2005-2006
Past events and lectures for the 2005-2006 Academic Year are listed in chronological order as follows:
September 20, 2005

Dr. Beverly Schneller presents
Yankee Head and an Irish Heart: The Story of Anna Parnell and the Irish Ladies’ Land League
Dr. Beverly Schneller, UST alumna of the class of 1980, presented a lecture on Yankee Head and an Irish Heart: The Story of Anna Parnell and the Irish Ladies’ Land League.
Anna Parnell (1852-1911), a sister of Irish Home Rule politician Charles Stewart Parnell, settled in Ireland in January 1881 to run the political activities of the Ladies’ Land League that she founded at the invitation of Michael Davitt, one of the key leaders of the Irish Land League Movement. From January 1881 through August 1882, Anna Parnell criss-crossed the Irish countryside making speeches, raising money, and supervising the building of tenants’ houses while outwitting the law. The public lecture by Dr. Beverly Schneller, Chair and Professor of English at Millersville University in Pennsylvania and a 1980 B.A. graduate of UST, introduces Anna Parnell through her political journalism and seeks to replace the notion that she was Parnell’s radical sister with the image of her as one of Ireland’s great female patriots who used her writing, speaking and organizing skills to shape public policy in nineteenth-century Ireland. Dr. Schneller also discussed her book entitled: Anna Parnell’s Political Journalism.
September 29-30, Saturday, Oct. 1 and Wednesday, October 5-8, 2005

UST Drama Performance of Waiting for Godot
UST’s Drama Program presented Waiting for Godot, by Irish playwright Samuel Beckett
October 25, 2005
William J. Flynn presents
The Northern Ireland Peace Process
Lecture by William J. Flynn, Chairman Emeritus of Mutual of America Life Insurance Company and Recipient of First Initiative for Peace Award by the National Committee of American Foreign Policy for his leadership and diplomacy in the Northern Ireland Peace Process in the 1990s.
Mr. Flynn recently had returned from Ireland and Northern Ireland and gave us his perspective on the current peace process. He discussed the development of the Irish peace process with an emphasis on those areas of disagreement that thus far have thwarted efforts to a successful conclusion of the difficulties.

Mr. Flynn has received many other awards for his work in the Peace Process. As part of its “Irish Celebration” in March of 2003, Mr. Flynn was honored by The National Museum of Catholic Art and History for his tireless efforts to bring peace to Ireland. Later that month, he was awarded the John F. Kennedy National Achievement Award by the St. Patrick’s Committee of Holyoke, Massachusetts. In making the announcement, the President of the St. Patrick’s Committee said, “William Flynn, by far, surpasses any criteria that may be set as a measurement for success in a person’s professional or personal life. Mr. Flynn has succeeded in business while demonstrating a continued commitment to human rights issues, not just in Ireland, but around the world.”

In March of 1994, Mr. Flynn was selected as Irish American of the Year by Irish America Magazine and in May 1994 was honored by The American Ireland Fund. In November 1994, the Prime Minister of Ireland, Albert Reynolds, recognized Mr. Flynn’s contributions to the Northern Ireland peace process at a Tribute Dinner in his honor.

In November of 1999, Mr. Flynn was selected by Irish America Magazine as one of The Greatest Irish-Americans of the Century. Mr. Flynn was among the honorees at the December 1999 Peace Links Gala in Washington, DC for his help in brokering peace in Ireland.

This event was sponsored by Honorary Consul of Ireland John B. Kane and Alayne Kane, the UST Center for Irish Studies and The Irish Society.

November 17, 2005

Master Irish Seanchaí (Storyteller) Eddie Lenihan presents
Tales of Myth, Magic and Mystery
Eddie Lenihan is considered one of the master Irish storytellers and delighted the audience with stories he has been collecting and telling for years. This event was one of the most entertaining and lively of the year. This event was sponsored by Guinness USA, the Irish American Cultural Institute and The Irish Society of Houston.
February 16, 2006

Dr. Richard Rankin Russell of Baylor University presents
The Liberating Fiction of Community in Brian Friel’s Play “The Freedom of the City”

Brian Friel’s two perennial themes of potential and community coalesce in The Freedom of the City (1973) as the characters trapped in the Derry Guildhall form a provisional community based on a shared humanity rife with potential for the Northern political situation. This provisional community is Friel’s answer to another group of provisionals that would swell in numbers after Bloody Sunday—the Provisional IRA. British imperialism had formerly squelched attempts at a true democracy; subsequent events after this turning point in the Troubles would create entrenched attitudes backed up with violence on both sides. There was a moment during Bloody Sunday, Friel suggests, when both sides had a chance to engage in constructive conversation, but that chance quickly passes in the play.
Richard Rankin Russell (Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) is an assistant professor of English at Baylor University. He specializes in Northern Irish literature, Anglo-Irish literature, and twentieth-century British literature. His articles have appeared in Journal of Modern Literature, South Atlantic Review, Modern Drama, New Hibernia Review, and English Language Notes, among others. His edited collection of essays on the contemporary Irish playwright Martin McDonagh will appear from Routledge in 2007. He has just completed a manuscript entitled “Michael Longley, Seamus Heaney, and the Devolution of Northern Irish Literature” and is currently working on a book entitled The Artist and the Parish: Brian Friel and Agrarianism.
This event was sponsored by the Center for Irish Studies and The Irish Society.
March 2, 2006

Moran Resources Company’s Distinguished Irish Studies Cultural Event:
An Evening with Irish Singer and Storyteller Ken O’Malley
Dublin-born and raised, Ken O’Malley is regarded as the finest Irish folk singer/songwriter in the United States today. He has performed with The Chieftains, Mary Black, Paul Brady, The Wolf Tones, Lunasa, Solas, Gaelic Storm and many more, and has led his well-known band, The Twilight Lords, in two recordings, The White Seahorse and Women of Ireland. He was commissioned by Turner Pictures to compose an original song, “The Roses and the Rye” for the CD accompanying the movie Gods and Generals, the sequel to Gettysburg. Ken is the narrator for FritzFilms’ Joyce to the World, a one-hour long documentary on Ulysses and its author James Joyce, featuring Brian Dennehy, Finoula Flanagan, Frank McCourt and Malachy McCourt. He sang in the Paramount Pictures movie Patriot Games, coached Irish actor Pierce Brosnan for his singing debut in the movie Evelyn and, most recently, recorded the 17th century Irish ballad “Eamon an Chnoic” (Ned of the Hill) for National Geographic’s CD recording “Romance Around the World,” a collection of twelve international love songs. In August 2004, Ken performed at the John Anson Ford Theatre in Los Angeles with Solas and again at the Ford in September 2005 with Gaelic Storm. He most recently starred in Kerry Records’ production of A Grand Irish Variety Concert at The Shiley Theater, San Diego, The United Irish Cultural Center, San Francisco, and Marsee Auditorium, El Camino College, Torrance, California.
This event was sponsored by Moran Resources Company, Kerry Records, the Center for Irish Studies and The Irish Society.

March 17, 2006

Fourth Annual St. Patrick’s Day Celebration

We were honored to have our new Archbishop, Archbishop Daniel DiNardo, as the principal celebrant for St. Patrick’s Day Mass in the Chapel of St. Basil. The de Burgo Ensemble continued its tradition of performing Irish liturgical music. Students from Ireland participated in the liturgy and the music. Mass and the corned beef and cabbage brunch were sponsored by the Center for Irish Studies and The Irish Society.

March 30, 2006

Dr. David O’Brien of the College of the Holy Cross presents
The Role of Irish Americans in the History of American Catholicism
The lecture concentrated on three turning points in US Catholic History: (i) the formation of the American Church under John Carroll when Carroll and his immediate successors experienced interference from Ireland; (ii) the “Americanist Crisis” in the late nineteenth century when Irish-American Catholic leaders divided over the future of the American church, with significant consequences; and (iii) Vatican II, when the Irish-American domination of Catholic life and culture came to an end.

Dr. David O'Brien is the Loyola Professor of Roman Catholic Studies at the College of the Holy Cross, in Worcester, Mass. Holy Cross is a Jesuit liberal arts college, where he has served for over 35 years. He has written six books on the history of American Catholicism and has written widely on Catholic social thought and action. He holds seven honorary degrees and was awarded the Theodore M. Hesburgh CSC Award for Distinguished Service to American Catholic Higher Education by the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities. In 2005, he received the Marianist Award from the University of Dayton for Contributions to American Catholic Intellectual Life. He is a Past President of the American Catholic Historical Association and has served on numerous committees of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and his home diocese of Worcester, Massachusetts.

This event was sponsored by the Center for Irish Studies and The Irish Society.

April 19, 2006

Bill and Sally Slick Distinguished Irish Studies Cultural Series:
Irish Harpist Máire Ni Chatasaigh presents
The Irish Harp, its History, Repertoire and Role in Irish Society

Máire Ni Chatasaigh is one of Ireland ’s most important and influential traditional musicians, described by Live Ireland as “the greatest Celtic harper of our age” and by the late Derek Bell as “the most interesting and original player of the Irish harp today.”

She grew up in a well-known West Cork musical family and was already proficient in a variety of other instruments by the time she began to play the harp at the age of eleven. Using her knowledge of the idiom of the living oral Irish tradition, she developed a variety of new techniques, particularly in relation to ornamentation, with the aim of establishing an authentically traditional style of harping - “a single-handed reinvention of the harp.” Her originality was quickly recognized. She made a number of TV and radio broadcasts as a teenager, and she won the All-Ireland and Pan-Celtic Harp Competitions on several occasions. In 1985, she recorded the first harp album ever to concentrate on traditional Irish dance music, The New-Strung Harp, described by The Cork Examiner as “an intensely passionate and intelligent record… a mile-stone in Irish harp music.”

In 2001, Máire received the Gradam Cheoil TG4, the Irish-language TV station’s Award for Traditional Musician of the Year “for the excellence and pioneering force of her music, the remarkable growth she has brought to the music of the harp and the positive influence she has had on the young generation of harpers” at a televised ceremony in the Cork Opera House. The Gradam is the highest, most prestigious honor for a traditional Irish musician.

She holds an honours B.A. degree in Celtic Studies from University College Cork. Old Bridge Music has published two books of her harp arrangements, The Irish Harper Vols. I and II.

Máire contributed two articles about the Irish harp and modes in Irish music to the Companion to Irish Traditional Music (Cork University Press) and is profiled in Celtic Women in Music (Mairéad Sullivan, Quarry Music Books, Canada). She also is profiled in the Rough Guide to Irish Music.
This event was sponsored by Sally and Bill Slick, the Irish American Cultural Institute, the Center for Irish Studies and The Irish Society.
Past events and lectures for the 2004-2005 Academic Year are listed in chronological order as follows:

February 15, 2004

Irish Dance and Center for Irish Studies Open House

The McTeggart Irish Dancers of Houston performed traditional Irish dancing and told the story behind the story of Irish dancing.

This event was sponsored by the Center for Irish Studies and The Irish Society.

March 2, 2004
Elizabeth Frances Martin of Adams-Martin Fine Art of New York, Dublin and London presents Appreciating Irish Art
Elizabeth Frances Martin presented an illustrated lecture on Nineteenth and Twentieth century Irish Painting. Ms. Martin is a partner in Adams-Martin Fine Art of New York, Dublin and London. She received her master’s degree in art history from Hunter College in New York and is in the doctoral program at The Graduate Center at the City University of New York (CUNY). At the time of her presentation, she was researching her dissertation on Nineteenth-Century Irish Landscape Painting.
The presentation was sponsored by Sotheby’s, the Center for Irish Studies and The Irish Society.
March 17, 2004
Second Annual St. Patrick’s Day Celebration
We celebrated St. Patrick’s Day in grand style with a Mass and Brunch in honor of St. Patrick, sponsored by the University of St. Thomas Center for Irish Studies and The Irish Society. Mass was held in the Chapel of St. Basil. Archbishop Joseph A. Fiorenza was the principal celebrant. Dr. John Burke of the University’s Political and Social Science Department, and the official piper of The Irish Society, directed the music performed by the de Burgo Ensemble, which included the bag pipes, harp, tin whistle, flute, Irish drum, trumpet, guitar, and rainstick. Mass was followed by a corned beef and cabbage brunch.
March 30, 2004
Moran Resources Company Distinguished Irish Studies Lecture Series:
Dr. Colbert Kearney of University College Cork, Ireland presents
Noon lecture: The Island of Poets: The Irish Writer and the Oral Tradition Explored in the Works of J.M. Synge and Sean O’Casey
Dr. Colbert Kearney, Professor of Modern English at University College Cork, Ireland, lectured on the use of the native Gaelic oral tradition in the writing of J.M. Synge and Sean O’Casey. This lecture was sponsored by Moran Resources Company, the Irish Government through the Cultural Relations Committee, the Center for Irish Studies and The Irish Society.
Evening lecture: W.B. Yeats and the Present Imperfect: The Dramatic Element in Yeats’ Poetry
Dr. Colbert Kearney, Professor of Modern English at University College Cork, Ireland, presented a lecture on Yeats’ Poetry.
These lectures were sponsored by Moran Resources Company, the Irish Government through the Cultural Relations Committee, the Center for Irish Studies and The Irish Society.
Sunday, April 25, 2004

Sixteenth Annual Shiffick Distinguished Lecture in Archaeology:
Dr. Thomas Finan presents
An Archaeological History of Ireland
Dr. Thomas Finan of St. Louis University presented an illustrated lecture on An Archaeological History of Ireland, covering medieval, prehistoric and Early Christian Ireland.
The lecture was co-sponsored by the University of St. Thomas Friends of Archaeology, the Center for Irish Studies and The Irish Society. The reception and publicity for this event were sponsored by Honorary Consul of Ireland, Mr. John B. Kane, and his wife, Alayne Kane.
May 6, 2004
Irish American Cultural Institute Irish Perceptions Series:
Peter Browne presents An Integrated History of the Uilleann Pipes
Peter Browne performed on the Uilleann Pipes and presented an integrated history of the Uilleann Pipes from its first appearance in Ireland to the present day, including an historical sketch of the bagpipe in medieval Europe, its possible journey to Ireland and evolution into the Uilleann Pipes of today. Peter has performed in the Kennedy Center. The lecture and reception were co-sponsored by the Irish American Cultural Institute, Guinness USA, the Center for Irish Studies and The Irish Society.
September 30, 2004
Dr. Shannon Forbes of the University of St. Thomas presents
Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes as Memoir: The Role of Memory in Performative Identity Formation
Dr. Forbes of the University of St. Thomas English Department and Irish Studies Faculty explored the way memory functions in Angela's Ashes when one conceives of McCourt's identity as performative--changeable and shifting based on different roles McCourt performs and actions he chooses. Angela's Ashes has been the subject of debate among the Irish regarding McCourt's depiction of his Irish childhood. This lecture was sponsored by the Center for Irish Studies and The Irish Society.
October 28, 2004
Dr. John McNamara of the University of Houston English Department presents
Early Christianity in Ireland : The Oral Tradition
Dr. John McNamara explored the way in which legends formed communal identities as they circulated through the early Irish communities, particularly in the lives of the early Irish saints. He is a Professor in and the former Chair of the University of Houston English Department. He began as a student of philosophy and classics and ultimately became a professor of medieval languages and literatures of Ireland, England and Scotland. Dr. McNamara has been researching oral tradition in early Ireland for the last decade, focusing on oral history, archaeology, popular legends, and literature. This lecture was sponsored by George and Colleen McCullough, the Center for Irish Studies and The Irish Society.
November 4, 2004

Dr. Paul Collins of Limerick presents
The Irish Church and Organ Music since the Late Nineteenth Century
In anticipation of his concert on November 7, 2004, Dr. Paul Collins of Mary Immaculate College in Limerick, Ireland, lectured on the Irish Church and Organ Music since the Late Nineteenth Century. This lecture charted the course of church and organ music in Ireland since the late nineteenth century, placing particular emphasis on the influence of the Cecilian movement during the late 1800s and early 1900s, music in the cathedrals and the impact of Vatican II on the composition of church music.
Dr. Collins lectures in music at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick, Ireland. He is a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, and holds a first class honours MA (Performance and Musicology) and a PhD from the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. He studied organ and harpsichord at the Dublin Institute of Technology Conservatory of Music and Drama, where he was awarded the Actors' Church Union Prize for advanced organ playing. He also holds a Fellowship Diploma in organ from Trinity College, London. This event was sponsored by the Irish Government Cultural Relations Committee, the Music Department of the University of St. Thomas, the Center for Irish Studies and The Irish Society.
November 7, 2004
Annual Monaghan Organ Concert:
Dr. Paul Collins of Limerick
Dr. Paul Collins of Limerick, Ireland, presented the University of St. Thomas Annual Monaghan Organ Concert in the Chapel of St. Basil. The performance included music by Muffat, Böhm, Martini, Stanford, J.S.Bach, Pinkham, Eric Sweeney, and Jacques van Oortmerssen. Dr. Collins lectures in music at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick, Ireland. He is a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, and holds a first class honours MA (Performance and Musicology) and a Ph.D. from the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. He studied organ and harpsichord at the Dublin Institute of Technology Conservatory of Music and Drama, where he was awarded the Actors' Church Union Prize for advanced organ playing. He also holds a Fellowship Diploma in organ from Trinity College, London. This event was sponsored by the Irish Government Cultural Relations Committee, the Music Department of the University of St. Thomas, the Center for Irish Studies and The Irish Society.
February 17-19 and 23-24, 2005
Play: Wonderful Tennessee
This play by Irish playwright Brian Friel takes place in Donegal, Ireland, and features three couples waiting for a boat to take them to an island off the west coast of Ireland. As they wait for the boat, they tell stories and sing songs, one of which is an American folk song called “Wonderful Tennessee.” This play was performed by the UST Drama program during our American Conference for Irish Studies Southern Regional Conference in February 2005 and for the public before and after the conference.
February 24 through February 26, 2005
Ireland: North, South, East and West
American Conference for Irish Studies
Southern Regional Conference
hosted by UST at the Warwick Hotel

See Events & Calendar page for details.
March 17, 2005
Third Annual St. Patrick's Day Celebration
The Center for Irish Studies and The Irish Society had a wonderful Third Annual St. Patrick’s Day celebration on Thursday, March 17, 2005. Fr. Bill Young, CSB, President Emeritus of UST and member of the Center’s Advisory Board, was the principal celebrant for the Mass. UST’s Dr. John Burke and his de Burgo Ensemble performed traditional Irish music. A corned beef and cabbage brunch followed the Mass.
Monday, March 21, 2005
Timothy Collins presents
Early Irish Travel on the Galway Line: Transatlantic Triumph or Heroic Failure?
Lecture by Timothy Collins, a Chartered Librarian in the James Hardiman Library, National University of Ireland, Galway, lectured on the early Irish transatlantic Galway Line, its successes and its tragedies. Mr. Collins is a graduate of University College Galway in marine sciences and scholar of maritime history and the Director of the Centre for Landscapes Studies, National University of Ireland, Galway.
This event was sponsored by Len Ivins on behalf of Ann Caraway Ivins, the UST Center for Irish Studies and The Irish Society.
Sunday, April 24, 2005
Dr. Margot Backus of the University of Houston presents
As Close to the Truth As We’re Ever Going to Get:
Derry People on the Film Bloody Sunday
Presentation by Dr. Margot Backus, Associate Professor of English, University of Houston. We showed the film Bloody Sunday, about 14 people killed during a civil rights march in Derry, Northern Ireland, on January 30, 1972, which is the subject of the ongoing Saville Inquiry. Dr. Backus discussed the film and related her interviews with people in Derry in 2004.
This event was sponsored by the Center for Irish Studies and The Irish Society.
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Dr. Aidan O’Sullivan of University College Dublin, Ireland presents
Exploring People and Their Worlds In Early Medieval Ireland
Through photographs of recent archaeological discoveries, Dr. O’Sullivan explored how the early medieval Irish used places and material objects to shape their landscapes and express their social identities. This event was sponsored by the Irish American Cultural Institute, the UST Center for Irish Studies and The Irish Society.
Past events and lectures for the 2003-2004 Academic Year are listed in chronological order as follows:
January 23, 2003
Opening of the Center for Irish Studies
Charles Sheehan, the Irish Consul General from Chicago, attended the opening of the Center for Irish Studies. Consul General Sheehan presented a lecture on Irish Studies and Modern Ireland. Consul General Sheehan was joined by Honorary Consul of Ireland, John B. Kane, and members of The Irish Society, the non-sectarian, non-denominational community group that created the Center for Irish Studies, with its founder, Dr. Joseph McFadden, University President Emeritus and Professor of Irish and American History.
February 13-15, 19-22, 2003
Dancing at Lughnasa
The University Drama Program performed Dancing at Lughnasa, a play by Brian Friel. The play is an extraordinary, haunting story of five unmarried sisters in 1936 in a remote Irish village where dance and dream are beckoned before nightfall.
March 17, 2003
First Annual St. Patrick’s Day Celebration
University President Fr. Michael J. Miller celebrated Mass and gave a thought-provoking homily on Ireland today. Dr. John Burke of the University’s Political and Social Science Department, and the official piper of The Irish Society, directed the music performed by the de Burgo Ensemble, which included the bag pipes, harp, tin whistle, flute, Irish drum, trumpet, guitar, and rainstick. A traditional corned beef and cabbage brunch followed Mass.
April 7, 2003
Dr. Mary Power of the University of New Mexico presents
Frank O’Connor’s Short Stories

Dr. Mary Power, an Irish literature scholar at the University of New Mexico, spoke on Frank O’Connor’s short stories. Dr. Power highlighted the insight and creativity of Frank O’Connor’s stories, the magic of his imagination and his powerful word choice. This event was sponsored by the Center for Irish Studies and The Irish Society.

April 16, 2003

Rev. and Mrs. Gary Ferbet present
The Politics of Reconciliation in Northern Ireland

Rev. Gary Ferbet, Associate Pastor for Pastoral Care of the Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church, and his wife, Pam, a Roman Catholic, spoke on “The Politics of Reconciliation in Northern Ireland.” Rev. and Mrs. Ferbet led reconciliation missions comprised of Presbyterians and Roman Catholics to Northern Ireland when they lived in Houston. This event was sponsored by the Center for Irish Studies, the University of St. Thomas Social Justice Committee and The Irish Society.

May 19, 2003

Dr. Janet Lowery of the University of St. Thomas presents
Irish Film “Some Mother’s Son”

Dr. Janet Lowery of UST’s English Department and Irish Studies Program led a discussion before and after a showing of the Irish film, “Some Mother’s Son,” starring Helen Mirren, about the Northern Ireland hunger strikes in the prisons during the 1980s and the continuation of the “Troubles.” This event was sponsored by the Center for Irish Studies and The Irish Society.

September 18, 2003

Dr. Patricia Haberstroh of La Salle University presents
Imagining the Magdalens

Dr. Patricia Haberstroh, Professor of English at La Salle University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, spoke on Imagining the Magdalens, and gave a PowerPoint presentation based on her research of the Magdalen laundries in Ireland. The presentation coincided with the Magdalen Sisters series of films aired in theaters around the country at that time. This event was sponsored by the Center for Irish Studies and The Irish Society.

October 23, 2003

Robert Cremins of Strake Jesuit College Preparatory presents
The Contemporary Irish Novel

Robert Cremins, Chair of the Strake Jesuit College Preparatory English Department in Houston, a native of Ireland and a novelist, spoke on the “Contemporary Irish Novel.” His presentation focused on the novels of John McGahern, including The Dark, Amongst Women and By the Lake. This event was sponsored by the Center for Irish Studies and The Irish Society.

November 13, 2003

Dr. Lee Ligon of the University of St. Thomas presents
The Provections of James Joyce

Dr. Lee Ligon, a James Joyce scholar, spoke on an aspect of Joyce’s works from her doctoral dissertation research and life-long love and teaching of Joyce. Provections is a word initially coined by Fritz Senn of the Zurich James Joyce Foundation and one of Dr. Ligon’s mentors during her doctoral work. This word describes a specific technique ¾ one of the many manifestations of Joyce’s brilliant use of the English language. Dr. Ligon demonstrated how this technique functions on a rhetorical basis and a thematic basis, looking primarily at his works’ “non-endings” in the epiphanies or revelations of Gretta, Molly, and Anna Livia. This event was sponsored by the Center for Irish Studies and The Irish Society.