'Archives in Research' Seminar and Book Launch - 2 Feb 2017

Archives in Research – Methods, Practice, Outcomes

2 February 2017

Venue: G010 - Moore Institute, Hardiman Research Building

The Archives service of the James Hardiman Library, NUI Galway are hosting a half-day seminar on the theme of 'Archives in Research'. The seminar will feature expert speakers in various academic fields who will showcase new research projects which are based on innovative use of archival collections. The seminar will focus on a range of themes, including community and publicly-sourced records of the revolutionary period in the West of Ireland which are being digitised and being made publicly available online. Other areas addressed will be an NUI-funded project centred on creating digital access to historic traditional Irish musical scores, Irish language manuscripts and the research of the context of their collection.

A keynote paper will be delivered by Professor Frank Shovlin, Director of Irish Studies, University of Liverpool. The paper will  detail the experiences of Prof. Shovlin's study of the literary archive of celebrated writer John McGahern and the influence that archive has had on his research.

Completing the day, Dr. John Kenny (Discipline of English, NUI Galway) will launch the new book Touchstones: John McGahern's Classical Style by Professor Shovlin.

The event is free and all are welcome to attend.

Schedule:

3pm  - Welcome and introduction  - Niall McSweeney

            (Head of Research and Learning, Hardiman Library)

3.05pm  - Chair: Kieran Hoare, Archivist (Hardiman Library)

3.10pm - Dr. Conor McNamara (History) Chronicling the familial experience of the Irish                                    revolution: digitising the Cleary Papers

3.30pm - Dr. Deirdre Ni Chonghaile (NUI Fellow in Irish/Celtic Studies) The Rev. Daniel J. Murphy Collection: Reconfiguring the Cultural History of Irish-speakers in the 19th and 20th Centuries.

3.50 – 4.00pm    - Q & A

Short Break

4.10pm – Keynote Lecture

   Prof. Frank Shovlin (Director of Irish Studies, University of Liverpool) - Prospecting for Gold: A Year with the McGahern Papers.

   Chair: Professor Dan Carey (Director, Moore Institute)

4.40pm – Q & A

4.55pm – Summary Comments – Barry Houlihan, Archivist (Hardiman Library)

Break

The Moore Institute and the Hardiman Library present:

5.30pm – Book launch – Dr. John Kenny (English)

                   Touchstones: John McGahern’s Classical Style by Prof. Frank Shovlin.

Touchstones examines the ways in which John McGahern became a writer through his reading. This reading, it is shown, was both extensive and intensive, and tended towards immersion in the classics. As such, new insights are provided into McGahern’s admiration and use of writers as diverse as Dante Alighieri, William Blake, James Joyce, Albert Camus and several others. Evidence for these claims is found both through close reading of McGahern’s published texts as well as unprecedented sleuthing in his extensive archive of papers held at the National University of Ireland, Galway. The ultimate intention of the book is to draw attention to the very literary and writerly nature of McGahern as an artist, and to place him, not just as a great Irish writer, but as part of a long and venerable European tradition.

The event is free, all welcome. For queries contact barry.houlihan@nuigalway.ie

Prof. Frank Shovlin