'Irish Studies Program at Fairfield University Presents Film Series'

FAIRFIELD  —“The Irish in Film,” a free movie series sponsored by the Irish Studies Program at Fairfield University, begins Sept. 28, with the first of its five films, according to a release.

 

"The series, now in it ninth year, is part of Fairfield University’s 'Arts & Minds' season of cultural and intellectual programs and is open to the public," the release said.

 

The films will be shown in the Multimedia Room of the University’s DiMenna-Nyselius Library, on Wednesday evenings at 7 p.m. and light refreshments will be served.

 

All five films will be introduced by a member of the Irish Studies faculty, who will field questions from the audience after the screenings.

 

Sept. 28: The award-winning “Pilgrim Hill” (2012) "directed by Gerard Barrett who wrote and directed the documentary-style film. The story focuses on Jimmy Walsh (Joe Mullins), a bachelor farmer living in the west of Ireland and caring for his sickly father. The film explores the themes of loneliness, isolation and caregiving. The film premiered at the Galway Film Festival, where it won the 2012 award for best new Irish talent. Barrett also won the Best New Talent award at the NY Irish Film Festival (2012). The screening has been made available by the Irish Film Institute. Adjunct Professor John E. Feeney, who teaches the course in the Irish language, will introduce the film."

 

Oct. 5, director Neil Jordan’s “Michael Collins” (1996) will be presented. "The film stars Liam Neeson in the title role as the charismatic leader of the Irish Volunteers, whose guerilla warfare against the British proved so effective. Irish actor Stephen Rea plays Ned Broy, an Ulster Protestant and government employee, who sympathizes with the Republican cause. An interesting aspect of the film is Jordan’s implication of Eamon de Valerna’s role in the 1922 assassination of Michael Collins. Dr. Kevin Cassidy, Associate Professor of Politic

s, will introduce the film."

 

Oct. 12: The film is “August Rush (2013) directed by Kirsten Sheridan, and described as a “modern musical fairytale.”

"The film is about a teenage musical prodigy (Freddie Highmore), who has been separated from his musician parents, (Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Keri Russell), who in turn have been separated from each other. Like Mozart, the boy hears music in his head and believing in its magical powers, sets out on a quest to find his parents in New York City.  Dr. Robert Epstein, Associate Professor of English, will introduce the film."

 

Oct. 19, the fast-paced British thriller set in Northern Ireland, “71” (2014) will be presented. The film was written by Gregory Burke, directed by Yann Demange, and stars Jack O’Connell, as Gary, a British soldier from Derbyshire who is caught behind enemy lines during an ugly riot on the Falls Road in west Belfast. The plot involves a fifth column (“the enemy within”) with Republican operatives working for British intelligence.  Dr. William Abbott, associate professor of History and Co-Director of Irish Studies, will introduce the film.

 

Oct. 26 “Brooklyn” (2015), based on Colm Toibin’s best-selling novel, directed by Jack Crowley with screenwriter Nick Hornby. "The film features Saoirse Roan as Eilis Lacey, the young, intelligent immigrant who makes a new life for herself in 1950s Brooklyn with the help of an Irish-American priest from home, Father Flood (Jim Broadbent). Eilis, whose name suggests Ellis Island, meets Tony, an Italian-American plumber, and everything seems settled until Eilis returns to Ireland for her sister’s funeral. There she quickly becomes absorbed into her own culture, but as a more accomplished and glamorous version of her old self. The film addresses the issue of women’s emigration in post-World War II America—both the gains and the losses.  Dr. Nels Pearson, Professor of English, will introduce the film."

Quinnipiac University’s 'Grey Nuns and the Great Hunger Exhibition'



Photo by Johnathon Henninger.

HAMDEN – An exhibit created by Ireland’s Great Hunger Institute at Quinnipiac University will be a part of the National Famine commemoration in Dublin on Sept. 11, according to a release.

 

 

 "'Saving the Famine Irish: The Grey Nuns and the Great Hunger,' which tells the story of the religious orders in Montreal whose members gave selflessly to Irish immigrants during the summer of 1847, will be part of the ninth annual commemoration, which will take place at Glasnevin Cemetery," the release said.

Ireland President Michael D. Higgins, and Heather Humphreys T.D., minister for arts and heritage, are expected to attend, the release noted. 

 

The exhibition will remain on display there until early December, the release said.

 

Christine Kinealy, founding director of Ireland's Great Hunger Institute at Quinnipiac and a professor of history, "collaborated with Jason King, Irish Research Council postdoctoral fellow at Moore Institute at Galway University, to create the exhibition, which has been displayed at Quinnipiac and in Montreal," the release said.

 

“I am delighted that people in Ireland will have an opportunity to learn about the Grey Nuns of Montreal, who showed such charity and compassion to the 70,000 Irish poor who arrived in the city in Black '47,” Kinealy said, also in the release. “It is a story of humanity that remains inspirational today.”

 

"Many thousands of people fled from Ireland during the Great Hunger, a period of mass starvation and disease between 1845 and 1852, and immigrated to Canada. Famine immigrants to Montreal were not only among the poorest of the poor, but many of them arrived already sick with typhus fever. Despite this, a number of people in the English and French Canadian communities provided the ailing and the dying with shelter and support. In the forefront of this compassionate movement were the Sisters of Charity, also known as the Grey Nuns."  

 

"The story of the Grey Nuns, and of the other religious orders who helped the dying Irish immigrants, is one of kindness, compassion and true charity," Kinealy said in the release. "Nonetheless, almost 6,000 Irish immigrants perished in the fever sheds of Montreal. They had fled from famine in Ireland only to die of fever in Canada. This is a remarkable story that deserves to be better known."

 

Further, "Ireland’s Great Hunger Institute at Quinnipiac University

Ireland's Great Hunger Institute strives to offer a deeper understanding of the causes and consequences of the Irish Famine, also known as An Gorta Mór, through a program of lectures, conferences, courses and publications. The institute also fosters an appreciation for Irish culture and history."

 

For more information about Quinnipiac University, visit www.quinnipiac.edu. Connect with Quinnipiac on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/quinnipiacunews and follow Quinnipiac on Twitter @QuinnipiacU.

 

Photo caption: Christine Kinealy, founding director of Ireland’s Great Hunger Institute at Quinnipiac University, puts the finishing touches on the exhibit, "Saving the Famine Irish: The Grey Nuns and the Great Hunger," which will be apart of the National Famine Commemoration in Dublin on Sept. 11.

 

Editor's note: All information and the photo in this post were contributed. Click one of the buttons below to share it.

'The Irish Domestic in the 1800s' at the New Haven Museum

 

"Shades of Downton Abbey at the New Haven Museum"

 

NEW HAVEN  – A lecture dubbed “Irish Women in Domestic Service,” will be held at 5:30 p.m. at the New Haven Museum on Jan. 23, according to a release.

 

During the lecture, Neil Hogan, editor of the Connecticut Irish-American Historical Society’s newsletter,, “The Shanachie,” will share research and stories collected as part of the Society’s ongoing oral history project," the release said.

 

There is no charge for admission.

 

"Faced with starvation in their native land, a multitude of brave Irish women faced the perils of an Atlantic crossing during the 1800s in the hope of becoming domestic servants in the United States. Thousands landed, lived, and worked in Connecticut, resulting in drama occasionally reminiscent of scenes from 'Downton Abbey,'" the release said.

 

The program is made possible by support from Connecticut Humanities and is part of “Connecticut at Work,” a year-long conversation about the past, present and future of work life in Connecticut created by Connecticut Humanities, the release said.

 

(Snow date - Thursday, January 30, at 5:30 p.m.)

 

 "Hogan notes that housework was considered so demeaning that 19^th-century, native-born women would sometimes accept lower-paying work rather than face the humiliating task of cleaning another’s home. Though faced with long hours, grueling physical labor, religious intolerance and a great many prejudices, in some cases the women found fulfillment, love and acceptance on American soil. Hogan will share stories of Irish domestics employed by some of Connecticut’s most prominent families—including those of Mark Twain, P.T. Barnum and the Beechers of Hartford—and at Wooster Square, the home of manufacturer J.B. Sargent and the Russell Military Academy, which employed an all-Irish, female domestic staff."

 

“Irish Women in Domestic Service,” is offered in conjunction with the Museum’s exhibition “Beyond the New Township: Wooster Square,”  which runs through May 31, 2014, the release said.

 

The talk is co-sponsored by the Connecticut Irish-American Historical Society and Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac University.  It is presented in conjunction with Connecticut at Work, an initiative of Connecticut Humanities, and a related exhibit, ‘The Way We Worked,” on view at the New Haven Free Public Library through January 19, 2014.

 

 

 

Exhibition hours:  The New Haven Museum is open Tuesday through Friday, from 10 am to 5 pm, and Saturday, from 12 noon to 5 pm., through May 31, 2014, and is open free of charge to the public every first Sunday of the month. For more information visit  or facebook.com/NewHavenMuseum or call 203-562-4183.
 

Editor's note: All information and the photo in this post was contributed. Click one of the buttons below to share it.

Sound School’s S.S. Chanteens to perform at New Haven Museum

The New Haven Museum will act as host for a concert this month featuring the Sound School’s S.S. Chanteens to celebrate the history of the large Irish immigrant population that settled in the Elm City in the 19^th century, according to a statement.

At 7 p.m. March 14, the S.S. Chanteens will perform sea shanties and traditional Irish music, the statement said. Hear a sample of the music here.

"A delicious door prize will also be available: Irish soda bread from Chestnut Fine Foods," the statement said. 

Visitors can also enter a raffle for a gift certificate to The Playwright in Hamden. 

Admission is free, but donations are welcome. Light refreshments will be served.

"The Sound School Regional Aquaculture Center, located at City Point along New Haven Harbor Connecticut, has proven to be an ideal home for sea shanties," the statement said. "As song filled the air around campus, and the magic of this language became contagious."

The S.S. Chanteens formed in 2002, with many of its members coming from the rowing and sailing teams. Paula Daddio, previously of the trio Shipping News, and Kristi Otterbach act as the group’s advisors, the statement said. 

Members of the group change every few years, but "they all have an incredible love of the water and a passion for shanties and other traditional music. They perform with the expected enthusiasm of a group of teenagers."

Special thanks goes to the NewAlliance Foundation for their support, the statement said.

The New Haven Museum, founded in 1862 as the New Haven Colony Historical Society, is located in downtown New Haven at 114 Whitney Ave. For more information, contact Michelle Cheng, director of Education, at (203) 562-4183 ext. 11 or education@newhavenmuseum.org. 

Editor's note: All information in this post was contributed.