Maud Gonne is frequently remembered as the unrequited love interest of the poet, W.B. Yeats, while her accomplishments as a nationalist, artist, actor, lecturer, polemist, writer, and social activist are often marginalized. In particular, Maud’s role in engaging with the perennial poverty and intermittent subsistence crises that dogged Ireland in the final decade of the 19th … [Read more...] about Maud Gonne and Famines in the 1890s
Christine Kinealy
“FOR JACK YEATS AND FOR IRELAND…”
By Margy Kinmonth Filmmaker Margy Kinmonth writes about making To The Western World, a film inspired by the paintings of Jack B. Yeats, and how she enticed film director, screenwriter, and actor, John Huston to narrate the film. Get information on the film here and listen to talk-back panel discussion free. One of the first films I directed was driven by my passion … [Read more...] about “FOR JACK YEATS AND FOR IRELAND…”
IMAGINE John Lennon at 80
By Christine Kinealy Imagine no possessionsI wonder if you canNo need for greed or hungerA brotherhood of man … Friday, 9 October 2020 marks what would have been the 80th birthday of rock legend, John Lennon, a founder of the Beatles, and a singer, song-writer and social activist. John was born in Liverpool in the north of England—a city sometimes referred to as the … [Read more...] about IMAGINE John Lennon at 80
Sarah Parker Remond
Continuing Christine Kinealy’s series on Black abolitionists who visited Ireland, we find, in Sarah Parker Remond, a woman who was remarkable and fearless. Frederick Douglass’s visit to Ireland 175 years ago—an experience that he described as “transformative”—has been commemorated on both sides of the Atlantic. However, Frederick was not the first or the last black … [Read more...] about Sarah Parker Remond
In the Shoes of Refugees
Walking in the footsteps of 1,490 Irish exiled in 1847. In 2017, and again in 2019, I was honored to be part of a small group of five historians who were invited by Caroilin Callery of the Irish Heritage Trust to follow in the footsteps of 1,490 refugees from the Great Hunger. As a historian, I have researched and written extensively about the Famine since completing my Ph.D. … [Read more...] about In the Shoes of Refugees