Ireland's Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac University names new leader

                                   

Quinnipiac University announced in a release that Ireland's Great Hunger Museum has a new executive director: Ryan D. Mahoney. Mahoney comes to Quinnipiac "from Albany, New York, where he was executive director of the Irish American Heritage Museum since 2013. Before that, he was curator/director of collections and historic sites at the Schenectady County Historical Society," the release sais.  Mahoney earned a dual bachelor's degree in history and political science from St. John Fisher College and a master’s degree in public history from the University at Albany, the release said. "He has served as a national board member of the Irish American Cultural Institute, as well as a board member of the United Irish Societies of the Capital District. He also has been active with the Ancient Order of Hibernians and Albany St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee. In 2016 Mahoney was named an Irish Top 40 Under 40 by the Irish Echo."  At the museum - Helen Bennett “I could not be happier, or more honored, to join the team at Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac University," he said in the release. "The commitment of this university to the preservation and sharing of Irish history and culture, especially related to the Great Hunger, is truly amazing.  I look forward to helping this museum take its next steps toward a bright future.” Mahoney  is "originally from Indian Lake, New York, and raised in the Adirondack Mountains, Mahoney has a huge passion for the outdoors. In his spare time, he often will be hiking, kayaking or biking."

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Declan O'Rourke to perform at Ireland's Great Hunger Museum

Ireland's Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac University will act as host for a performance by singer and songwriter Declan O'Rourke at 7 p.m. Nov. 2, according to a release.

"Since discovering that his grandfather was born in a workhouse in Kinvara, County Galway, O’Rourke has been on a personal mission writing songs about the Irish Famine," the release said.

At the event at Ireland's Great Hunger Museum , O'Rourke will perform "a special solo set of his new album, 'Chronicles of the Great Irish Famine,'” the release said.




"This intimate performance is an experience not to be missed; songs of remembrance side by side with the museum's collection."

Tickets are $30 ($10, students) and must be purchased in advance, online by clicking here, or by calling 203-582-6500.

To learn more about Declan O'Rourke, visit his website at declanorourke.com. 

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Learn about the impact made by Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac University

 



Ireland - Helen Bennett

HAMDEN – The impact made by Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac University in its first five years will be the topic at a discussion by the museum’s founding curator, Niamh O’Sullivan, at 6 p.m. Sept. 27, at the museum, 3011 Whitney Ave., according to a release.

 

The lecture is free and open to the public, but registration is required, the release said. Go to ighm.org to register. O’Sullivan also will talk about the museum's plan for future exhibitions when she kicks off the museum’s celebration of its fifth anniversary, the release said. 

 



The Hunger Museum - Helen Bennett

A reception will follow the lecture at 6:45 p.m. Guests to this lecture are asked to bring canned foods to be donated to the Connecticut Food Bank. 

 

O’Sullivan, who earned a doctorate at the University College Dublin, and a master’s degree from the University College London, also is professor emeritus of Visual Culture at the National College of Art and Design in Ireland, the release said.

 

The Hunger Museum - Helen Bennett

"Formerly head of education at the National Gallery of Ireland, she curated “The Eyes of a Child” (National Gallery of Ireland, 1979) and the first retrospective exhibitions of Aloysius O’Kelly (Hugh Lane, 2000), and Daniel Macdonald (IGHM, 2016). Among her various accomplishments, O’Sullivan is also an award-winning scholar. Her publications include “Aloysius O’Kelly: Art, Nation, Empire” (2010), “The Tombs of a Departed Race: Illustrations of Ireland’s Great Hunger” (2014) and “In the Lion’s Den: Daniel Macdonald, Ireland and Empire” (2016). "

 

Also in the release: "Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac University is home to the world's largest collection of visual art, artifacts and printed materials relating to the Irish Famine. The museum preserves, builds and presents its art collection to stimulate reflection, inspire imagination and advance awareness of Ireland's Great Hunger and its long aftermath on both sides of the Atlantic."

 

 



Ireland - Helen Bennett

The museum is open Wednesdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sundays, 1-5 p.m. Museum admission is free.

 

For more about Quinnipiac University,  visit QU.edu. Connect with Quinnipiac on Facebook at Facebook.com/quinnipiacunews and follow Quinnipiac on Twitter @QuinnipiacU.

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'In the Irish Tenement Kitchen' lecture at Quinnipiac University

 

NORTH HAVEN -  The lecture, “In the Irish Tenement Kitchen,” will take place at 6 p.m.  Oct. 10, in the auditorium in the Center for Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at Quinnipiac University, 370 Bassett Road, according to a release.

 

The lecture, which is among the events being held to celebrate the fifth anniversary of Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac, is free and open to the public, but registration is required at ighm.org.

 

Sarah Lohman, an author, blogger, food historian and museum educator at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, will present the lecture, the release said.

 

 Sarah Lohman - contributed

            "During her lecture, Lohman will discuss what domestic life was like for immigrant families who lived in the tenement buildings of Lower East Side Manhattan. Tenements emerged in New York City in the 19^th century and play an important role in the history of the 19^th century Irish immigrant experience.

 

"For a week in 2009, Lohman ate like a tenement dweller by following the 1877 pamphlet titled “Fifteen Cent Dinner.” She also lived as a 19^th-century Irish maid for a day," according to the release.

 

            Lohman will sign her book, “Eight Flavors: The Untold Story of American Cuisine,” which explores the unique culinary history of America and how immigrant groups shaped the way Americans eat today. Copies of the book will be available for purchase.

 

Also in the release:

 

"Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac University is home to the world's largest collection of visual art, artifacts and printed materials relating to the Irish Famine. The museum preserves, builds and presents its art collection to stimulate reflection, inspire imagination and advance awareness of Ireland's Great Hunger and its long aftermath on both sides of the Atlantic.

 

Works by noted contemporary Irish artists are featured at the museum including internationally known sculptors John Behan, Rowan Gillespie and Éamonn O'Doherty; as well as contemporary visual artists, Robert Ballagh, Alanna O'Kelly, Brian Maguire and Hughie O'Donoghue. Featured paintings include several important 19th and 20th‐century works by artists such as James Brenan, Daniel Macdonald, James Arthur O'Connor and Jack B. Yeats.

 

The museum is open Wednesdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Fridays, and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sundays, 1-5 p.m. Museum admission is free."

 

Connect with Quinnipiac on Facebook at Facebook.com/quinnipiacunews and follow Quinnipiac on Twitter @QuinnipiacU.

 

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Friends and Family Day at the Pardee-Morris House in New Haven

NEW HAVEN - A free  “Friends and Family Day” will be held at the historic Pardee-Morris House, 325 Lighthouse Road, from noon to 4 p.m. Sept. 24, rain or shine, according to a release.

 

The event will be hosted by the New Haven Museum, which owns and operates the site, the release said. "From live bluegrass music, to colonial crafts, to tin-punch lantern making, the event offers something for everyone."

 

 

Also noted in the release:

 

Music by the Bait and Switch Bluegrass Plus Band, from 2 to 4 p.m. 

 

Guided tours of the c.1780 Pardee-Morris House, which replaced the original home burnt by raiding British redcoats in 1779.

 

Members of the 6^th Connecticut Regiment, in full colonial dress, will portray Revolutionary War soldiers.

 

Fort Nathan Hale Restoration Projects will exhibit artifacts recovered during an archeological dig at Fort Nathan Hale on New Haven Harbor

 

Friends of Fort Wooster will discuss the history of New Haven’s Fort Wooster, the site of skirmishes during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.

 

Participatory crafts for children will include tin-punch lantern making, corn-husk-doll making, pumpkin painting and face painting.

 

Colonial crafters will be on hand to demonstrate their expertise, including Suzanne Schwarz, with colonial herbs; Jody Bishel, with plant-based wool dyeing, and wool spinning with Dawn Satir.

 

 

 

Also: "The Museum thanks the Knights of Columbus, Rodrigo Council #44, East Shore Management Team, and Morris Cove neighbors, including the DeCola Family, Frank Pinto and Rosemary Spring, for supporting the 2017 summer season."

 

About the Pardee-Morris House

"One of the oldest surviving historic structures in Connecticut, the Pardee-Morris House dates from about 1780 and is listed on the State and National Register of Historic Places.  Built by Amos Morris circa 1750, the house was burned by the British during their raid on New Haven in 1779, and rebuilt and expanded by the Morris family. In 1918, William Pardee, a descendant of the Morris family, willed the property to the New Haven Colony Historical Society, which today is known as the New Haven Museum."

 

About the New Haven Museum

"The New Haven Museum, founded in 1862 as the New Haven Colony Historical Society, is located in downtown New Haven at 114 Whitney Avenue. The Museum is currently celebrating 150 years of collecting, preserving and interpreting the history and heritage of Greater New Haven. Through its collections, exhibitions, programs and outreach, the Museum brings 375 years of New Haven history to life."

 

 For more information:

Sign up for e-blasts at info@newhavenmuseum.org, or call the New Haven Museum at 203-562-4183.

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Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum to hold storytelling workshop for kids

At the museum / Helen Bennett
 

 

HAMDEN  – Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac University, will hold a three-day workshop for children, dubbed “The Paintings Speak: Creating Dramatic Monologues Inspired by the Artwork in Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum,” from Aug. 16 to Aug. 18, according to a release..

The workshop is for children ages 9 to 12 and will run from 9-11 a.m. each day at 3011 Whitney Ave., the release said. 

 

"The workshop is designed to educate children about the Irish Famine, which occurred from 1845-52 when blight destroyed virtually all of Ireland's potato crops. The crop destruction, coupled with British governmental indifference to the plight of the Irish, who at the time were part of the United Kingdom, resulted in the deaths of more than 1 million Irish men, women and children and the emigration of more than 2 million to nations around the world," the release said.

 

Sara deBeer

"Storytelling is an intrinsic part of Irish folklore. The children will work with a professional storyteller and learn about this spoken art form. They will view the museum’s paintings and sculptures and select one to use to create a dramatic monologue, which will be performed on the final day of the workshop," according to the release.

 

“By taking part in the three-day workshop 'The Paintings Speak,' and creating their own performance pieces, participants will appreciate the ways visual artists convey both history and emotion,” said Sara deBeer, a poet, storyteller and classroom teacher, who will lead the workshop, also in the release. “They will also gain a deeper understanding of the period of time known as Ireland’s Great Hunger. Finally, they will discover their own capacity to use the spoken word as a vehicle to express all they’ve learned.”

At the museum / Helen Bennett
 

 

 

Registration forms can be found at www.ighm.org. To pay the $45 registration fee for the three-day workshop, call the museum at 203-582-6500. All registration forms must be completed and submitted and payment received before the workshop begins.

 

Also in the release:

Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac University is home to the world's largest collection of visual art, artifacts and printed materials relating to the Irish Famine. The museum preserves, builds and presents its art collection to stimulate reflection, inspire imagination and advance awareness of Ireland's Great Hunger and its long aftermath on both sides of the Atlantic.

 

Works by noted contemporary Irish artists are featured at the museum including internationally known sculptors John Behan, Rowan Gillespie and Éamonn O'Doherty; as well as contemporary visual artists, Robert Ballagh, Alanna O'Kelly, Brian Maguire and Hughie O'Donoghue. Featured paintings include several important 19th and 20th‐century works by artists such as James Brenan, Daniel Macdonald, James Arthur O'Connor and Jack B. Yeats.

 

The museum is open Wednesdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Fridays, and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sundays, 1-5 p.m. Museum admission is free.

 

In the contributed photo: Sara deBeer, a poet, storyteller and classroom teacher, who will lead the workshop “The Paintings Speak: Creating Dramatic Monologues Inspired by the Artwork in Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum,” at Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac University. Contributed photo

 

 

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