Glucksman Ireland House at New York University, located at One Washington Mews (at Fifth Avenue), will host several special events in March, including a discussion of the new book, The News from Ireland: Foreign Correspondents and the Irish Revolution, with author and BBC foreign correspondent Maurice Walsh and Pete Hamill, on March 19. Events take place at Ireland House, unless otherwise noted. Admission is free to Ireland House members and those with an NYU ID; for all others, $10 admission to regular events and $15 for Blarney Star Concert Series events. To reserve a seat, call 212.998.3950 or email ireland.house@nyu.edu.
A schedule of events follows:
Thurs., Mar. 5, 7 p.m. Book launch: NYU Global Distinguished Professor Mick Moloney launches Close to the Floor: Irish Dance from the Boreen to Broadway (Macater Press, 2009). The volume is edited by Moloney, J’aime Morrison, and Colin Quigley.
Fri., Mar. 6, 9 p.m. Blarney Star Concert Series: Michael Cooney & Willie Kelly. Cooney was raised in a renowned family of highland pipers from Littleton, Co. Tipperary. He, however, turned his attention to the tin whistle and uilleann pipes and has made a name for himself by winning multiple All-Ireland championships and by playing and recording in the U.S. with Galway button accordion great Joe Burke. He teams up with New Jersey fiddler and piper Kelly, whose affinity for the old-time music of east Clare and east Galway has made him a popular duet partner for many Irish traditional musicians.
Sat., Mar. 7, 3 p.m. Seosaimhín Ni Bheaglaoich teaches traditional Irish song workshop. Acclaimed West Kerry artist Seosaimhín Ni Bheaglaoich leads a fun, informative session on traditional Irish-language song. Of a famous and musically accomplished family from the Gaeltacht area of Corca Dhuibhne and educated at Trinity College Dublin, Seosaimhín was a founding member of the group MACALLA, Ireland’s first all-female traditional music group, which enjoyed great success in the 1980s.
Thurs., Mar. 12, 7 p.m. Film screening: Coming Into Clover, a groundbreaking documentary, traces the evolution of cinematic representations of Ireland and the Irish in early American cinema using fascinating and rarely-seen film footage. From the birth of the medium in 1895 until the full emergence of the so-called Hollywood system in 1917, these images underwent an evolution with the crude “stage Irish” stereotypes steadily giving way to a more positive and diverse set of representations. Note venue: NYU Cantor Film Center, 36 E. 8th St.
Sat., Mar. 14, 1p.m. Irish-Language Mass Celebrating the Feast of St. Patrick. Father Andrew M. O’Connor of Holy Family Church in the Bronx will celebrate the Mass, with Msgr. Donald Sakano, pastor of the Old Cathedral, as a concelebrant. Readings will be done in English by Father O’Connor and in Irish by Pádraig Ó Cearúill, senior language lecturer of Irish Studies, NYU. The Washington Square Harp and Shamrock Orchestra, led by Mick Moloney, Global Distinguished Professor of Irish Studies and Music, NYU, will perform liturgical music, along with Irish-language vocalist Dawn Doherty. Jared Lamenzo will play the beautiful and historic 1868 Henry Erben pipe organ. After the Mass, a party celebrating the Feast of St. Patrick will be held in front of the church, with traditional Irish music and refreshments. Note venue: St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral on Mott Street
Thurs., Mar. 19, 7 p.m. Book discussion: BBC foreign correspondent Maurice Walsh discusses his new book, The News from Ireland: Foreign Correspondents and the Irish Revolution with Pete Hamill, NYU Distinguished Writer in Residence. The book examines the development of the Anglo-Irish war (1919-1921) and the shifts in the reporting of events by British and American correspondents as well as other foreign journalists and literary figures, providing revealing insights into the propaganda war and the ways in which both sides tried to interest journalists in their cause.
Thurs., Mar. 26, 7 p.m. Literary lecture: Irish novelist, playwright, and poet Dermot Bolger discusses his work, particularly the completion of his Ballymun trilogy of plays with the recently staged The Consequences of Lightning and the U.S. publication of his 1990 novel, The Journey Home.
Sat., Mar. 28, 1-6 p.m Afternoon of Irish. NYU Irish Language Lecturers Pádraig Ó Cearúill & Hilary Mhic Shuibhne and NYU’s Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant (FLTA) John Keatings lead a day of learning Irish through sessions on vocabulary and pronunciation with creative group activities in Irish.