Kinsale Cultural and Heritage Society unveils a packed programme of events over the coming weeks as the society prepares for its busy autumn schedule.
Chairperson JJ Hurley, set to facilitate a discussion with Professor Dermot Ferriter and Peadar Thomson as part of the upcoming Words by Water Literary Festival in Kinsale. (John Allen Images)
First is a unique opportunity to step inside the local Masonic Hall, which will welcome the public as part of Culture Night on Friday, September 19th.
The society is delighted that a member of the lodge and treasurer of Kinsale Cultural and Heritage Society, Ken Buttimer, will lead members on a guided tour of the building, once regarded as a secret society.
The tour begins at 7pm at the Masonic Hall on Higher O’Connell Street.
Next on the programme is a lecture on the Famine in Kinsale, taking place in the Temperance Hall on Wednesday, September 24th at 8pm.
The lecture will be delivered by Catherine Flanagan, who investigated the subject as part of an MA before her work was later published as a book by Maynooth University in 2018.
Some of Catherine’s findings are striking: she revealed that Famine deaths in Kinsale in 1849 rivalled, if not exceeded, those in Skibbereen during the infamous “Black ’47.”
Finally, the society’s chairperson, JJ Hurley, has been invited by the organisers of the Kinsale Literary Festival, Words by Water, to host a discussion with Professor Diarmuid Ferriter and Peadar Thomson.
Ferriter is widely regarded as one of the most influential historians of his generation on modern Ireland since Independence. His latest publication, The Revelation of Ireland 1995–2020, joins a body of essential work on this fascinating period.
Joining Professor Ferriter on stage is Peadar Thomson from Belfast, who has produced a unique account of GAA members killed during the Northern conflict. His research has been hailed as an important contribution and has drawn praise from the current President of the GAA, Jarlath Burns.
“It is going to be a truly remarkable evening as we connect these two books through the prism of the GAA, as we witness the organisation mirror the changes in moving from conflict to a more confident Ireland,” JJ Hurley remarked.
The discussion takes place in the Methodist Hall, Kinsale, on Friday, October 3rd at 7pm. Tickets are available from www.wordsbywater.ie.
Catherine Flanagan who is set to deliver a lecture on the Famine in Kinsale on Wednesday September 24th in the Temperance Hall at 8pm.