"Fairies, Rebels, Mothers: Lady Gregory and 1916" - Public lecture by Prof. Lucy McDiarmid

Professor Lucy McDiarmid

NUI Galway will host the 2016 Monsignor Pádraig De Brún Lecture entitled Fairies, Rebels, Mothers: Lady Gregory and 1916, to be given by Professor Lucy McDiarmid, Marie Frazee-Baldassarre Professor of English at Montclair State University in the US on Tuesday, 22 March.

The biennial public lecture is held in honour of Monsignor de Brún who served as University President from 1945 until 1959. The memorial lectures have been running since the 1960’s with Professor Stephen Hawking giving a lecture in 1994 on “Life in the Universe”. Professor McDiarmid’s lecture will focus on the career of Lady Gregory, whose writings and life are so closely connected with County Galway.

Professor Lucy McDiarmid is the author and editor of seven books, including At Home in the Revolution: what women said and did in 1916 and The Irish Art of Controversy. Her work on the cultural history of Irish modernism, published in her numerous books, essays and edited volumes, has led to a deeper understanding of one of Ireland's greatest literary periods.

Professor McDiarmid’s groundbreaking edition of Lady Gregory's selected writings (edited with Maureen Waters) did a great deal to draw critical attention to Lady Gregory’s work and Professor McDiarmid’s De Brún Lecture will focus on many aspects of Lady Gregory’s achievements. Professor McDiarmid will also discuss the formative moment of 1916 in this commemorative year, which relates to her recent publication, At Home in the Revolution: what women said and did in 1916.

The public lecture will be followed by a questions and answers session moderated by Professor Daniel Carey, Director of the Moore Institute at NUI Galway.

The Monsignor De Brún Lecture will take place on Tuesday, 22 March at 7.30pm in the Aula Maxima (Lower).

To book a place at this free public lecture, please register at www.conference.ie. Advance booking is essential.