The Centre for Irish Studies at the University of Galway will host the inaugural Máire Mhac an tSaoi Distinguished Lecture in Irish Studies on 20 March. The lecture, titled ‘Work in the Irish Field’, will be delivered by Professor Henry Glassie of Indiana University and will explore the role of long-term field research in understanding oral traditions in Irish communities.

Professor Glassie is an eminent folklorist whose work on Irish culture includes Passing the Time in Ballymenone (1982) and The Stars of Ballymenone (2006), both of which offer studies of oral tradition, storytelling and community life in rural Ireland. 

The lecture will take place at 4pm in G010 in the Hardiman Building, University of Galway, and is open to the public.

The Máire Mhac an tSaoi Distinguished Lecture is named in honour of the renowned Irish poet and scholar Máire Mhac an tSaoi (1922–2021), who was an Honorary Professor of Irish Studies at the University of Galway from 2005. Her contributions to the Research in Irish Studies series of publications by the Centre for Irish Studies include a study of Piaras Feiritéar (Cérbh í Meg Russell?, 2008), a translation of Rilke’s Duino Elegies (Marbhnaí Duino, 2013), and Amhráin Amhairgin, An Chailleach Bhéarra, Amhra Choilm Cille: Three Early Irish Poems in Modern Irish Versions (2024).

For more information, visit the Centre’s Facebook page or www.universityofgalway.ie/irishstudies.

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