Event Details - Irish Cultural Heritage Day

Irish Cultural Heritage Day! On Thursday, April 3, from 4:30-7pm in the Heritage Room of the Maxwell Library, join the Irish Studies Program for the official unveiling of the Dr. Charles Fanning Irish Studies and Poetry Collection, followed by Royalty: Grace Kelly, the Kennedys, and Irish-American Assimilation with Professor Mary M. Burke, University of Connecticut, and Irish music with the Lindsays.

The event will begin with the official unveiling of the Dr. Charles Fanning Irish Studies and Poetry Collection. Dr. Fanning was a member of the English faculty at BSU before becoming the Director of Irish Studies at Southern Illinois University. One of the country's leading scholars on Irish-American Studies, he has written extensively on the Irish-American experience in literature and history. His well-received book, The Irish Voice in America, has been a foundational resource of other Irish-American Studies scholars, including our guest speaker, Professor Mary Burke.

Mary Burke is a Professor of English and the Irish Literature Concentration Coordinator at the University of Connecticut. Her work has been placed with NPR, the Irish Times, RTÉ, and Faber. Professor Burke is a Former University of Notre Dame Irish Institute NEH Fellow, MLA Irish Literature Committee chair, and a 2022 Trinity College Dublin LHR Fellow. She is a graduate of TCD and Queen’s University Belfast. Her book,  Race, Politics, and Irish America: A Gothic History, will be available to purchase.

After Professor Burke’s talk, the Lindsays will perform Irish music. The Lindsays blend instruments, rhythms, and textures. Susan plays sax, Irish flute, and whistle, and Stephen, a native of Dublin, Ireland, plays guitar and sings. They add upright bass, fiddle, accordion, and a variety of world percussion instruments.