Island Voices at the Tower Museum in Derry
Island Voices is an annual series that explores the languages, cultures and heritages of these islands with a particular emphasis on the Irish and Ulster Scots traditions.
The theme of this year’s series is ‘Irish and Ulster-Scots: Language and Belonging’ and there are three talks in the programme running from September to November 2019.
A range of themes will be covered including; the interplay between the languages of English, Irish and Ulster-Scots in our place names; Ulster-Scots identity as expressed in the language and literature of the North of Ireland and the development and expansion of the Gaelic language throughout these islands over two millennia.
The series began on Thursday September 26th with a lecture entitled ‘Language, Identity and the Importance of Place Names’ by Mícheál B. Ó Mainnín, Professor of Irish and Celtic Studies (Queen’s University Belfast) who considered the importance of local place names in the context of the International Year of Indigenous Languages from a variety of perspectives.
Later this month on Thursday October 24th Dr Carol Baraniuk (University of Glasgow) will host ‘Disagreeably Scottish’ – Voices of the Ulster-Scots which will consider Ulster-Scots as an identity and how it is expressed in language and literary traditions within the north of Ireland.
Finally on Thursday November 28th ‘A Social History of the Gaelic language over two millennia’ by Dr AJ Hughes will examine the history of Gaelic in the context of Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man, plus the wider backdrop of Celtic and other languages in Western Europe.
All lectures in the series are free and will take place in the Tower Museum from 1-2pm on each of the dates – lunch is also provided at 12.30 pm.
Booking for the lectures is essential – so please ensure your place by contacting the Tower Museum on 02871 372411 or email tower.reception@derrystrabane.com.
Further information on any of the talks is available from Pól Ó Frighil, Policy Officer (Irish Language) with Derry City and Strabane District Council at pol.ofrighil@derrystrabane.com
You can visit the Island Voices Learning Zone at: http://www.towermuseumlearning.co.uk/island-voices/
