Boston College Library Director Produces Irish Library Guide

In 15 years of traveling to and from Ireland as curator of the internationally-noted Irish Collection at Boston College, Robert Keating O'Neill, director of BC's Burns Library of Rare Books and Special Collections, has visited libraries in every corner of the country.

He can tell you the hours of Dublin's Quaker library (Thursdays from 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m.); where to look for duplicates of records destroyed in the bombing of the city's Four Courts during the Civil War in 1922, and how many of the county libraries of Ireland, no matter how up-to-date, still close at lunchtime, in keeping with local tradition.

O'Neill has now brought this experience to bear on his new book, A Visitors' Guide to Irish Libraries, Archives, Museums & Genealogical Centres. Recently published by the Ulster Historical Foundation, the volume is an important reference tool for scholars of Ireland and a valuable resource for anyone seeking to trace the family tree to its Irish roots.

This has been a landmark year for O'Neill in other ways, as well. He has been honored for his contributions to the promotion of Irish culture by both the Eire Society of Boston, which will award him its 2003 Gold Medal in April, and by Irish America magazine, which will name him one of the nation's Top 100 Irish Americans for 2003 in its April/May issue.

He also is hosting the North American premiere of "Troubled Images," an acclaimed exhibition of propaganda material gleaned from the Northern Ireland conflict. The exhibition -- which has had tremendous response during its year-long run at Linen Hall Library in Belfast, where it originated -- makes the first stop of a world tour at Burns Library in March and April.

O'Neill's new book is targeted primarily at researchers of family and local Irish history, pursuits of widespread interest among the Irish Diaspora. As many as 70 million people around the world can trace their roots to Ireland. The guide offers an introduction to tracking Irish ancestry, and provides vital reference details for each parish in Ireland.

"I've tried to visit the vast majority of the more than 200 libraries listed in the book, and I've succeeded," he said. "There are over 50 pages just for Dublin, with everything from law and medical libraries to the Anglican archives. The listings for Trinity College and the National Library of Ireland offer an idea of what is of interest to academic researchers. But go to Co. Louth or Kildare or West Meath and you'll see what is of interest to local historians. Many county libraries offer significant local resources for historical and genealogical research.

"It might be seen as presumptuous for an American to be tackling this," added O'Neill. "But the advantage I bring is the perspective of a visitor."

O'Neill also brings to the task a wealth of experience in the preservation and promotion of Irish history and culture. As director of BC's Burns Library, he oversees its celebrated Irish Collection, which during his tenure has grown to be the premier, most comprehensive collection of Irish research materials in the United States.

Founded in 1948, the Irish Collection documents the life and culture of the Irish people, with strong holdings in Irish history, religion and politics, and significant collections related to some of Ireland's greatest writers. The collection has been enhanced under O'Neill's direction by major acquisitions of materials related to Nobel laureates William Butler Yeats, Samuel Beckett, George Bernard Shaw and Seamus Heaney, among others. The Yeats and Beckett collections at Boston College are considered to be among the most comprehensive in the world outside of Ireland.

"If there was ever a case where nothing succeeds like success, the Irish Collection is it," said O'Neill. "The strong reputation we've attained has convinced others to contribute, which further strengthens the collection and increases its attractiveness to scholars and others interested in Ireland."

The print materials of the Irish Collection alone include tens of thousands of books, periodicals, pamphlets, original manuscripts, correspondence and other memorabilia of Irish literature and history, including items relating to the Catholic Emancipation of 1795-1840 and the incorporation of Ireland into the UK at the beginning of the 19th century.

The Irish Collection also encompasses the Boston College Irish Music Center of Burns Library, which documents traditional forms of Irish music from its origins to the present, with emphasis on its influence in America. The archive has received hundreds of recordings of Irish music, some of them extremely rare and dating as far back as 1903. Among the notable additions to the archive is the Frederick M. Manning John McCormack Collection, the most comprehensive collection of resource materials in the United States documenting the great tenor's career.

The Irish Collection has seen its share of drama, as well. In 1991, O'Neill went undercover for the FBI to help break up an international crime ring that had been stealing and selling Irish antiquities. As a result, the United States was able to return to Ireland four 1,000-year-old gravestones stolen from a monastic site on Inchcleraun Island in Lough Ree in western Ireland.

Though O'Neill -- who also is a member of the political science faculty at BC, where he teaches a course on Irish political history -- is of Irish ancestry, he is a native of Lowell, Mass. He and his wife Helen (nee Parke) are long-time residents of Holliston, Mass. They have six grown children, three girls and three boys; four have graduated from Boston College, and two are still in attendance.

O'Neill came to Boston College from a position as director of the Indiana Historical Society Library in Indianapolis and Head of Special Collections at Indiana State University, where he also served as associate professor of library science in its College of Arts and Sciences. The author of numerous articles and reviews, he holds a doctoral degree in history and a master's degree in library science from the University of Chicago.

A Visitors' Guide to Irish Libraries is available at the Boston College Bookstore and at the web site of the Ulster Historical Foundation: http://www.uhf.org.uk/irishlib.htm.

The "Troubled Images" exhibition at Burns Library is free and open to the public  until April 15, 2003. Burns Library is located at 140 Commonwealth Ave., Chestnut Hill, Mass., and is handicapped accessible. Hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday - Friday  For more information call 617-552-3282.
 

March 13, 2003
Ulster Unionist Party Honors International Peace Advocates

The first American presentation of The Ulster Unionist Party - Distinguished Service and Leadership Award recognizes the active contribution to world peace of Global Citizens Circle and the leadership of the Dunfey family in advocating a permanent peace in Ireland.

Global Citizens Circle was founded in 1974 by the Dunfey family of Portsmouth, New Hampshire and modeled on the 19th Century Saturday Club, a Boston tradition that brought together great thinkers such as Emerson, Hawthorne, Holmes and Longfellow, to discuss and debate the events of their day.  The discussions, held at the Parker House Hotel, often provoked members to take action on domestic and international policy issues, a tradition that holds true today for the members of the 21st Century Global Citizens Circle.

Supported by a prestigious Board of Directors and International Advisory Board, the Circle's mission is, "To foster diversity, discussion, and constructive change in ourselves, our nation, and our world."

 In the case of Ireland, the Circle excels at fostering constructive dialogue between diverse entities, North and South.  Since the Ulster Unionist Party, in 1995, initiated its direct involvement in the Anglo-Irish-American political debate, the Dunfey family, and Global Citizens Circle, has consistently created balanced opportunities for representatives from all political parties and community organizations in Northern Ireland to meet and talk in the United States.

David Trimble, 1998 Nobel Peace Prize Co-recipient and Ulster Unionist Party Leader, said, "The Dunfey family, through Global Citizens Circle, is committed to working for peace, democracy, and equality in Northern Ireland and worldwide.  We in the Ulster Unionist Party share these values, and recognize the vital contributions of Service and Leadership that Global Citizens Circle has made to further the peace process in Northern Ireland."

"You have extended to the UUP the hand of friendship; included our representatives in Anglo-Irish-American events; created opportunities in neutral forums for constructive debate and open discussion with diverse Northern Ireland politicians and community leaders; and taken real risks for peace.  It is a privilege to honor the Dunfey family and Global Citizens Circle with the Ulster Unionist Party's Distinguished Service and Leadership Award."

 Sen. Kennedy, a lifelong advocate for peace in Northern Ireland, said, "I'm delighted that the Dunfey family and the Global Citizens Circle are being honoured with the Distinguished Service and Leadership Award of the Ulster Unionist Party.  The award is an impressive and well-deserved tribute to the strong leadership and support provided by the Dunfey family in advancing the cause of peace in Northern Ireland."

 Chairman of the Friends of Ireland, Congressman Jim Walsh added, "Hearty congratulations to the Dunfey family upon winning the U.U.P. Distinguished Service and Leadership Award. Their contribution to peace and reconciliation is greatly appreciated here in the United States and across the globe." 

 Global Citizens Circle continues its mission during the upcoming St. Patrick's Day celebrations in Washington DC, with a Circle Award breakfast at the South African Embassy, and active participation in American-Ireland Fund events.

Milwaukee Rep to Present The Lonesome West

"Maybe I am high-horse so.  Maybe that's why I don't fit in to this town.  Although I'd have to have killed half me relatives to fit into this town.  Jeez.  I thought Leenane was a nice place when I first turned up here, but no.  Turns out it's the murder capital of Europe."  -- Fr. Welsh, The Lonesome West

The Milwaukee Repertory Theater is revisiting Western Ireland this spring with its production of The Lonesome West by Martin McDonagh. The play is a dark and hilarious look at life in small-town Ireland. The author is a young man who has shaken up the theater establishment both in Europe and on this side of the Atlantic.  The Lonesome West is the last installment in a trilogy of plays that have obliterated the quaint, postcard-perfect stereotype of rural Leenane.

In past seasons, Milwaukee Rep produced the first two plays in the Leenane trilogy with enormous success.  In The Beauty Queen of Leenane  and A Skull in Connemara, the harsh and tedious existence of the characters spawned spite, death, and not a little destruction. 

Fr. Welsh laments the suspected crimes of a frustrated woman, who may or may not have bludgeoned her vindictive mother to death with a fireplace poker; and of a grave digger, who may or may not have murdered his wife before she flew through the windshield of his car in a drunk-driving accident.  Told by Martin McDonagh, the stories are not only sinister, but also absurdly and hysterically funny. 

Yet seeing the first two plays is in no way requisite to enjoy The Lonesome West.  In each play, McDonagh provides a fresh look into Leenane with new characters in different situations.  The stories stand firm and vivid on their own.

McDonagh sets The Lonesome West in the ramshackle farmhouse of Coleman and Valene Connor.  The sparse living/dining room houses the brothers' incessant, bitter and violent feuding.  They argue about what type of potato chips to buy.  They squabble over pennies.  They nit-pick about alcohol consumption.  They insult each other constantly.  Then they argue about the chips again. 

The petty quarreling continues unchecked while much more important concerns come and go with no impact at all.  The brothers have just buried their father, yet they do not mourn.  Their father died when Coleman blew his head off with a shot gun; yet the brothers merely call it an accident and move on.  The beleaguered Fr. Welsh fights to save their immortal souls; but religion in this world is more about confessing minor sins and going on your merry way than anything truly redemptive or spiritual.

The brilliance and fun of McDonagh's work lies in his superb storytelling and extraordinary verbal acrobatics.   The unexpected twists and turns in the lives of the characters keep an audience guessing what could possibly happen next.  McDonagh overlaps the inane with the imperative and paints a smart, sarcastic portrait of the brutal lives of his characters.  There are moments when their moral depravity seems almost logical, almost understandable, in the harsh, solitary world of the play.

McDonagh was born and raised in London, but his heritage is purely Irish.  When talking about his Leenane plays, he says writing the dialogue was like listening to his uncles talk in his head.  While the Irish idiosyncrasies make the language a joy to hear out loud, it never becomes quaint or sentimental.  The fast-paced, often crass, hysterical banter is broken up with beautifully crafted moments of tenderness that give the play a heart and relevance it would not otherwise possess.

The young author pulled off a theatrical coup when his trilogy of plays premiered.  He was one of a very small number of authors ever to have four plays running simultaneously in London's West-End.  (The fourth play, The Cripple of Inishmaan, was commissioned by the Royal National Theater.) 

The overwhelming success of the London premiers fueled concurrent openings of two plays in New York shortly thereafter.  Now McDonagh's work is as sought after in the States as it is in London.

McDonagh's writing has a freshness and impact that the theater world was craving.  He says he writes the kind of plays that he would like to see.  He must have good taste; everybody else seems to want to see his plays, too.
The Lonesome West will run April 6 through May 4t at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater.

Directing The Lonesome West is Michael Bloom, who is currently a professor of theater at the University of Texas at Austin.  Bloom has directed at many of the country's major theaters, including American Repertory Theatre, Berkeley Rep, South Coast Rep, Manhattan Theatre Club, Alley Theatre, and the Sundance Playwright's Institute.  Bloom received a Drama Desk nomination for direction for his Off-Broadway production of Sight Unseen. 

Recent productions include Gross Indecency  (for which he won the Elliott Norton Award for Best Directing in 1998), the world premiere of Dinner With Friends  at Actors Theatre of Louisville, the Los Angeles premieres of  The Cryptogram  and The Old Neighborhood  at the Geffen Playhouse, and the world premiere of Tennessee William's Spring Storm and David Auburn's Proof at South Coast Rep.

The Rep's 2002/2003 Resident Acting Company Members in The Lonesome West  are Lee E. Ernst (Coleman), James Pickering (Valene), and Brian Vaughn (Fr. Welsh).  Completing the ensemble cast is Elizabeth Ledo (Girleen).

The Design/Production team for The Lonesome West includes Todd Rosenthal (Scenic Design), Susan Mickey (Costume Design), Lindsay Jones (Sound Design), Joseph Appelt (Light Design), Cecilie O'Reilly (Dialect Coach), Evelyn Matten (Stage Manager), Leslie Woodruff (Stage Manager) and John Morrison (Assistant Director).

Tickets to The Lonesome West are $25 and $35.  Students and senior citizens may purchase half-price rush ticketswith proper identification 30 minutes before curtain for all Stiemke Theater performances at The Rep Ticket Office, 108 East Wells St. For more information or to charge tickets, call 414- 224-9490.  Tickets can be purchased online 24/7 at www.milwaukeerep.com.  For group sales of 20 or more, call Cory Haywood at 414- 290-5710.

Special Events:

• Talkbacks - Post-performance discussions with the cast of The Lonesome West will take place following the Friday evening performances on April 11, 18, 25, and May 2. 

 
• A Pay-What-You-Can performance, where patrons are encouraged to pay what they feel they can afford, will be on Wednesday, April 9 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for the Pay-What-You-Can performance are available beginning at 5:30 p.m. on the day of the performance.

 
• A performance interpreted in American Sign Language is scheduled for Sunday, 2 p.m., April 27.

 

 
 
 
 
 

Open to the public before and after all evening performances, Milwaukee Repertory Theater's Stackner Cabaret is located on the second floor of the Milwaukee Center. A full-service bar and restaurant featuring dinners, as well as cocktails, coffee and desserts.  For dinner reservations, call 414-224-9490.

The Milwaukee Repertory Theater is a nationally recognized theater company that presents a critically-acclaimed selection of compelling dramas, powerful classics, award-winning contemporary works and lively Cabaret shows on three stages from September through May. The Rep's home, the Patty and Jay Baker Theater Complex, accommodates the Quadracci Powerhouse Theater, the Stiemke Theater, and the Stackner Cabaret.  The Rep is also 'home' to a resident acting company of 12 actors who perform with The Rep throughout the season.

The Milwaukee Repertory Theater is a major member of UPAF and belongs to the League of Resident Theatres (LORT) and the American Arts Alliance, as well as a constituent of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the nonprofit professional theater. F   The director is a member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, an independent national labor union.

This theater operates under an agreement between the League of Resident Theatres and Actors' Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States.
 

Colin O'Brien Joins Conservatory Faculty

As part of its development of a new division devoted to American roots and folk music, the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music in Milwaukee is pleased to announce that Colin O'Brien, a well-known guitarist, singer, and songwriter, has joined its faculty and is now accepting students for private lessons in banjo and fingerstyle guitar. On Saturday, June 14, he will also present a workshop focusing on five-string banjo techniques.

This move marks a return to the Conservatory for O'Brien, since he studied under John Stropes in the American fingerstyle guitar program at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music in 1993. O'Brien also studied classical guitar with Steven Novacek at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, where he was awarded second place in the Seattle Classic Guitar Society's annual competition.

In 1995, O'Brien was awarded fourth place in the Telluride Bluegrass Festival fingerstyle guitar competition. He has taken master classes with Adrian Legg, Pierre Bensusan, Duck Baker and the Los Angles Guitar Quartet. As a performer, he has shared the stage with Kansas, Willy Porter, Dan Tyminski (of Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?), Richard Gilwitz, Paul Cebar, Dean Magrew and Peter Ostroushko. Colin appeared in a PBS documentary on Milwaukee's Brady Street and in 1998 he was featured on Public Radio International's World Café.  His CD Pressure in the West was released in 1997, receiving rave reviews in the local and national press.

To register for private lessons with O'Brien, call the Conservatory's registration department at 414-276-5760. Further details on the June workshop will be in the upcoming Summer Catalog; check the Conservatory website for updates.

Founded in 1899, the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music is the oldest and largest non-profit community school of music in Wisconsin. It is dedicated to providing the finest music education and performance opportunities to the aspiring professional performer as well as to children and adults who simply want to enjoy making music.

Classes and lessons are offered in all instruments and voice in all styles at the main location on Milwaukee's East Side, as well as at branch locations at the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts in Brookfield and RiverPoint Village in Fox Point. Call the Conservatory at 414/276-5760 for a full catalog, or visit their web site at <http://www.wcmusic.org/>www.wcmusic.org

Shapeshifters to Present Dancing at Lughnasa

Shapeshifters Theatre Company, the resident theatre company of the Irish American Heritage Center, opens its 2003 season with Brian Friel's Tony Award-winning play, Dancing at Lughnasa, through April 13.  The Irish American Heritage Center is located at 4626 N. Knox Ave., Chicago.

Dancing at Lughnasa won the 1992 Tony Award for Best Play, the Outer Critics Circle Award and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play.  Friel's beautiful, spirited and powerful play explores the lives of five unmarried sisters living in a house in County Donegal in 1936.  It is a memory play, told as a flashback, and is a sometimes humorous, sometimes tragic, look at a family and the challenges they face.

Director Brad Armacost is no stranger to the works of Brian Friel.  He has acted in seven Friel productions including Faith Healer, for which he received a Jeff Award for his portrayal of Teddy.  He was named by the Chicago Tribune to its roster of "Most Influential People in the Arts" in 1995.

Directing Dancing at Lughnasa for Shapeshifters holds a special appeal to Armacost, who acted in the Midwest premiere of the play.  His affinity for the works of Brian Friel made this project "irresistable.   We have this beautiful memory play, an embarrassment of riches in the talent available and the on-going support and vibrancy of Shapeshifters Theatre Company.  It promises to be a very special production.  It is our hope that the Irish American Heritage Center and Shapeshifters offer Chicago a very special home for those who love Irish theatre," said Armacost.

There was a discussion with Director Brad Armacost on Sunday, April 6, following the performance.

Shapeshifters will enter Dancing at Lughnasa into competition at The Acting Irish International Theatre Festival in Florida in May.  The Festival brings together Irish community theatre companies from cities throughout the United States and Canada for the presentation of full-length plays.  Last year Shapeshifters was nominated for five awards at the Festival, and took home two.

Dancing at Lughnasa will be presented on weekends through April 13.  Friday and Saturday performances are at 8 p.m.  Sunday matinees are at 3 p.m.  General admission is $10; $8 for IAHC members and seniors.  Tickets will be available at the door.  For more information, please call 773-282-7035, ext. 17.

Irish American Heritage Center Offers Monthly Genealogy Meeting

Are you interesting in trying to track down information about your ancestors?  Wondering just where and how to begin the search?  Not sure what resources are available or how to locate them?

The Irish American Heritage Center offers a session on genealogy the last Sunday of every month from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. in Room 100B.  It is free and open to the public.  This month's genealogy session will take place on Sunday, April 27.

The Irish American Heritage Center is located at 4626 N. Knox Ave. in Chicago, near the Kennedy and Edens Expressways.   Free parking is available in the Center's lots.
 

International Conference to Explore Global Ireland

President Mary McAleese of Ireland will keynote Re-Imagining Ireland - Transformations of Identity in a Global Context, the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities' groundbreaking international conference and festival, to be held May 7-10, 2003, in Charlottesville, Va. 

With funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Ireland's Cultural Relations Committee, this gathering will feature more than 100 journalists, writers, politicians, artists, scholars, musicians, and citizen activists from Ireland and around the U.S. 

A town meeting of Ireland, out of Ireland, Re-Imagining Ireland will explore the relation between global economics and traditional culture, the challenges and opportunities posed by the worldwide migration of national populations, and connections between religious and political identity and issues of war and peace. 

Focusing attention on Ireland's and Northern Ireland's changing profile in a global context, the program will have particular relevance for an American audience, speaking to their country's role in the world of the future. 

 "Re-Imagining Ireland has been planned as a kind of 'time-out' on neutral ground," says project director Andrew Higgins Wyndham.  "We want to take people out of place, routine and mind-set, to a new environment in America, where for four days they will exclusively focus on, analyze, and appreciate Irish culture, both in itself and in relation to America and other parts of the world." 

The conference and festival schedule includes 31 thematically organized panel sessions and special activities.  On the roster are two major concerts, a series of musical narratives, an award-winning play, a new Irish feature film and series of short films,  readings by major Irish poets, and an exhibition of contemporary Irish art. 

The program will accommodate 450 participants and featured guests from Ireland and throughout the United States, with larger audiences, ranging up to 900, at special events.  A broadcast documentary film and published book will extend the life and reach of the program.

Mary McAleese, the opening speaker, is the eighth President of Ireland and the first to come from Northern Ireland.  A barrister and former professor of law, she was graduated in law from the Queen's University, Belfast, in 1973 and was called to the Northern Ireland Bar in 1974.  In 1975, she was appointed Reid Professor of Criminal Law, Criminology and Penology at Trinity College Dublin. 

In 1987, she returned to her alma mater, to become Director of the Institute of Professional Legal Studies.  In 1994, she became the first female Pro-Vice Chancellor of Queen's University.  McAleese is also an experienced broadcaster, having worked as a current affairs journalist and presenter in radio and television with Radio Telefís Éireann, Ireland's national broadcaster.

Among the 102 other participants slated to appear at the conference are such award-winning writers and poets as Frank McCourt, Roddy Doyle, Colm Toibin, Ciaran Carson, Paula Meehan, and Cathal O Searcaigh; well-known dancer Jean Butler; renowned musicians, including Frankie Gavin, Seamus Egan, Mick Moloney, Larry Kirwin, Andy Irvine, Joannie Madden, Martin Hayes, Tommy Sands, Bruce Molsky, and Len Graham and Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin.

Celebrated historians include Joe Lee, Kerby Miller, Donald Akenson, Tim Pat Coogan, Marianne Elliott, Roy Foster, and Noel Ignatiev; respected journalists and authors Susan McKay, Jacki Lyden, Eamonn McCann, David McKittrick, and Fintan O'Toole; and such well-known activists and politicians as Margaret Mac Curtain, Chris McGimpsey and David Ervine.  Participants will also include economists, prominent business and cultural leaders, clergy, Irish Travelers (sometimes referred to as "tinkers" or gypsies), and representatives of the news media. 

Major arts events will include concerts by "De Dannan" and "The Green Fields of America" and by "Solas" and "Cherish the Ladies;" an exhibition of contemporary sculpture and painting from the Irish Museum of Modern Art, to be presented from April 12 - June 8 at the University of Virginia Art Museum; performances of Michael West's Foley, an award-winning play starring Abbey actor Andrew Bennett, from Dublin's Corn Exchange and Richard Wakely Productions; a series of short films from the Cork International Film Festival; and the new dramatic feature film Goldfish Memory from the Irish Film Board.

Re-Imagining Ireland is funded by a $200,000 award from the National Endowment for the Humanities and a grant of 50,000 Euros from the Cultural Relations Committee of Ireland.  Additional major support has been provided by Delta Air Lines, the Anne Lee Ueltschi Foundation, the Office of the President at the University of Virginia, Foras na Gaeilge in Dublin, Caterpillar, RBC Dain Rauscher, the Forum for Contemporary Thought (UVA), the Milwaukee Irish Fest Foundation, Peter Sutherland, Richard and Marty Wilson and other individual donors. 

Dominion Digital of Charlottesville and Richmond is contributing the design of the Re-Imagining Ireland web site; ServerVault is the pro bono host of the site.  Institutional co-sponsors include Poetry Ireland, the Film Board of Ireland, the Cork International Film Festival, the Irish Centre for Migration Studies, the Irish Museum of Modern Art and Glucksman Ireland House at New York University. 

Beyond the conference and festival, the Re-Imagining Ireland documentary film and book will reach an American and international audience of millions, introducing new perspectives on Ireland and global culture, challenging national stereotypes and easy assumptions about historical and contemporary change.  The documentary will be co-produced by Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Paul Wagner and RTÉ, Ireland's national broadcaster, with distribution support from South Carolina ETV. 

The project book, a group of commissioned essays with photo illustrations, is under contract with the University of Virginia Press. The entire program package will, for years to come, attract people interested in Ireland generally, issues of globalization, and Irish studies.

Complete program information on Re-Imagining Ireland is available at the project web site: <www.re-imagining-ireland.org>.  The conference is a public event, with free admission to most panels, but registration will be limited.  The fee structure for the conference package, including meals and all arts events is posted on the site.

Those interested in attending can register on-line.  To receive printed bulletins or registration materials, please e-mail: <<re-imagine-ir@virginia.edu >>.  Tickets for individual events, including concerts, film screenings, Foley, and other performances are also available on-line and by mail.

Delta Air Lines Sponsors Re-Imagining Ireland

Delta Air Lines will be the official airline of the Re-Imagining Ireland conference and festival.  Under a sponsorship arrangement, Delta will transport some 100 writers, journalists, politicians, performers, scholars, and citizen activists who will be featured at the May 7-10 event, a groundbreaking international "town meeting of Ireland," out of Ireland. 

Additionally, Delta will offer special promotions to those travelling from around the U.S. and overseas to attend the event, including discounted airfares to Charlottesville and Richmond, Va.  The airline will award a free round-trip to Ireland for two to a registrant on the final night of the program.  Complete information on Re-Imagining Ireland and Delta's sponsorship can be found on-line at www.re-imagining-ireland.org.

 "We are delighted by Delta's generous support and confidence in the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and the Re-Imagining Ireland conference and festival," says Robert C. Vaughan, President of the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. 

"This extraordinary program on Ireland in a global context, developed by project Director Andrew Higgins Wyndham with 10 outstanding Irish and American consultants, has also received major support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Ireland's Cultural Relations Committee, and the Anne Lee Ueltschi Foundation."

"Delta is proud to be playing a key role in underwriting this significant and exciting event," comments Delta District Sales Manager David Mitchell.  "We believe that one vital outcome of the program will be greater understanding of the forces now shaping our world, with a focus on mutual cooperation in the global community."

To be opened by Ireland's President, Mary McAleese, Re-Imagining Ireland will feature a wide range of arts and humanities activities, including 31 panel presentations and special events.  Among the many outstanding guests are writers Frank McCourt and Roddy Doyle; politicians David Ervine, Liz O'Donnell, and Brid Rodgers; journalists Susan McKay, Fintan O'Toole, and David McKittrick; historians Joe Lee, Kerby Miller, Roy Foster, Tim Pat Coogan, and Mariann Elliott, and musicians Seamus Egan, Frankie Gavin, Joannie Madden, Mick Moloney, Tommy Sands, Larry Kirwin, Bruce Molsky , Andy Irvine, and Len Graham and Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin.  Concerts, film screenings, theater, contemporary art and other exhibitions, and poetry readings will illuminate discussions that explore Ireland's culture, asking, "What does it means to be Irish now?" 

Experts will plumb the complex relationship between economic growth and cultural change.  Speakers will consider the special connections between Ireland and America, Ireland's new status in the European Union, and the continuing story of worldwide Irish Diaspora.  Exploring religious and political differences, both North and South, the event
will foster social understanding and support the process of waging peace. 

Fáilte Mhór! (All Welcome!)

Craobh Curtin Chonradh na Gaeilge in association with UWM's Center for Celtic Studies, welcomes guests to the Satharn Gaeilge (Irish Language Day), Saturday, May 10 (Dé Sathairn, 10 Bealtaine 2003)

This is an interesting program for Irish language and culture enthusiasts,with no previous language experience required.  Come learn to greet, converse, toast, curse,sing, amuse and amaze your friends in the language of heaven—Irish Gaelic!Classes for everyone from complete beginners to fluent speakers.

Friday May 9th 2003/Dé hAoine, 9 Bealtaine 2003
Paddy's Pub Síbín
*  Informal Oíche Airneáin (social gathering): 7 p.m.

Saturday May 10th 2003/Dé Sathairn, 10 Bealtaine 2003
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Student Union
* Registration/clárú: 8 a.m. to 9 a.m.
*   Classes/ranganna (all levels/gach léibhéal): 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.
*   Tea break/sos: 10-10:30 a.m.
*   Classes/ranganna: 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.
*    Lunch/lón: 11:30 to 1 p.m. including Keynote address
*   Classes/ranganna: 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.
*   Workshops/ceartlanna (song, computor, video/amhrán, íomhaireachta,
     fistéip): 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.
*   Break/sos: 3-3:30 p.m.
*   Classes/ranganna: 3:30 to 5 p.m.
*   Oíche Cheoil (concert) ICHC: 7 p.m.

Instructors:
Jim Flanagan, Baile Bhuirne, Co. Corcaigh, Insturctor at the University of Mississippi, ballad singer.

Dineen Grow, Madison, Wis.,  Founder of the Celtic Cultural Center of Madison.

Fionntán Ó Mórdha, Instructor at Áras Uí Chaidhin, Galway, and College of St. Thomas.

Úna Nic Gabhann, Instructor at Oideas Gael, UCD, visiting professor at UWM.

Seosaí Nic Rabhartaigh, múinteoir as Dún na nGall, amhránaí.

Enrollment Fee:  $55.00 (includes tuition, lunch and evening entertainment)

To register go online at http://www.irishmilwaukee.com
or call (414) 961-2470.

Burren Law School Set May 2-5

The 10th Annual Burren Law School takes place in the Burren College of Art, Ballyvaughan, Co. Clare, from May 2 - 5. The theme of this year's conference is: "The Outsider & The Law - A Contemporary & Brehon Perspective."

This year's topic examines those considered "outsiders" in contemporary Irish society and contrasts this with how the Brehon Laws addressed the same topic. Specifically, there will be consideration of such issues as: refugees/asylum seekers, Travellers, those who commit crime, people with disabilities and people marginalized by poverty and social inequality.

Speakers include:
Michael McDowell, Minister for Justice, Equality & Law Reform
Justice Paul Carney, Central Criminal Court
Dr Maureen Gaffney, Psychologist & Chair of the Social & Economic Forum
Donal Toolan, Lobbyist on behalf of disabled people
Liz McManus, TD, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party
David Joyce, Irish Traveller Movement & Law Student, Kings Inns
Gerry Whyte, School of Law, Trinity College Dublin
Jean Pierre, Eyanga, Comhlamh & Integrating Ireland
John Lonergan, Governor, Mountjoy Prison.
Nell McCafferty, Journalist
Alice Leahy, Trust - Medical & Social Services Foundation
Prof. Daibhi O'Croinin, Dept of History, NUI Galway
Prof. Donnchada O'Corrain, Dept of History, UCC
Ms Catherine Marshall, IMMA, Royal Hospital, Kilmainham
Dr Ian O'Donnell, Dept of Criminology, UCD

The director of this year's Burren Law School is Kieran McGrath.