11 September 2008 Edition

Resize: A A A Print

John Boyle O'Reilly School marks Fenian anniversary

THE John Boyle O’Reilly School 2008, which honours the Meath-born poet, publisher and patriot and is  promoted by the Old Drogheda Society, will be held in the Hotel Scotch Hall, Drogheda on Sunday, 14 September. This year’s theme is the Fenians and the event will mark the 150th anniversary of the founding of the movement in 1858.
Registration is from 10.30am with the first lecture at 11am. ‘The Fenian Movement at Home and Abroad’ will be given by Michael Kenny,  Industrial Keeper at the National Museum of Ireland, where he has worked for over 30 years.
Kenny is the author of The Fenians: Photographs and Memorabilia from the National Museum of Ireland (Irish Treasures). He is also the author of The Road to Freedom and is regarded as a leading authority on the subject.
This will be followed at 12 noon by ‘An Independent Democratic Republic: James Stephens’ Fenian Legacy’ by Dr Marta Ramon, a PhD from the University of Oviedo in Spain, who lectures in NUI Maynooth and is the author of  A Provisional Dictator: James Stephens and the Fenian Movement (UCD Press, 2007).
There will be a break for lunch followed by a lecture at 2:30pm, ‘John O’Mahony: Fenian Leader and Gaelic Revivalist’ by Dr Brian J. Sayers. Sayers is a PhD from NUI Maynooth, where he completed his dissertation on O’Mahony’s life and writings.
Sayers is also the author of several articles on Irish nationalism and has recently been awarded an IRCHSS Post Doctoral Fellowship in order to publish a biography of John O’Mahony.
The final lecture at 3.30pm will be given by Brendan Matthews, community historian. Entitled ‘Memories of a Poet’s Dreamland’, it will recall a tale of adventure, excitement, danger and tragedy before and after the Fenian Rising of Drogheda 1867.

An Phoblacht
44 Parnell Sq.
Dublin 1
Ireland