Details of a new summer school linking Christ Church cathedral and the Aran Islands were announced yesterday.
The bilingual Cheangal dhá chultúr: Celtic Revival summer school, which will be held next month, will explore links between the Anglo Irish and Gaelic Irish in the revival of Celtic art, music and literature in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The six-day programme will open at Christ Church cathedral on July 7th and will transfer to Inis Oírr's arts centre, Áras Éanna, on July 9th.
Speakers include Dr Nicola Gordon Bowe, biographer of stained-glass artist Harry Clarke; Prof Terence Brown, biographer of WB Yeats; and former archbishop of Dublin, Dr Donald Caird. The school will be opened by Senator Martin Mansergh, who is of Anglo-Irish descent.
Topics include Protestant Gaelic scholars in the 19th century; Lady Gregory and the Abbey Theatre; and Douglas Hyde and the Gaelic League.
A stained-glass window created on Inis Oírr as a homage to Harry Clarke will also be unveiled. Boat trips will take participants to Inis Meáin to see the Harry Clarke studio windows and the cottage where JM Synge spent time learning Irish.
Before the school leaves Dublin, Aran islander Deirdre Ní Chinneide will perform at evensong with the cathedral choir.
Summer school director Aonghus Dwane said the Celtic revival came at a time when the country was in a very depressed state after the famine. He added that it was important to recall the connection between the Celtic revival and the subsequent movement for independence.
Dean of Christ Church the Very Rev Desmond Harman said he was delighted that links were being fostered between the cathedral and the Aran Islands.
Details of the summer school are available at www.araseanna.ie or at 099-75150.
