Mick Moloney: Songs Of The Irish Famine And Emigration (with Athena Tergis Bollag)

Monday 28 January | Dé Luain 28 Eanáir
An Croí, Cultúrlann Ui Chanáin
Start: 19:00
Free | Saorchead isteach

Mick Moloney will give an illustrated presentation on the theme of the Great Irish Famine including stories and songs about the famine and about leaving Ireland, the problems the immigrants faced in adapting to life in a new homeland and finally the political, social and cultural impact of the Irish in American life.

Mick weaves songs and stories into a historical overview of the famine and its consequences for the Irish people at home and abroad. The songs of famine and emigration reflect on the immediate effect of the famine on its impoverished victims. Then there is the related more upbeat and optimistic music and song tradition about the life that Irish immigrants created in their new home across the Atlantic.

This body of song celebrates the cultural resilience of the Irish people and their descendants in America. The famine commemoration and exhibit affords an opportunity for the Irish in America to reflect on the parallel experiences of other oppressed cultures experiencing post-colonial social and cultural disorders. It also raises the crucial question of what the story of the Irish famine can teach us about world hunger and poverty today.