Timetable for ‘16 Daniel O’Connell Summer School
THE annual Daniel O’Connell Summer School will begin on Friday, August 26, at Cahirsiveen Library and continues on Saturday, August 27, at Derrynane House Hotel in Caherdaniel.
The following is the programme of lectures:
Friday, August 26: Cahirsiveen Library.
9.20am: An Introduction- Professor Maurice Bric, Director of the Daniel O’Connell Summer School. Opening Address: Former Ceann Comhairle John O’Donoghue.
9.40am: Kerry and the 1916 Rising: Moderator is Owen O’Shea. Owen is Communications Officer for Kerry County Council. He is co-author of the recently published Kerry and 1916.
Speakers: Professor Brigid Laffan. Brigid was born and raised in Cahirsiveen and is Director of the Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute in Florence. She will speak about her grandfather Mortimer O’Connell. Mortimer, who was from Ballinskelligs, was involved in a number of episodes during 1916 and later served as Clerk of Dáil Eireann.
Dr.Dermot Lynch: Dermot is a doctor based in general practice in London. His father, Fionán Lynch, took a prominent part in the 1916 Rebellion in Dublin and was a member of the Four Courts garrison. He later served as a Minister in the Cumann Na nGaedheal governments of the 1920s before being appointed as a judge by the government of Eamonn De Valera in 1944.
Michael Clifford: Michael was born and educated in Cahirsiveen and is one of Ireland’s leading journalists. He will talk about his granduncle Tom Clifford from Clahane, who fought with the Irish Citizen Army during 1916.
Junior Murphy: Junior is a retired second level teacher from Cahirsiveen and has written on the history and people of his native South Kerry. He is also President of St Marys GAA Club and Co-Chairperson of the Daniel O’Connell Summer School Committee. He will talk about the men and women of South Kerry who participated in the events of 1916.
11.15am: Refreshments.
12noon: Ireland at Mid-Century. Speaker: Professor Rhona Richman Kenneally: The transformation of mid-20th Century Rural Ireland. Rhona is Professor of Design and Computation Arts at Concordia Universiy, Montreal.
3pm: The Daniel O’Connell Lecture 2016: Introduction-Professor Maurice Bric.
This year’s lecture will be in the format of a wide ranging interview. The interviewer will be Frank Lewis, presenter of The Saturday Supplement of Radio Kerry.
Speaker: Dr Mary McAleese, former President of Ireland. 5.15pm: Con Keating GAA Park, Cahirsiveen. Chair: Former Kerry footballer and government minister, Jimmy Deenihan Speaker: Jack O’Shea. Former Kerry footballer and St Marys GAA club player. 7.30pm: Mass remembrance of those who participated in the 1916 Rebellion-O’Connell Memorial Church, Cahirsiveen. Celebrant: Fr Larry Kelly, PP Cahirsiveen.
Saturday, August 27: Derrynane House.
10am: Recording O’Connell and his world. Speakers: Professor John Horgan, Daniel O’Connell and the Press. John was Professor of Journalism at DCU AND Ireland’ first Press Ombudsman.
Professor Maureen Murphy: Askenath Nicholson’s visit to South Kerry in 1845. Maureen is Professor of teaching and Curriculum Studies at Hofstra University in New York.
Professor Paula Murphy: Dublin’s O’Connell Monument: Commemoration and Controversy. Paula is Associate Professor of Art History and Cultural Policy in UCD 11.30am: Refreshments. 12noon: Wider contexts Speakers: Dr. Pat Cooke. Padraig Pearse and the Cult of the Victorian Gael. Pat was Director of both the Pearse Museum and Kilmainham Gaol.
Dr Richard McElligott, 1916 and the GAA. Author of Forging a Kingdom. The Gaelic Athletic Association in Kerry, 1884-1934.
2.15pm: Kerry’s Cycling Tradition in History and Fiction.
Speakers: Dr. Paul Rouse, Cycling in Ireland. Paul lectures in the History of Sport in UCD.
Jane Urquhart. A Short Reading from the Night Stages(2015). Jane is one of Canada’s leading writers and an acclaimed international novelist. Jane is a long time visitor to South Kerry and her 2015 novel is set during the Rás Tailteann.
3.15pm: O’Connell’s Kerry. Speakers: Joseph Lynch, Tomás Rua, poet of South Kerry. Joseph is from Valentia Island and is a retired Primary School Principal who taught for several years in Rathangan, Co.Kildare.
Beandán O’Ciobháin: The Placenames of South Kerry. Breandán is a former Higher Placenames Officer with the Ordinance Survey of Ireland and author of an acclaimed series of papers on Irish Placenames. Closing Remarks: Mary O’Connor, Chairperson of the Daniel O’Connell Summer School Committee. Sunday, August 28: St. Crohan’s Church, Caherdaniel. 9.30am Memorial Mass for O’Connell family. Celebrant: Bishop of Kerry Ray Browne, followed by reception in the Caherdaniel Community Centre.