"ireland" blog posts

Watch the second Annual Seamus Heaney LectureProfessor Peter Shirlow, Sinead Cusack at the second annual Seamus Heaney lecture

Watch the second Annual Seamus Heaney Lecture

On Thursday 18 November 2021 the Institute of Irish Studies welcomed Professor Roy Foster (Emeritus Professor of Irish History, University of Oxford, and author of On Seamus Heaney) to deliver the second Annual Seamus Heaney Lecture

Posted on: 17 December 2021

Exiled Women – English and Irish nuns at home and awayPainting of a group of people

Exiled Women – English and Irish nuns at home and away

In seventeenth century England, Catholicism was outlawed across the land, punishable by heavy fines, imprisonment, and sometimes execution. Ireland (then under English rule) had just concluded the Nine Year’s War that effectively ended the Gaelic political systems that had survived for centuries, with greater plantation of Protestant settlers to follow.

Posted on: 23 March 2021

Confronting a 'dark and painful reality': the Mother and Baby Homes ReportFlowers left at the site of the Bon Secours, Mother and Baby Home, Tuam

Confronting a 'dark and painful reality': the Mother and Baby Homes Report

Postgraduate research student Lucy Simpson-Kilbane discusses the Mother and Baby Homes Report, Ireland, published earlier this month following a five-year inquiry.

Posted on: 18 January 2021

‘2020 has given us a new perspective. We need hope’ — the world and home with artist Paul DoranArtist Paul Doran standing in front of some artwork

‘2020 has given us a new perspective. We need hope’ — the world and home with artist Paul Doran

This month, Outreach Officer Maev McDaid met with Irish artist Paul Doran, who is enjoying great success with his contemporary abstract art exhibitions.

Posted on: 18 September 2020

Everything You Need to Know About Irish StudiesPhotograph of Beth Andrew

Everything You Need to Know About Irish Studies

Hello, my name is Beth and I am a Third Year Irish Studies student at the University of Liverpool. I wanted to provide an insight as to what it is like to study Irish Studies at the University of Liverpool, and hopefully answer any queries you may have regarding the course.

Posted on: 9 June 2020

Culture and COVID: an interview with Eva O’Connor Eva Claire O’Connor

Culture and COVID: an interview with Eva O’Connor

Earlier this month the Institute of Irish Studies launched Culture Unconfined, an online festival of film, drama, music and poetry. Culture is an important facet in the study of Ireland and the Institute remains committed to supporting and promoting the voices of Irish artists, especially during these unprecedented times. Last week, Maev McDaid from the Institute of Irish Studies caught up with Eva O’Connor, an emerging writer-performer from Ogonnelloe County Clare with a string of accolades to her bow, about life as an artist under COVID.

Posted on: 29 May 2020

Revisit the Great Famine Voices RoadshowGreat Famine Voices Roadshow

Revisit the Great Famine Voices Roadshow

The Institute of Irish Studies was delighted to co-host the Great Famine Voices Roadshow Liverpool on Saturday 2 May with the Irish National Famine Museum at Strokestown Park and Irish Heritage Trust, supported by our partners Liverpool Irish Festival and the Liverpool Great Hunger Commemoration Committee.

Posted on: 5 May 2020

Emmeline Pankhurst: A Women's History Month Speciala woman being arrested

Emmeline Pankhurst: A Women's History Month Special

Emmeline Pankhurst is an iconic figure in the fight for women’s suffrage in Britain. Through her organisation, the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), she campaigned for women’s rights. My research explores the connections between the Pankhurst family and Irish nationalism in Britain. In the case of Emmeline, Irish nationalism provided her with a political education which she publicised in her autobiography My Own Story.

Posted on: 6 March 2020

The Best Irish Studies Podcasts to Listen to Right NowPerson with headphones in subway

The Best Irish Studies Podcasts to Listen to Right Now

Looking for a way to learn on the go? Maybe you need a break from reading or you just can’t take sitting at a desk all day. That’s where podcasts come in. An entertaining yet informative way of learning is right at your fingertips. Pick up your phone and choose from the list below of Irish Studies podcasts you just can’t miss.

Posted on: 6 March 2020

How the Institute’s “Agreement” exhibition came about (Ken Bartley, ArtisAnn Gallery)

How the Institute’s “Agreement” exhibition came about (Ken Bartley, ArtisAnn Gallery)

As all good winter’s tales begin... it was a crisp, frosty Christmas Eve when I bumped into old friend and colleague Prof Pete Shirlow, Director of The Institute of Irish Studies, as he strolled along Belfast’s Ormeau Road. Since our days, many years ago, working at Queen’s University, Pete was now running a major “Arts for Reconciliation” research project, while I was the co-owner of the ArtisAnn contemporary art gallery in Belfast. We chatted about the potential for an exhibition to mark 20 years of peace in Northern Ireland since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.

Posted on: 29 November 2019

Watch the Inaugural Seamus Heaney Lecture

Watch the Inaugural Seamus Heaney Lecture

On Thursday 17 October 2019 the Institute of Irish Studies welcomed Professor Louise Richardson (Vice-Chancellor, University of Oxford) to deliver the inaugural Seamus Heaney Lecture. The event was introduced with a recital of Seamus Heaney's poetry by Adrian Dunbar (actor, screenwriter and director).

Posted on: 31 October 2019

Professor Frank Shovlin visits the University of Notre Dame, USA

Professor Frank Shovlin visits the University of Notre Dame, USA

Professor Frank Shovlin writes about his recent visiting fellowship to the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, USA.

Posted on: 15 October 2019

'The Singer's House' by Seamus Heaney - Poetry Day IrelandFrank Shovlin

'The Singer's House' by Seamus Heaney - Poetry Day Ireland

In this video, Prof Frank Shovlin explains his close connection to 'The Singer's House' by Seamus Heaney and reads this wistful poem for Poetry Day Ireland.

Posted on: 2 May 2019

Highlights from our Prince of Wales and President of Ireland visit!Prince of Wales meeting the crowd

Highlights from our Prince of Wales and President of Ireland visit!

We were excited to welcome the Prince of Wales and President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins to the Victoria Gallery and Museum on campus this week, to sign a joint patronage agreement for the Insititute. Before the signing, they were happy to meet the crowds waiting outside, as well as chatting to staff, students, alumni and many more guests inside the gallery.

Posted on: 14 February 2019

Bertie Ahern on the Good Friday Agreement, Brexit and a United IrelandBertie Ahern

Bertie Ahern on the Good Friday Agreement, Brexit and a United Ireland

Following the 11th Dr John Kennedy CBE KSG KCMCO DL DHI Lecture in Irish Studies given by Bertie Ahern, we sat down with the former Taoiseach to discuss the Good Friday Agreement, the impact of Brexit on relations between Ireland and the UK, and the prospect of a United Ireland.

Posted on: 20 December 2018

Irish Studies students visit Western Approaches War MuseumWestern Approaches visit

Irish Studies students visit Western Approaches War Museum

On 5 December, students in Dr. Arrington’s War Writing class (IRIS326 ENGL488) visited Western Approaches, Liverpool’s Second World War Museum, housed in the top-secret bunker under Derby House from which Admiral Max Horton, Commander-in-Chief of the British Navy, won the Battle of the Atlantic. One student, a native of Liverpool, commented, “I had no idea it was even here!”

Posted on: 10 December 2018

London and Economic MigrationUniversity of Liverpool in London

London and Economic Migration

During a recent two-week stay in London organised and funded by the Department of Histories, Languages and Cultures, a group of undergraduates, including Lewis Braithwaite, tackled the topic of economic migration to the capital. They approached the subject from various perspectives, and Lewis focused on ‘the Irish experience’ in the twentieth century.

Posted on: 13 November 2018

"I will look back on it as a watershed moment in my life" — Institute of Irish Studies MA student Ronan Gerrard interns with The London MagazineThe London Magazine

"I will look back on it as a watershed moment in my life" — Institute of Irish Studies MA student Ronan Gerrard interns with The London Magazine

Before Ronan Gerrard graduated from the University of Liverpool with a joint degree in English and Irish Studies in summer 2018, he benefited from two weeks of work experience at Britain’s oldest literary periodical, The London Magazine. In their long history stretching back as far as 1732, the magazine has boasted contributions from the Romantic poets Shelley and Keats to 20th century masters such as Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath. Discover some of Ronan's experiences of working with the publication.

Posted on: 25 October 2018

Sinn Féin leader, Mary Lou McDonald: "Brexit and the Good Friday Agreement are incompatible"Mary Lou McDonald

Sinn Féin leader, Mary Lou McDonald: "Brexit and the Good Friday Agreement are incompatible"

Sinn Féin leader, Mary Lou McDonald talks reconciliation, Brexit and what the ‘Repeal the Eighth’ result says to the world about modern Ireland, in this video interview, ahead of her keynote speech at the University.

Posted on: 9 October 2018

Refugees and forced displacement in Northern Ireland’s ‘TroublesBlack and white photo of people unpacking belongings

Refugees and forced displacement in Northern Ireland’s ‘Troubles

My research, funded by the 2017/18 Busteed Postdoctoral Scholarship at the Institute of Irish Studies, sheds light on the often-overlooked experiences of people who suffered displacement during the Northern Ireland conflict.

Posted on: 2 October 2018

Searching for Gerard KeenanPatrick Kavanagh

Searching for Gerard Keenan

Kavanagh’s Weekly is arguably the closest literary approximation to a barroom brawl ever put to print. When I first saw the name of Gerard Keenan in its pages, the feeling was akin to the sensation of the corner-eye-sighting of a reflection in a dusty mirror.

Posted on: 10 July 2018

Shame, stigma, and the abortion debate in IrelandLogos

Shame, stigma, and the abortion debate in Ireland

Exploring the stigma and shame surrounding abortion in Ireland, Masters student Rebecca Boast looks at both sites of the debate, in the lead up to Ireland's referendum.

Posted on: 24 May 2018

Enda Kenny video interview - Ireland's border after BrexitEnda Kenny

Enda Kenny video interview - Ireland's border after Brexit

Former Prime Minister of Ireland, Enda Kenny, talks to us about Ireland's border after Brexit and his vision for Ireland's future.

Posted on: 4 December 2017

Irelandness - by Grammy nominated songwriter, Johnny McDaid

Irelandness - by Grammy nominated songwriter, Johnny McDaid

Songwriter, producer and Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Irish Studies, Johnny McDaid blogs about celebrating his Irish identity and Irish culture.

Posted on: 7 November 2017