Humanities Series: Recent Episodes
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Mapping city, town and country since 1824: the Ordnance Survey in Ireland - RIA Library/IHTA Lunchtime Lectures. This was the Academy's Heritage Week lecture 2014, introduced by Prof. Mary E. Daly, Academy President.
The speaker contextualises the surveying of Ireland on the 6" scale: the survey was attempting to define boundaries for taxation purposes and to portray the country on an unprecedented scale, using scientific methods, rigorous standards and a highly systematised approach. The maps were to provide a full record of the living landscape. The maps would be authoritative and have legal standing. Colby drew up a Code of Instructions for the military and civilian surveyors; these were amended over time to cater for unforeseen issues. Larcom was responsible for the recruitment of linguists and antiquarian scholars for the Memoir and Placenames work. There was a clear chain of command and strong discipline. Training was to a high standard. The latest instruments were purchased and problems with triangulation, particularly of the Great Central Plain, were resolved. New instruments were developed. Contour lines were used. Placenames were recorded even if they were not to be used. Every piece of information was allocated a source. Issues arose of what should be included or omitted on the map, e.g. gravestones (omitted). How would the railways be superimposed on the maps? How should water-land boundaries be shown? (the Crown had foreshore rights, thus this was a key decision). How do you define a footpath? Revisions proved difficult, budgeting was very tight, there was pressure from various groups, e.g. industrialists, the railways, the Memoir group. Printing brought its own set of problems, and sales were necessary to enable the project to continue. These and many other issues facing the Survey are discussed in the course of this lecture.
Mapping city, town and country since 1824: the Ordnance Survey in Ireland - RIA Library/IHTA Lunchtime Lectures Accompanied by a powerpoint presentation.
Lecture on the genesis and thrust of the great 6" Survey of Ireland by the Ordnance Survey: the maps, memoirs, letters and technical innovations which resulted. The subsequent applications of the maps for Griffith's Valuation, electoral boundary maps and other surveys; the heritage for academic research.
Mapping city, town and country since 1824: the Ordnance Survey in Ireland - RIA Library/IHTA Lunchtime Lectures Please see accompanying powerpoint. http://www.slideshare.net/theroyalirishacademy/paul-walsh-george-petries-topographical-department-183542-15102014
Walsh explains the context for the Memoirs, an intrinsic element of the 6" mapping project. Larcom had described the connection between the maps and the Memoir as a 'Portrait of the island of Ireland ... accompanied by a biography'. He examines Larcom's utilitarian perspective, the role of the OS engineers and their mathematical skills and the focus on the parish as the unit for surveying and description. The sections of what became known as the Topographical Dept. are described as well as the reporting systems in place. The pressures caused by budgetary overruns etc. and the ensuing political decisions re the Memoir scheme and its demise are discussed. In conclusion, the work of the 19th-century surveyors is connected to the current work of the Ordnance Survey of Ireland.
Mapping city, town and country since 1824: the Ordnance Survey in Ireland - RIA Library/IHTA Lunchtime Lectures Lecture delivered by Paul Walsh on behalf of Prof. Ó Muraíle. Please use the accompanying handout (http://www.slideshare.net/theroyalirishacademy/handout-murale) when following this lecture and see accompanying powerpoint presentation. http://www.slideshare.net/theroyalirishacademy/n-murale-8-oct
This paper addresses the difficulties of naming places in Ireland, the work done by the OS Topographical Dept. and especially John O'Donovan to ensure that names used on the 6" maps were as accurate as possible. The difficulties presented by the Irish language, the methodologies used by Placenames staff and the tensions between accommodating the Irish language origins or versions of names and later Anglicised forms are discussed, as are the compromises which were made. The accuracy of O'Donovan's method is assessed.
Mapping city, town and country since 1824: the Ordnance Survey in Ireland - RIA Library/IHTA Lunchtime Lectures
Cullen discusses the OS map of Dublin (1847) which casts a 'window on the city'. This map was made by military surveyors with civil assistants. They were empowered to enter and survey private property, this ensuring that the backs of buildings could be more accurately plotted on the map. Flower beds, sewers and water mains all feature on the map; the detail is astonishing. The methodology employed and the detailed processes of verification of drafts, revisiting sites and correcting the originals are discussed. The map was hugely popular, so many members of the public turned up at Mountjoy House, HQ of the Ordnance Survey, to make tracings that an order had to be made to stop them! For more on the Dublin 1847 map see Frank Cullen, '
Mapping city, town and country since 1824: the Ordnance Survey in Ireland - RIA Library/IHTA Lunchtime Lectures Please see accompanying powerpoint. http://www.slideshare.net/theroyalirishacademy/rob-goodbody-from-rocque-to-the-ordnance-survey-mapping-dublin-17561847-05112014
This paper addresses the mapping of Dublin city from John Rocque's map of 1756 down to the OS mapping of the city 1830-40s, all within the canal ring. Outlining the limitations and exigencies of mapping in different periods, the various types of map, from estate maps, street directories, administrative maps etc., Goodbody surveys the mapping heritage of the city interpreting the maps under discussion, highlighting idiosyncracies and pointing to the developments in mapping the city. For more information see Rob Goodbody, 'Dublin: part III: 1756-1847 (Irish Historic Towns Atlas, 26) (Dublin, 2014)
Mapping City, town and country since 1824: the Ordnance Survey in Ireland - RIA Library/IHTA Lunchtime Lectures Please see accompanying powerpoint. http://www.slideshare.net/theroyalirishacademy/prof-michael-herity-mria-john-odonovans-work-for-the-os-29102014
Herity focusses on the period 1830-61 and O'Donovan's involvement with the OS 6" mapping project and the centrality of his role. His expertise in the Irish language and grasp of etymology, as well as his intimate knowledge of the history and antiquities of Ireland, resulted in the connection of 'placenames with history... raising them above mere words'. The importance of O'Donovan's fieldwork, keen ear, in-depth knowledge and forensic research are described, as are the treks he engaged in on a daily basis throughout the country. His connection with Petrie's work on Tara is adverted to. Betham's vituperative criticisms and the consequent scrutiny of the Memoir scheme and the OS work is discussed. Examples are provided of O'Donovan's linguistic prowess and his acerbic wit.
A series of lectures on the momentous events of 1014, Brian Boru, the Vikings in Ireland and much more, also the focus of an exhibition which was based on the Library collections
Speaker: Professor Jon Vidar Sigurdsson, University of Oslo
A series of lectures on the momentous events of 1014, Brian Boru, the Vikings in Ireland and much more, also the focus of an exhibition which was based on the Library collections
Humanities Series:
A series of lectures on the momentous events of 1014, Brian Boru, the Vikings in Ireland and much more, also the focus of an exhibition which was based on the Library collections
Mapping city, town and country since 1824: the Ordnance Survey in Ireland - RIA Library/IHTA Lecture Series. http://www.slideshare.net/theroyalirishacademy/colin-bray-ce-osi-ordnance-survey-ireland-mapping-our-future-19112014
In the concluding lecture in the series, Colin Bray reviews the history of the Ordnance Survey in Ireland, the developments during the 20th and 21st centuries and looks ahead to the future of the Survey.
Professor Jon Vidar Sigurdsson, University of Oslo 'Ireland, Norway and Iceland in the second half of the thirteenth century' Lecture sponsored by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Ireland
Dr Anne Pedersen, National Museum of Denmark ‘ Power and Politics in late Viking-Age Denmark’ Lecture sponsored by the Royal Danish Embassy in Ireland
Discussion of the Battle of Clontarf in the context of the historical and literary transmission of the story of the battle up to the present time.
Speaker: - Professor Dáibhí Ó Cróinín, MRIA, NUIG
A series of lectures on the momentous events of 1014, Brian Boru, the Vikings in Ireland and much more, also the focus of an exhibition which was based on the Library collections
Speaker: Dr Meidhbhín Ní Úrdail
A series of lectures on the momentous events of 1014, Brian Boru, the Vikings in Ireland and much more, also the focus of an exhibition which was based on the Library collections
A series of lectures on the momentous events of 1014, Brian Boru, the Vikings in Ireland and much more, also the focus of an exhibition which was based on the Library collections
In light of the fact that there is practically no archaeological evidence for the site of the Battle of Clontarf, the speaker outlines the possible scenarios in which the battle may have unfolded, based on topographical and other evidence.
The Royal Irish Academy Library holds the world’s largest collection of Irish language manuscripts. Many of the late medieval and early modern Irish manuscripts preserved in the collections were long associated with particular learned families in Gaelic Ireland. The scholars who compiled these manuscripts produced fascinating cultural artefacts that are the key to understanding Gaelic scholarship and culture in the past. The manuscripts range across the full spectrum of medieval scholarship, with examples surviving of the work of members of the Gaelic learned class who specialised in law, medicine, history and poetry. Many of these same scholars also transcribed religious poems and texts, religious belief being integral to their world. Some of the most important manuscripts are miscellanies ─ the Book of Ballymote, the Book of Lecan, and the Book of Uí Mhaine ─ their contents reflecting many varied strands of medieval Gaelic learning.
Behind every manuscript in the Academy collection lie the very real people from the past, the scribes, compilers and patrons of those manuscripts with all their varied interests, ambitions, and their particular view of the world and their place in it. The manuscripts in our collection are the principal tools for understanding the world of those scribes, scholars, patrons, keepers and readers of manuscripts, the leading families of medieval Ireland.
The learned class formed part of the court of the native elite and they were accorded prominence in Irish society and were rewarded with hereditary tenure of land and other forms of wealth in return for their services. They maintained important schools of learning, where students were trained and manuscripts were copied. Many of them retained their privileged status down to the end of the sixteenth century.
From July 2013 to February 2014, the Academy Library curated an exhibition which explored the themes of Seanchas ─ ‘the memory and narrative of Irish history as preserved and written from the early medieval period to the writing of histories of Ireland in the
seventeenth century’; Filíocht ─ poetry; Reacht ─ law; Leaghas ─ medicine; and Creideamh ─ religion, as well as the stories of those who made these great books of Ireland. Publication available for purchase at: http://ria.ie/Publications/Books/History/Aon-amharc-ar-Eirinn--Gaelic-families-and-their-ma
The Royal Irish Academy Library holds the world’s largest collection of Irish language manuscripts. Many of the late medieval and early modern Irish manuscripts preserved in the collections were long associated with particular learned families in Gaelic Ireland. The scholars who compiled these manuscripts produced fascinating cultural artefacts that are the key to understanding Gaelic scholarship and culture in the past. The manuscripts range across the full spectrum of medieval scholarship, with examples surviving of the work of members of the Gaelic learned class who specialised in law, medicine, history and poetry. Many of these same scholars also transcribed religious poems and texts, religious belief being integral to their world. Some of the most important manuscripts are miscellanies ─ the Book of Ballymote, the Book of Lecan, and the Book of Uí Mhaine ─ their contents reflecting many varied strands of medieval Gaelic learning.
Behind every manuscript in the Academy collection lie the very real people from the past, the scribes, compilers and patrons of those manuscripts with all their varied interests, ambitions, and their particular view of the world and their place in it. The manuscripts in our collection are the principal tools for understanding the world of those scribes, scholars, patrons, keepers and readers of manuscripts, the leading families of medieval Ireland.
The learned class formed part of the court of the native elite and they were accorded prominence in Irish society and were rewarded with hereditary tenure of land and other forms of wealth in return for their services. They maintained important schools of learning, where students were trained and manuscripts were copied. Many of them retained their privileged status down to the end of the sixteenth century.
From July 2013 to February 2014, the Academy Library curated an exhibition which explored the themes of Seanchas ─ ‘the memory and narrative of Irish history as preserved and written from the early medieval period to the writing of histories of Ireland in the
seventeenth century’; Filíocht ─ poetry; Reacht ─ law; Leaghas ─ medicine; and Creideamh ─ religion, as well as the stories of those who made these great books of Ireland. Publication available for purchase at: http://ria.ie/Publications/Books/History/Aon-amharc-ar-Eirinn--Gaelic-families-and-their-ma
The Royal Irish Academy Library holds the world’s largest collection of Irish language manuscripts. Many of the late medieval and early modern Irish manuscripts preserved in the collections were long associated with particular learned families in Gaelic Ireland. The scholars who compiled these manuscripts produced fascinating cultural artefacts that are the key to understanding Gaelic scholarship and culture in the past. The manuscripts range across the full spectrum of medieval scholarship, with examples surviving of the work of members of the Gaelic learned class who specialised in law, medicine, history and poetry. Many of these same scholars also transcribed religious poems and texts, religious belief being integral to their world. Some of the most important manuscripts are miscellanies ─ the Book of Ballymote, the Book of Lecan, and the Book of Uí Mhaine ─ their contents reflecting many varied strands of medieval Gaelic learning.
Behind every manuscript in the Academy collection lie the very real people from the past, the scribes, compilers and patrons of those manuscripts with all their varied interests, ambitions, and their particular view of the world and their place in it. The manuscripts in our collection are the principal tools for understanding the world of those scribes, scholars, patrons, keepers and readers of manuscripts, the leading families of medieval Ireland.
The learned class formed part of the court of the native elite and they were accorded prominence in Irish society and were rewarded with hereditary tenure of land and other forms of wealth in return for their services. They maintained important schools of learning, where students were trained and manuscripts were copied. Many of them retained their privileged status down to the end of the sixteenth century.
From July 2013 to February 2014, the Academy Library curated an exhibition which explored the themes of Seanchas ─ ‘the memory and narrative of Irish history as preserved and written from the early medieval period to the writing of histories of Ireland in the
seventeenth century’; Filíocht ─ poetry; Reacht ─ law; Leaghas ─ medicine; and Creideamh ─ religion, as well as the stories of those who made these great books of Ireland. Publication available for purchase at: http://ria.ie/Publications/Books/History/Aon-amharc-ar-Eirinn--Gaelic-families-and-their-ma
The Royal Irish Academy Library holds the world’s largest collection of Irish language manuscripts. Many of the late medieval and early modern Irish manuscripts preserved in the collections were long associated with particular learned families in Gaelic Ireland. The scholars who compiled these manuscripts produced fascinating cultural artefacts that are the key to understanding Gaelic scholarship and culture in the past. The manuscripts range across the full spectrum of medieval scholarship, with examples surviving of the work of members of the Gaelic learned class who specialised in law, medicine, history and poetry. Many of these same scholars also transcribed religious poems and texts, religious belief being integral to their world. Some of the most important manuscripts are miscellanies ─ the Book of Ballymote, the Book of Lecan, and the Book of Uí Mhaine ─ their contents reflecting many varied strands of medieval Gaelic learning.
Behind every manuscript in the Academy collection lie the very real people from the past, the scribes, compilers and patrons of those manuscripts with all their varied interests, ambitions, and their particular view of the world and their place in it. The manuscripts in our collection are the principal tools for understanding the world of those scribes, scholars, patrons, keepers and readers of manuscripts, the leading families of medieval Ireland.
The learned class formed part of the court of the native elite and they were accorded prominence in Irish society and were rewarded with hereditary tenure of land and other forms of wealth in return for their services. They maintained important schools of learning, where students were trained and manuscripts were copied. Many of them retained their privileged status down to the end of the sixteenth century.
From July 2013 to February 2014, the Academy Library curated an exhibition which explored the themes of Seanchas ─ ‘the memory and narrative of Irish history as preserved and written from the early medieval period to the writing of histories of Ireland in the
seventeenth century’; Filíocht ─ poetry; Reacht ─ law; Leaghas ─ medicine; and Creideamh ─ religion, as well as the stories of those who made these great books of Ireland. Publication available for purchase at: http://ria.ie/Publications/Books/History/Aon-amharc-ar-Eirinn--Gaelic-families-and-their-ma
RIA Library Lunchtime Lecture: ‘Ruaidhri Ó Flaithbheartaigh through his letters: a learned Gaelic chief and his Oxford friend in 1700’. Dr Richard Sharpe
Wednesday, 12 June, 1-2 p.m., Academy House
Dr Richard Sharpe, Professor of Diplomatic at Oxford and author of Roderick O’Flaherty’s letters 1696-1709 (RIA, 2013):
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The Royal Irish Academy has prepared the content of this website responsibly and carefully, but disclaims all warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy of the information contained in any of the materials. The views expressed are the authors’ own and not those of the Royal Irish Academy.
Clare Island Abbey and it's Paintings Conleth Manning
Conleth Manning speaks about Clare Island Abbey and its magnificent wall paintings - a very rare, intriguing and charming example of an Irish medieval painted church interior.
Conleth Manning studied Archaeology and Early Irish History at UCD, where he also did an MA in Archaeology. He is a senior archaeologist in the National Monuments Service, Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. He has studied and directed excavations at many national monuments in Ireland, including Cashel, Clonmacnoise, Dublin Castle, Roscrea Castle and Glanworth Castle and has written and lectured on many aspects of Ireland's archaeological heritage. Conleth Manning is co-editor of two volumes in the New Survey of Clare Island Series: New Survey of Clare Island Volume 4: The Abbey and New Survey of Clare Island Volume 5: Archaeology. He is a past president of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. Mr Manning is Secretary of the New Survey of Clare Island Committee.
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Disclaimer:
The Royal Irish Academy has prepared the content of this website responsibly and carefully, but disclaims all warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy of the information contained in any of the materials. The views expressed are the authors’ own and not those of the Royal Irish Academy.
Academy Discourse - Biographies and the Biographer's Task Professor Hermione Lee, CBE Friday, 7 October 2011, 6pm, Academy House
Hermione Lee's previous books include biographical studies Elizabeth Bowen and Willa Cather, the internationally acclaimed biography Virginia Woolf, and Edith Wharton, long-listed for the Samuel Johnson Prize. She is a well-known reviewer and broadcaster, and, in 2006, Chair of the judges for the Man Booker Prize. She is the first woman Goldsmiths' Professor of English at Oxford University, a Fellow of New College, Oxford, of the British Academy and of the Royal Society of Literature. She was awarded a CBE in 2003 for services to literature.
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Disclaimer:
The Royal Irish Academy has prepared the content of this website responsibly and carefully, but disclaims all warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy of the information contained in any of the materials. The views expressed are the authors’ own and not those of the Royal Irish Academy.
Academy Discourse - God and Sex - What the Bible Really Says Professor Michael Coogan, Director of Publications for the Harvard Semitic Museum and Lecturer on Old Testament/Hebrew Bible at Harvard Divinity School Thursday, 16 February 2012, Academy House
Opposing sides on abortion, same-sex marriage, and other so-called “family values” often appeal to the Bible in support of their contradictory positions, as though the Bible were an authority beyond question. But the Bible speaks with many voices, not one, and some of its values are no longer ours. A close look at the story of David and Bathsheba, one of the most famous and most ambiguous biblical narratives, will illustrate these issues.
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Disclaimer:
The Royal Irish Academy has prepared the content of this website responsibly and carefully, but disclaims all warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy of the information contained in any of the materials. The views expressed are the authors’ own and not those of the Royal Irish Academy.
Academy Discourse - Count Dracula and Bram Stoker Terry Eagleton Wednesday, 19 April 2012, Academy House
Terry Eagleton was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. He has been a Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge and was formerly Thomas Warton Professor of English in the University of Oxford. He is presently Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Universities of Lancaster and Notre Dame, and a Fellow of the British Academy. He is the author of over forty works of literary, cultural and political criticism, which include studies of Irish history and culture such as Heathcliff and the Great Hunger. He has also written plays which have been staged in Ireland and Britain, including Saint Oscar, and a novel about Ireland entitled Saints and Scholars.
The lecture considered Bram Stoker’s Dracula in the context of some traditional notions of evil, including the very different presentation of the idea of evil in Flann O’Brien’s The Third Policeman. It also raised the question of Stoker’s Irish Protestant background and its relevance to his fiction.
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Disclaimer:
The Royal Irish Academy has prepared the content of this website responsibly and carefully, but disclaims all warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy of the information contained in any of the materials. The views expressed are the authors’ own and not those of the Royal Irish Academy.
The Isle is Full of Noises Seamus Heaney in Conversation with Olivia O'Leary Thursday, 2 February 2012, St. Ann's Church
On the 2nd of February the Royal Irish Academy Committee for Literatures in English hosted a public interview with Seamus Heaney and Olivia O’Leary in St. Ann’s Church Dawson Street. The interview opened a two day event run by the RIA entitled ‘Voices in the Ether: Irish Writing on the Radio’ and was attended by around 270 people.
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Disclaimer:
The Royal Irish Academy has prepared the content of this website responsibly and carefully, but disclaims all warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy of the information contained in any of the materials. The views expressed are the authors’ own and not those of the Royal Irish Academy.
Humanities: Academy Discourse - Maria Edgeworth, Edmund Burke & the First Irish Ulysses Professor James Chandler, University of Chicago Friday, 22 June 2012, 6pm, Academy House
James Chandler is the director of the Franke Institute for the Humanities and holds the Barbara E. & Richard J. Franke Professorship in English Language and Literature at the University of Chicago. He is the author of two books on English Romanticism: Wordsworth's Second Nature (1994) and England in 1819: The Politics of Literary Culture and the Case of Romantic Historicism, which won the 2000 Gordon J. Laing Award for distinction in academic publishing.
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Disclaimer:
The Royal Irish Academy has prepared the content of this website responsibly and carefully, but disclaims all warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy of the information contained in any of the materials. The views expressed are the authors’ own and not those of the Royal Irish Academy.
Academy Lecture: The Role of the Literary Reviewer - Professor Linda Hutcheon Chair: Professor Eve Patten Addtional: Denis Staunton Respondent: Professor Terence Brown Thursday, 21 March 2013 at 6:30pm in Academy House
Professor Linda Hutcheon, Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of Toronto gives a public lecture on the role of the literary reviewer.
This event was a tribute to the important legacy of Caroline Walsh, literary editor of the Irish Times and a valued member of the academy’s committee for literatures in English.
This lecture will consider the role of the literary reviewer as a gatekeeper or arbiter within literary culture and on the vital influence of reviewing for the success of the contemporary writer. Professor Hutcheon is a leading figure and a specialist in postmodernist culture and in critical theory, on which she has published The Poetics of Postmodernism: History, Theory, Fiction (1988); The Politics of Postmodernism (1989); The Canadian Postmodern (1989).
www.ria.ie
Disclaimer: The Royal Irish Academy has prepared the content of this website responsibly and carefully, but disclaims all warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy of the information contained in any of the materials. The views expressed are the authors’ own and not those of the Royal Irish Academy.
Academy Discourse - The Battle for Afghanistan - William Dalrymple William Dalrymple Wednesday, 13th February 2013, 6pm, Academy House
In the spring of 1839 British forces invaded Afghanistan for the first time, re-establishing Shah Shuja on the throne, in reality as their puppet, and ushering in a period of conflict over the territory still unresolved today. In 1842, the Afghan people rose in answer to the call for jihad against the foreign occupiers, and the country exploded into violent rebellion. In what is arguably the greatest military humiliation ever suffered by the West in the East, more than eighteen thousand cold and hungry British troops, Indian sepoys and camp followers retreated through the icy mountain passes, and of the last survivors who made their final stand at the village of Gandamak, only one man, Dr Brydon, made it through to the British garrison at Jellalabad. An entire army of what was then the most powerful military nation in the world was utterly routed by poorly equipped tribesmen.
The West's first disastrous entanglement in Afghanistan has clear and relevant parallels with the current deepening crisis today, with extraordinary similarities between what NATO faces in cities like Kabul and Kandahar, and that faced by the British in the very same cities, fighting the very same tribes, nearly two centuries ago.
William Dalrymple’s discourse, based on the work he did for his new book The Return of a King, is a compelling analysis of the first Afghan war. With access to a whole range of previously undiscovered sources, including crucial new material in Russian, Urdu and Persian, and contemporary Afghan accounts including the autobiography of Shah Shuja himself, prize-winning and bestselling historian William Dalrymple's masterful retelling of Britain's greatest imperial disaster is a powerful and important parable of neo-colonial ambition and cultural collision, folly and hubris, for our times.
William Dalrymple was born in Scotland and brought up on the shores of the Firth of Forth. He wrote the highly acclaimed bestseller In Xanadu when he was twenty-two. City of Djinns won the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award and the Sunday Times Young British Writer of the Year Award. The Age of Kali won the French Prix D'Astrolabe and White Mughals won the Wolfson Prize for History 2003 and the Scottish Book of the Year Prize. The Last Mughal, was longlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize and won the Duff Cooper Memorial Prize. Nine Lives, his most recent book, won the Asia House Award for Asian Literature. He lives with his wife and three children on a farm outside Delhi.
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Disclaimer:
The Royal Irish Academy has prepared the content of this website responsibly and carefully, but disclaims all warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy of the information contained in any of the materials. The views expressed are the authors’ own and not those of the Royal Irish Academy.
22–23 November 2012
Prof. Liam Breatnach, MRIA, DIAS, School of Celtic Studies Lebor na hUidre: Some Linguistic Aspects CHAIR: Prof. Donnchadh Ó Corráin
Lebor na hUidre (LU) is the oldest manuscript we have that is written entirely in the Irish language. It contains the earliest versions to have been transmitted to us of some of the most celebrated Old Irish sagas: Táin Bó Cuailnge, Togail Bruidne Da Derga, Fled Bricrenn, Mesca Ulad, Tochmarc Emere and several others, in addition to much material of a historical or religious nature. Included in the latter is Amra Choluim Chille, believed by many to have been written shortly after the saint’s death and therefore it would be the oldest continuous text we have in Irish.
Given LU’s unique position, it is not surprising that aspects of its content and composition have been the subject of research and discussion. One of the most important studies to be carried out was that of R.I. Best ‘Notes on the script of Lebor na hUidre’, which appeared in volume 6 of the Royal Irish Academy’s journal Ériu a hundred years ago. In this paper Best identified three separate scribal hands that were involved in writing the manuscript and his important findings were incorporated in the diplomatic edition of the text that he and O.J. Bergin published for the Academy in 1929.
As there have been few thorough studies of LU as a whole since that time, it was thought timely to look again at this important manuscript and it was felt that this would best be achieved through a conference.
The conference, organised jointly by the Library of the Academy and by NUI Maynooth, took place 22-3 November and proved to be an outstanding success with over 110 delegates in attendance. Several of those who attended travelled from institutes as far afield as Switzerland, The Netherlands, Germany and Russia. The conference was opened by Academy President, Luke O’Connor Drury.
Papers were read by 10 speakers representing 7 institutes of higher learning in Ireland and the UK: Cambridge, Edinburgh, UCC, NUIG, DIAS, QUB and NUI Maynooth, and they addressed issues such as the hands found in LU, the language of some of the texts, the background to its compilation and aspects of its later history. As a result of the conference, it can be stated with confidence that our thinking in relation to LU has undergone fundamental change – especially with regard to the hands identified in the MS, the objectives of its scribes, its date and its later history. It is intended that the papers will be published in revised format by the Academy.
22–23 November 2012
Dr Elizabeth Boyle, Dept. of Early & Middle Irish, UCC & St Edmund’s College, Univ. of Cambridge Eschatological Themes in Lebor na hUidre: The Body, Judgement and the End CHAIR: Dr Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Dept. of Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Celtic, St John’s College, Univ. of Cambridge
Lebor na hUidre (LU) is the oldest manuscript we have that is written entirely in the Irish language. It contains the earliest versions to have been transmitted to us of some of the most celebrated Old Irish sagas: Táin Bó Cuailnge, Togail Bruidne Da Derga, Fled Bricrenn, Mesca Ulad, Tochmarc Emere and several others, in addition to much material of a historical or religious nature. Included in the latter is Amra Choluim Chille, believed by many to have been written shortly after the saint’s death and therefore it would be the oldest continuous text we have in Irish.
Given LU’s unique position, it is not surprising that aspects of its content and composition have been the subject of research and discussion. One of the most important studies to be carried out was that of R.I. Best ‘Notes on the script of Lebor na hUidre’, which appeared in volume 6 of the Royal Irish Academy’s journal Ériu a hundred years ago. In this paper Best identified three separate scribal hands that were involved in writing the manuscript and his important findings were incorporated in the diplomatic edition of the text that he and O.J. Bergin published for the Academy in 1929.
As there have been few thorough studies of LU as a whole since that time, it was thought timely to look again at this important manuscript and it was felt that this would best be achieved through a conference.
The conference, organised jointly by the Library of the Academy and by NUI Maynooth, took place 22-3 November and proved to be an outstanding success with over 110 delegates in attendance. Several of those who attended travelled from institutes as far afield as Switzerland, The Netherlands, Germany and Russia. The conference was opened by Academy President, Luke O’Connor Drury.
Papers were read by 10 speakers representing 7 institutes of higher learning in Ireland and the UK: Cambridge, Edinburgh, UCC, NUIG, DIAS, QUB and NUI Maynooth, and they addressed issues such as the hands found in LU, the language of some of the texts, the background to its compilation and aspects of its later history. As a result of the conference, it can be stated with confidence that our thinking in relation to LU has undergone fundamental change – especially with regard to the hands identified in the MS, the objectives of its scribes, its date and its later history. It is intended that the papers will be published in revised format by the Academy.
22–23 November 2012
Dr Nollaig Ó Muraíle, MRIA, Dept. of Medieval Irish, NUI Galway Lebor na hUidre’s Sojourn in Íochtar Connacht, 1359–1470 CHAIR: Prof. Liam Breatnach
Lebor na hUidre (LU) is the oldest manuscript we have that is written entirely in the Irish language. It contains the earliest versions to have been transmitted to us of some of the most celebrated Old Irish sagas: Táin Bó Cuailnge, Togail Bruidne Da Derga, Fled Bricrenn, Mesca Ulad, Tochmarc Emere and several others, in addition to much material of a historical or religious nature. Included in the latter is Amra Choluim Chille, believed by many to have been written shortly after the saint’s death and therefore it would be the oldest continuous text we have in Irish.
Given LU’s unique position, it is not surprising that aspects of its content and composition have been the subject of research and discussion. One of the most important studies to be carried out was that of R.I. Best ‘Notes on the script of Lebor na hUidre’, which appeared in volume 6 of the Royal Irish Academy’s journal Ériu a hundred years ago. In this paper Best identified three separate scribal hands that were involved in writing the manuscript and his important findings were incorporated in the diplomatic edition of the text that he and O.J. Bergin published for the Academy in 1929.
As there have been few thorough studies of LU as a whole since that time, it was thought timely to look again at this important manuscript and it was felt that this would best be achieved through a conference.
The conference, organised jointly by the Library of the Academy and by NUI Maynooth, took place 22-3 November and proved to be an outstanding success with over 110 delegates in attendance. Several of those who attended travelled from institutes as far afield as Switzerland, The Netherlands, Germany and Russia. The conference was opened by Academy President, Luke O’Connor Drury.
Papers were read by 10 speakers representing 7 institutes of higher learning in Ireland and the UK: Cambridge, Edinburgh, UCC, NUIG, DIAS, QUB and NUI Maynooth, and they addressed issues such as the hands found in LU, the language of some of the texts, the background to its compilation and aspects of its later history. As a result of the conference, it can be stated with confidence that our thinking in relation to LU has undergone fundamental change – especially with regard to the hands identified in the MS, the objectives of its scribes, its date and its later history. It is intended that the papers will be published in revised format by the Academy.
22–23 November 2012
Dr John Carey, MRIA, Dept. of Early & Medieval Irish, UCC H and his World CHAIR: Prof. Liam Breatnach
Lebor na hUidre (LU) is the oldest manuscript we have that is written entirely in the Irish language. It contains the earliest versions to have been transmitted to us of some of the most celebrated Old Irish sagas: Táin Bó Cuailnge, Togail Bruidne Da Derga, Fled Bricrenn, Mesca Ulad, Tochmarc Emere and several others, in addition to much material of a historical or religious nature. Included in the latter is Amra Choluim Chille, believed by many to have been written shortly after the saint’s death and therefore it would be the oldest continuous text we have in Irish.
Given LU’s unique position, it is not surprising that aspects of its content and composition have been the subject of research and discussion. One of the most important studies to be carried out was that of R.I. Best ‘Notes on the script of Lebor na hUidre’, which appeared in volume 6 of the Royal Irish Academy’s journal Ériu a hundred years ago. In this paper Best identified three separate scribal hands that were involved in writing the manuscript and his important findings were incorporated in the diplomatic edition of the text that he and O.J. Bergin published for the Academy in 1929.
As there have been few thorough studies of LU as a whole since that time, it was thought timely to look again at this important manuscript and it was felt that this would best be achieved through a conference.
The conference, organised jointly by the Library of the Academy and by NUI Maynooth, took place 22-3 November and proved to be an outstanding success with over 110 delegates in attendance. Several of those who attended travelled from institutes as far afield as Switzerland, The Netherlands, Germany and Russia. The conference was opened by Academy President, Luke O’Connor Drury.
Papers were read by 10 speakers representing 7 institutes of higher learning in Ireland and the UK: Cambridge, Edinburgh, UCC, NUIG, DIAS, QUB and NUI Maynooth, and they addressed issues such as the hands found in LU, the language of some of the texts, the background to its compilation and aspects of its later history. As a result of the conference, it can be stated with confidence that our thinking in relation to LU has undergone fundamental change – especially with regard to the hands identified in the MS, the objectives of its scribes, its date and its later history. It is intended that the papers will be published in revised format by the Academy.
22–23 November 2012
An tOll. Ruairí Ó hUiginn, MRIA, School of Celtic Studies, NUI Maynooth Lebor na hUidre: Some Early Connacht Associations CHAIR: Prof. Fergus Kelly, MRIA, DIAS, School of Celtic Studies
Lebor na hUidre (LU) is the oldest manuscript we have that is written entirely in the Irish language. It contains the earliest versions to have been transmitted to us of some of the most celebrated Old Irish sagas: Táin Bó Cuailnge, Togail Bruidne Da Derga, Fled Bricrenn, Mesca Ulad, Tochmarc Emere and several others, in addition to much material of a historical or religious nature. Included in the latter is Amra Choluim Chille, believed by many to have been written shortly after the saint’s death and therefore it would be the oldest continuous text we have in Irish.
Given LU’s unique position, it is not surprising that aspects of its content and composition have been the subject of research and discussion. One of the most important studies to be carried out was that of R.I. Best ‘Notes on the script of Lebor na hUidre’, which appeared in volume 6 of the Royal Irish Academy’s journal Ériu a hundred years ago. In this paper Best identified three separate scribal hands that were involved in writing the manuscript and his important findings were incorporated in the diplomatic edition of the text that he and O.J. Bergin published for the Academy in 1929.
As there have been few thorough studies of LU as a whole since that time, it was thought timely to look again at this important manuscript and it was felt that this would best be achieved through a conference.
The conference, organised jointly by the Library of the Academy and by NUI Maynooth, took place 22-3 November and proved to be an outstanding success with over 110 delegates in attendance. Several of those who attended travelled from institutes as far afield as Switzerland, The Netherlands, Germany and Russia. The conference was opened by Academy President, Luke O’Connor Drury.
Papers were read by 10 speakers representing 7 institutes of higher learning in Ireland and the UK: Cambridge, Edinburgh, UCC, NUIG, DIAS, QUB and NUI Maynooth, and they addressed issues such as the hands found in LU, the language of some of the texts, the background to its compilation and aspects of its later history. As a result of the conference, it can be stated with confidence that our thinking in relation to LU has undergone fundamental change – especially with regard to the hands identified in the MS, the objectives of its scribes, its date and its later history. It is intended that the papers will be published in revised format by the Academy.
22–23 November 2012
Dr Elizabeth Duncan, Dept. of Celtic & Scottish Studies, Univ. of Edinburgh The Palaeography of Lebor na hUidre CHAIR: An tOll. Pádraig Ó Macháin, Dept. of Modern Irish, UCC
Lebor na hUidre (LU) is the oldest manuscript we have that is written entirely in the Irish language. It contains the earliest versions to have been transmitted to us of some of the most celebrated Old Irish sagas: Táin Bó Cuailnge, Togail Bruidne Da Derga, Fled Bricrenn, Mesca Ulad, Tochmarc Emere and several others, in addition to much material of a historical or religious nature. Included in the latter is Amra Choluim Chille, believed by many to have been written shortly after the saint’s death and therefore it would be the oldest continuous text we have in Irish.
Given LU’s unique position, it is not surprising that aspects of its content and composition have been the subject of research and discussion. One of the most important studies to be carried out was that of R.I. Best ‘Notes on the script of Lebor na hUidre’, which appeared in volume 6 of the Royal Irish Academy’s journal Ériu a hundred years ago. In this paper Best identified three separate scribal hands that were involved in writing the manuscript and his important findings were incorporated in the diplomatic edition of the text that he and O.J. Bergin published for the Academy in 1929.
As there have been few thorough studies of LU as a whole since that time, it was thought timely to look again at this important manuscript and it was felt that this would best be achieved through a conference.
The conference, organised jointly by the Library of the Academy and by NUI Maynooth, took place 22-3 November and proved to be an outstanding success with over 110 delegates in attendance. Several of those who attended travelled from institutes as far afield as Switzerland, The Netherlands, Germany and Russia. The conference was opened by Academy President, Luke O’Connor Drury.
Papers were read by 10 speakers representing 7 institutes of higher learning in Ireland and the UK: Cambridge, Edinburgh, UCC, NUIG, DIAS, QUB and NUI Maynooth, and they addressed issues such as the hands found in LU, the language of some of the texts, the background to its compilation and aspects of its later history. As a result of the conference, it can be stated with confidence that our thinking in relation to LU has undergone fundamental change – especially with regard to the hands identified in the MS, the objectives of its scribes, its date and its later history. It is intended that the papers will be published in revised format by the Academy.
22–23 November 2012
Dr Abigail Burnyeat, Dept. of Celtic & Scottish Studies, Univ. of Edinburgh Compilatio and the Creation of Lebor na hUidre CHAIR: Prof. Fergus Kelly, MRIA, DIAS, School of Celtic Studies
Lebor na hUidre (LU) is the oldest manuscript we have that is written entirely in the Irish language. It contains the earliest versions to have been transmitted to us of some of the most celebrated Old Irish sagas: Táin Bó Cuailnge, Togail Bruidne Da Derga, Fled Bricrenn, Mesca Ulad, Tochmarc Emere and several others, in addition to much material of a historical or religious nature. Included in the latter is Amra Choluim Chille, believed by many to have been written shortly after the saint’s death and therefore it would be the oldest continuous text we have in Irish.
Given LU’s unique position, it is not surprising that aspects of its content and composition have been the subject of research and discussion. One of the most important studies to be carried out was that of R.I. Best ‘Notes on the script of Lebor na hUidre’, which appeared in volume 6 of the Royal Irish Academy’s journal Ériu a hundred years ago. In this paper Best identified three separate scribal hands that were involved in writing the manuscript and his important findings were incorporated in the diplomatic edition of the text that he and O.J. Bergin published for the Academy in 1929.
As there have been few thorough studies of LU as a whole since that time, it was thought timely to look again at this important manuscript and it was felt that this would best be achieved through a conference.
The conference, organised jointly by the Library of the Academy and by NUI Maynooth, took place 22-3 November and proved to be an outstanding success with over 110 delegates in attendance. Several of those who attended travelled from institutes as far afield as Switzerland, The Netherlands, Germany and Russia. The conference was opened by Academy President, Luke O’Connor Drury.
Papers were read by 10 speakers representing 7 institutes of higher learning in Ireland and the UK: Cambridge, Edinburgh, UCC, NUIG, DIAS, QUB and NUI Maynooth, and they addressed issues such as the hands found in LU, the language of some of the texts, the background to its compilation and aspects of its later history. As a result of the conference, it can be stated with confidence that our thinking in relation to LU has undergone fundamental change – especially with regard to the hands identified in the MS, the objectives of its scribes, its date and its later history. It is intended that the papers will be published in revised format by the Academy.
22–23 November 2012
Prof. Donnchadh Ó Corráin, MRIA, Emeritus Prof. of Medieval History, UCC Clerics, Lineage and Literature CHAIR: An tOll. Ruairí Ó hUiginn
Lebor na hUidre (LU) is the oldest manuscript we have that is written entirely in the Irish language. It contains the earliest versions to have been transmitted to us of some of the most celebrated Old Irish sagas: Táin Bó Cuailnge, Togail Bruidne Da Derga, Fled Bricrenn, Mesca Ulad, Tochmarc Emere and several others, in addition to much material of a historical or religious nature. Included in the latter is Amra Choluim Chille, believed by many to have been written shortly after the saint’s death and therefore it would be the oldest continuous text we have in Irish.
Given LU’s unique position, it is not surprising that aspects of its content and composition have been the subject of research and discussion. One of the most important studies to be carried out was that of R.I. Best ‘Notes on the script of Lebor na hUidre’, which appeared in volume 6 of the Royal Irish Academy’s journal Ériu a hundred years ago. In this paper Best identified three separate scribal hands that were involved in writing the manuscript and his important findings were incorporated in the diplomatic edition of the text that he and O.J. Bergin published for the Academy in 1929.
As there have been few thorough studies of LU as a whole since that time, it was thought timely to look again at this important manuscript and it was felt that this would best be achieved through a conference.
The conference, organised jointly by the Library of the Academy and by NUI Maynooth, took place 22-3 November and proved to be an outstanding success with over 110 delegates in attendance. Several of those who attended travelled from institutes as far afield as Switzerland, The Netherlands, Germany and Russia. The conference was opened by Academy President, Luke O’Connor Drury.
Papers were read by 10 speakers representing 7 institutes of higher learning in Ireland and the UK: Cambridge, Edinburgh, UCC, NUIG, DIAS, QUB and NUI Maynooth, and they addressed issues such as the hands found in LU, the language of some of the texts, the background to its compilation and aspects of its later history. As a result of the conference, it can be stated with confidence that our thinking in relation to LU has undergone fundamental change – especially with regard to the hands identified in the MS, the objectives of its scribes, its date and its later history. It is intended that the papers will be published in revised format by the Academy.
22–23 November 2012
Lebor na hUidre - Conference Introduction - Prof Luke Drury, President of the RIA
Lebor na hUidre (LU) is the oldest manuscript we have that is written entirely in the Irish language. It contains the earliest versions to have been transmitted to us of some of the most celebrated Old Irish sagas: Táin Bó Cuailnge, Togail Bruidne Da Derga, Fled Bricrenn, Mesca Ulad, Tochmarc Emere and several others, in addition to much material of a historical or religious nature. Included in the latter is Amra Choluim Chille, believed by many to have been written shortly after the saint’s death and therefore it would be the oldest continuous text we have in Irish.
Given LU’s unique position, it is not surprising that aspects of its content and composition have been the subject of research and discussion. One of the most important studies to be carried out was that of R.I. Best ‘Notes on the script of Lebor na hUidre’, which appeared in volume 6 of the Royal Irish Academy’s journal Ériu a hundred years ago. In this paper Best identified three separate scribal hands that were involved in writing the manuscript and his important findings were incorporated in the diplomatic edition of the text that he and O.J. Bergin published for the Academy in 1929.
As there have been few thorough studies of LU as a whole since that time, it was thought timely to look again at this important manuscript and it was felt that this would best be achieved through a conference.
The conference, organised jointly by the Library of the Academy and by NUI Maynooth, took place 22-3 November and proved to be an outstanding success with over 110 delegates in attendance. Several of those who attended travelled from institutes as far afield as Switzerland, The Netherlands, Germany and Russia. The conference was opened by Academy President, Luke O’Connor Drury.
Papers were read by 10 speakers representing 7 institutes of higher learning in Ireland and the UK: Cambridge, Edinburgh, UCC, NUIG, DIAS, QUB and NUI Maynooth, and they addressed issues such as the hands found in LU, the language of some of the texts, the background to its compilation and aspects of its later history. As a result of the conference, it can be stated with confidence that our thinking in relation to LU has undergone fundamental change – especially with regard to the hands identified in the MS, the objectives of its scribes, its date and its later history. It is intended that the papers will be published in revised format by the Academy.
Paul Bew has been Professor of Irish Politics at Queen’s University Belfast since 1991. A historical advisor to the Bloody Sunday inquiry, he was appointed an independent cross-bench peer in 2007 and is a member of the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly. Bew is the author of numerous books on Irish politics and history; most recently he has edited A Yankee in de Valera’s Ireland, the 1940 memoir of David Gray, the then US ambassador to Ireland. On the occasion of the book’s launch on 6 November 2012 at The Great Hall, Queen’s University Belfast, Liam Kennedy interviews Paul Bew about his life and work.