A dynamic line-up of events celebrates the 20th anniversary of New York University's Irish cultural center.

Glucksman Ireland House NYU To Celebrate 20th Anniversary Year with Readings, Talks, Concerts, Performance, and Workshops
Glucksman Ireland House NYU is celebrating its 20th anniversary year with a dynamic line-up of special events.

Glucksman Ireland House NYU is excited to mark its 20th anniversary with a dynamic line-up of events for Spring 2013. This momentous year is being celebrated in a special way with a gala event, honoring Gluckman Ireland House's co-founder, Loretta Brennan Glucksman, on February 26, at which Nobel Laureate in Literature Seamus Heaney will be the honored guest. Other highlights of the spring programming include Grammy-nominated and Oscar-nominated singer, songwriter and actor Glen Hansard; acclaimed writer and memoirist Edna O'Brien; leading genealogist, best known for tracing the roots of Michelle and Barack Obama; Megan Smolenyak²; social activist, feminist historian and nun, Dr. Margaret MacCurtain, O.P.; and the ever-popular Blarney Star Concert Series.

Unless otherwise noted, all events are held at Glucksman Ireland House (1 Washington Mews, New York, N.Y.) and are free to members and open as well to students/faculty with a valid NYU I.D. card. For non-members: a $10 donation at the door for regular event series is suggested; and a $15 donation at the door for Blarney Star Concert Series. To ensure a seat at any of the events, please RSVP to 212-998-3950 (option 3) or email ireland.house@nyu.edu .

Glucksman Ireland House NYU’s Spring 2013 Events are also made possible by The Nissan Foundation and Ireland’s Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

You can check out details on all the events by visiting the Irish cultural center of New York University at http://www.irelandhouse.fas.nyu.edu/page/events.calendar. Here are the highlights of Glucksman’s Spring 2013 events series:

Thursday, February 21st at 7 pm:  The Wreck of the Brig St. John and Its Commemoration, 1849 to present:
Catherine Shannon, emerita professor of history at Westfield State University, will give an illustrated lecture on the ship carrying Irish famine refugees which tragically wrecked in a nor'easter on Grampus ledge off Cohasset, Massachusetts on October 7, 1849.

Tuesday, February 26: The New York Irish community comes out for a special evening to honor Loretta Brennan Glucksman, Glucksman Ireland House NYU's co-founder, advisory board co-chair, and chairwoman of the American Ireland Fund. For information about purchasing tickets, please contact Miriam Nyhan at Glucksman Ireland House. Individual tickets start at $1,000.

Friday, March 1st at 8 pm:  Blarney Star Concert Series, featuring Mary McPartlan:
Mary McPartlan, marvelously talented singer and Fulbright scholar, will perform in concert at Glucksman Ireland House with some of her talented friends.

Thursday, March 7th at 7 pm:  Readings and selected scenes from "The God Box: Sharing my mother's gift of faith, love and letting go" by Mary Lou Quinlan:
When Mary Lou Quinlan’s beloved mother, Mary Finlayson, dies, her family is left bereft – until Quinlan finds her mother’s “God Box,” stuffed with tiny notes written by Mary. Through a combination of readings from her New York Times bestselling book (The God Box: Sharing my mother’s gift of faith, love and letting go) and scenes from the accompanying one-woman play (“The God Box: A Daughter’s Story”), Mary Lou Quinlan explores the laughter and tears of the story of a family in love, in loss and in triumph.

Saturday, March 9th at 12 pm:  Irish-Language Mass at Old Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Mott Street between Prince and Houston streets:
For the sixth consecutive year, the New York Irish History Roundtable, Glucksman Ireland House NYU, and the Basilica of Saint Patrick's Old Cathedral will celebrate an Irish-language Mass.
A sign indicating entry into the Gaeltacht, an Irish-speaking area of Ireland.

Saturday, March 9th 2pm to 6 pm: Lá na Gaeilge: Irish Language Day:
Discover the Irish language in a program designed for learners of all levels, led by NYU Irish Studies Language Lecturers Pádraig Ó Cearúill and Hilary Mhic Suibhne. Free.

Saturday, March 9th at 6:30 pm:  Eighth Annual Barra Ó Donnabháin Lecture: Poet Louis de Paor:
Dr. Louis de Paor, Director of the Centre for Irish Studies at the National University of Ireland, Galway, and well-known Irish language poet delivers the eighth annual Barra Ó Donnabháin Memorial Lecture on Liam S. Gógan, perhaps the most neglected Irish language poet of the twentieth century. Free.

Thursday, March 14th at 7 pm:  The Quest for Annie Moore with Megan Smolenyak2:
Genealogist Megan Smolenyak2 cracks a case of mistaken identity as she discovers the real Annie Moore – the first immigrant to arrive at Ellis Island.

Thursday, March 28th at 7 pm:  Irish Nationalists and the Making of the Irish Race:
Bruce Nelson, professor emeritus of Dartmouth University, explores the way in which the relationship forged between exiled Irish Nationalist living in New York and other remarkable, surprising individuals broadened Irish independence.

Friday, April 5th at 8 pm:  The Blarney Star Concert Series, featuring Pat O'Connor and Eoghan O'Sullivan:
The popular traditional Irish music duo composed of fiddler Pat O'Connor and button accordionist Eoghan O'Sullivan perform at Glucksman Ireland House.

Friday, April 12 – 14, 2013:  Religious Freedom in America, 1813 – 2013:
"Religious Freedom in America, 1813 to 2013: Bicentennial Reflections on People v. Philips" is a weekend of events including a dramatic re-enactment of William Sampson's historic 1813 courtroom arguments before New York City Mayor De Witt Clinton, a symposium on freedom of religious expression then and now, and concludes with an excursion to the graves of the Judge & the Advocate in Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery.

Thursday, April 18th at 7 pm:  A Special Evening with Glen Hansard:
Grammy-nominated and Oscar-winning singer, songwriter, and actor Glen Hansard comes to Glucksman Ireland House NYU to talk about music and songwriting. Additional info to come, including ticketing.

Thursday, April 25th at 7 pm:  The Irish Institute of New York Lecture: Dr. Margaret Mac Curtain on "Diversity and Stability in the Post-Vatican Irish Catholic Church":
Social activist, feminist historian, and nun Dr. Margaret Mac Curtain, O.P., speaks on the past, present & future of the Irish Catholic Church for the sixth annual Irish Institute of New York Lecture. Free.

Thursday, May 2nd at 7 pm:  Prof. Marjorie Howes talks about "Yeats's Graves: Last Poems, Death, and Afterwords":
Howes of Boston College discusses Nobel-winning poet and writer WB Yeats's later life and writing. Prof. Howes is the author of Yeats's Nations: Gender, Class, and Irishness, among numerous books and articles.

Friday, May 3rd from 10 am to 11:30 am:  PEN World Voices Festival fiction workshop with Belinda McKeon:
Belinda McKeon is an Irish-born journalist, cultural critic, award-winning playwright and novelist. Solace, her first novel, was named Irish Book of the Year in 2011. She lives in Brooklyn. As part of the PEN World Voices Festival, Belinda will lead a writing workshop.

Friday, May 3rd from 1-2:30 pm:  PEN World Voices Festival: Irish language song workshop with Pádraig Ó Cearúill at PEN Festival street fair on Washington Mews: A native Irish speaker from Gaoth Dobhair in Co. Donegal, Ireland, Pádraig Ó Cearúill, Senior Irish Language Lecturer at Glucksman Ireland House NYU, frequently uses traditional, or sean nós, songs to teach Irish language in the classroom and leads annual sean nós song workshops. Join him for a session outdoors on Washington Mews as part of PEN World Voices Festival's street fair! Free.

Friday, May 3rd at 6 pm:  PEN World Voices Festival:
Edna O'Brien reads from her new memoir, Country Girl Glucksman Ireland House NYU partners with the PEN World Voices Festival to welcome Edna O'Brien, as she talks about writing, her life as a writer, and her memoir, Country Girl. Edna is a recipient of the 2011 Frank O'Connor Short Story Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the National Arts Club Gold Medal, and the Irish PEN Lifetime Achievement Award.

Saturday, May 4th 10am to 5 pm:  Taste of the Yeats Summer School:
Every summer, aficionados of the poet William Butler Yeats come from all over the world to enjoy two weeks of lectures, readings and theater in Sligo, Ireland, and to tour nearby "Yeats Country." Here is an opportunity to sample the Yeats International Summer School for a day in New York. Along with a full day of programs, we'll have information on the 57th Summer School.

Mondays, May 6th, 13th, 20th, and 27th at 7 pm:  Origin theatre company returns for the ninth annual reading series with four works by contemporary European playwrights. Check back to our website for lineup.

Thursday, May 9 pm: Airneál na Bealtaine Pádraig Ó Cearúill hosts an evening of traditional music and song with NYU students and local musicians. Free.

Friday, May 10th at 8 pm:  Blarney Star Concert Series, with Oisín Mac Diarmada and Séamus Begley: Sligo native Oisín Mac Diarmada, a founder of the group Teada, is one of Ireland's most original traditional fiddle stylists. Séamus Begley, from a famed musical family on Kerry's Dingle peninsula, is a magnificent interpreter of sean nós (old-style) Irish language songs and a superb box player.

 

About Glucksman Ireland House
Located in the heart of Greenwich Village, Glucksman Ireland House is New York University's Center for Irish and Irish-American Studies and one of the top-ranked academic Irish Studies programs in the United States. Through innovative undergraduate and graduate academic curricula and extensive public programming, it provides access to the best in Irish and Irish-American culture. With faculty in Irish and Irish-American literature, history, music, language, and cultural studies, Glucksman Ireland House NYU provides its students and the community with an integrated approach to understanding the arts and humanities that represent Ireland and Irish-America's past, present, and future. Glucksman Ireland House, New York University, is locatd at 1 Washington Mews, New York, NY 10003.

 

 

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