration impacts upon language. The vast majority of emigrants from Ireland over the past four centuries selected destinations within the English-speaking world.

This was both an important influence in linguistic transition in Ireland and in how English came to be spoken across the globe.

Using emigrant letters from the Irish Emigration Database Dr Fitzgerald will examine some of the features of written expression which throw interesting light on the evolving use of language by trans-Atlantic migrants. The talk will also focus on much shorter internal migrations and the fascinating local varieties of vernacular speech which make Ireland such a rich linguistic space.

Dr Patrick Fitzgerald completed his Queen’s University Belfast PhD. on the subject of Poverty and Vagrancy in Early Modern Ireland in 1994. Following a period working as Curator of Emigration History at the Ulster-American Folk Park, Omagh, he took up his current post as Lecturer & Development Officer with the Mellon Centre for Migration Studies at the Ulster-American Folk Park in 1998. He has published numerous articles and papers related to Irish migration history and co-authored with Dr. Brian Lambkin Migration in Irish History, 1607-2007 (Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke 2008). In 1999 he acted as one of three consultants to the international television series ‘The Irish Empire’ and in 2004 acted as consultant to the television documentary ‘On Eagle’s Wing’.

Family leaving Derry c 1930s ©Bigger/McDonald Collection courtesy of Libraries NI

Thursday 29th October 12.30-2.00pm Tower Museum

4

ISLAND VOICES 2015

DERRY CITY AND STRABANE DISTRICT COUNCIL AUTUMN LECTURE SERIES

5

The Great Famine and the Irish Language Dr Fionntán de Brún Thursday 26th November 12.30-2.00pm Tower Museum

This talk will look at the impact of the Great Famine on the Irish language focusing on eye witness accounts from the time detailing this turbulent period in the history of the language and the effects which the Famine had on accelerating language shift from Irish to English.

Dr Fionntan de Brún is a senior lecturer in the Irish language at Ulster University and director of Éigse Loch Lao. He is the author of Údar Seosamh Mac Grianna: an Mhéin Rúin (2002) and editor of Belfast and the Irish Language (2006).

He has recently published articles on the poetry of Aodha Mhic Dhomhnaill (1802-1867) and on a range of subjects related to the history and literature of the Irish language. He jointly organised the international Great Famine conference – An Droim Deleoir - which took place at Queen’s University Belfast in March 2015.

6

ISLAND VOICES 2015

k

Emigration sculptures by Eamonn O’ Doherty courtesy of Tony Boyle

DERRY CITY AND STRABANE DISTRICT COUNCIL AUTUMN LECTURE SERIES

7

ISLAND VOICES 2015 TOWER MUSEUM

Island Voices is funded by Derry City & Strabane District Council’s Good Relations Programme.

Please book your place by contacting the Tower Museum (028) 7137 2411 or email tower.reception@derrycityandstrabanedistrict.com Lunch provided // Admission Free This information is available upon request in a number of formats including large print, Braille, PDF, audio formats (CD, MP3, DAISY) and minority languages.

For further information on alternative formats please contact Tel 028 71 253253 text phone: 028 7137 6646

8

ISLAND VOICES 2015