January 2016 Second Episode of ‘Lectures in the Library’ to Focus on Peadar Kearney

‘A Soldier’s Song’, the second in a series of lectures curated by NUI Galway’s Centre for Irish Studies as part of its programme of commemoration of the 1916 Easter Rising, will focus on Peadar Kearney, composer of the Irish national anthem.

Kearney survived the struggle for independence and experienced poverty and neglect in the Free State for which so many of his close friends had given their lives. Disillusion led to depression but there seems to have been a conspiracy, involving political parties, families and friends, to mythologise him as a serene patriot rather than reveal him as a damaged veteran.

The lecture will be delivered by Colbert Kearney, Professor Emeritus of English at UCC, and author of The Writings of Brendan Behan, The Glamour of Grammar, a study of Seán O’Casey, and The Consequence.

The lecture will begin at 6.30pm on Tuesday, 2 February at Galway City Library in Augustine Street.

-Ends-