10.30am
Registration 

11.00-11.45am
Lecture with Fiontán DeBrún
THE BLACKBIRD OF BELFAST LOUGH BEFORE AND AFTER
Fourteen centuries of Irish-language literature in Ulster

The 9^thcentury poem ‘The Blackbird of Belfast Lough’ was recently described by the poet Paula Meehan as the beginning of secular poetry in Ireland. Yet, this celebrated old Irish poem is to many people better known as an English translation, suggesting a definitive break with the language in which ‘The Blackbird of Belfast Lough’ was written.

There is, however, a continuous tradition of Ulster literature in the Irish language stretching back to the 7th century, taking in the Ulster cycle of heroic tales, bardic schools of the 13th to 17th centuries, the great flowering of South East-Ulster literature from the 18^th to 19^th centuries followed by the shift from manuscript to print literature initiated by the Gaelic League at the end of the 19^th century.

The vibrancy of contemporary Irish literature is rooted in this rich legacy and the historic corpus of writing in Irish reflects myriad aspects of human experience over more than fourteen centuries. In short, Ulster cannot be properly understood without some discussion of its literature in Irish. What then, does literature in Irish tell us about Ulster?

12.00-12.45pm
Lecture with Caitríona Ní Chléirchín
IN THE BOAT ON A VOYAGE TO LITERARY REVOLUTION: THE INNTI GENERATION

This Innti literary movement of the late 1970s and 1980s was defined by a revolutionary introduction of modern themes into Irish poetry - or as Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill put it, a movement towards writing about ‘sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll’, which took its cues from Beat poetry and the Bob Dylan’s surreal lyrics.

It found its birth in the magazine Innti, Edited by Michael Davitt, it featured poets such as Gabriel Rosenstock, Liam Ó Muirthile, Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill, Biddy Jenkinson, Louis de Paor and others. These poets, while committed to revitalizing the Irish language, were determined to bring internationalist energies to the Irish language literary and youth culture of the time.

12.45pm-2.00pm
Lunch (provided)

2.00-2.45pm
Lecture with Alan Titley
NEITHER SHILLELAGHS NOR SHAMROCK: THE OTHER IRISH NOVEL

The novel in Irish begins in the late 19th century as it did in most European countries. Since then about three hundred have been written and some have gained the status of classics amongst readers in the Irish language. This talk will look at some of those classics and aims to evaluate them both in their own time and for ours.

3.00-3.45pm
Panel discussion led by IMRAM director, Liam Carson

IMRAM director Liam Carson will chair a discussion with Alan, Caitríona and Fionntán on the day’s talks, with questions welcome from the audience.

About the Contributors

Fionntán de Brún is the Professor of Modern Irish at Maynooth University.; a literary scholar and creative writer. He is the author of the acclaimed novel, Béal na Péiste (Gradam Uí Shúilleabháin 2023; first prize in novel category, Oireachtas 2022) published by Cló Iar-Chonnacht in 2023, and of Seosamh Mac Grianna - an Mhéin Rúin.

Caitríona Ní Chléirchín is a remarkable poet. Her collections from Coiscéim are Crithloinnir which won the Oireachtas Prize for New Writers in 2010; and An Bhrídeach Sí which was a joint winner of the Michael Hartnett Award in 2015; and of The Talk of the Town (Gallery Press). She is also a critic and an Irish Language and Literature lecturer in DCU.

Alan Titley is nothing less than a phenomenon in Irish letters – a novelist, poet, dramatist, columnist, and a sparkling talker par excellence widely known for the wit of his expression.