Events

Comhrá Ceoil and the Centre for Irish Studies, NUI Galway, are delighted to announce details of the first talk in this year’s Martin Reilly Lecture Series, which will be given by Dr Éamonn Costello at 6.30pm on Tuesday, 28 February 2017, at Galway City Library. ‘Muintir Chonamara agus Oireachtas na Gaeilge: The role of the Conamara Gaeltacht community in shaping Ireland’s oldest festival’ examines the engagement of the Gaeltacht community of Connemara with Oireachtas na Gaeilge throughout its history.

Established in 1897, by members of the Gaelic League, the Oireachtas is Ireland’s oldest arts festival and is primarily concerned with promoting and celebrating the Irish language. However, for much of its history the native Irish speaking community, an Ghaeltacht, had little impact or input into the festival’s programme of events. This all changed in the early 1970s when the Conamara based civil rights movement, Gluaiseacht Cearta Siabhialta na Gaeltachta, turned the Irish language issue from being primarily a national/nationalist cause to one which was primarily concerned with minority rights. The actions of the Gaeltacht civil rights movement inspired the Conamara Gaeltacht community to appropriate/colonise the Oireachtas for a period in the 1970-1980s. This period of appropriation and the events leading up to it will be the focus of the talk.

Éamonn Costello is originally from An Cheathrú Rua, in the Conamara Gaeltacht. An Irish traditional musician, he holds an MA and PhD in ethnomusicology, as well as a BA in Irish Music and Dance. Éamonn currently teaches Irish in the Irish language department of the School of Culture and Communication, at the University of Limerick; is secretary of the International Council for Traditional Music Ireland (ICTMIre); and is a founding member of TradSong, a research cluster based at UL.

This series of talks is dedicated to Martin Reilly, the celebrated Galway uilleann piper, and gives an opportunity to researcher-practitioners in Irish traditional music and dance to present their work in a public forum.  The success of the series thus far confirms the interest in research of this kind in Galway, where traditional music and dance are part of the cultural fabric of the city.

Free admission to all talks.