Thomas MacDonagh Hedge School

September 23, 2023

www.macdonaghmuseum.ie

‘And now the poet heart is calling too’

from The Golden Joy

Thomas MacDonagh

The first Thomas MacDonagh Hedge School takes place on 23 September 2023 in the Thomas MacDonagh Museum in Cloughjordan, Co Tipperary and aims to be one of the highlights of the Museum’s 10^th anniversary programme.

Advance Purchase Tickets for Thomas MacDonagh Hedge School are available now https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/thomas-macdonagh-hedge-school-2023-2495489

The Thomas MacDonagh Hedge School offers a unique opportunity to learn about one of Cloughjordan’s finest, the poet-patriot Thomas MacDonagh, as part of a fascinating poetry inspired programme of inspirational talks, interactive discussions and poetry readings.

Thomas MacDonagh Hedge School is curated by poet and writer Eleanor Hooker, the winner of the Michael Hartnett Award 2022. The programme, featuring distinguished academics and researchers, will address how their own research and writing offers an imaginative way to deepen our understanding of the past and explore a challenging period of Irish history in an open and inclusive way. The speakers will read from and discuss their own work. They will explore the impact of the arts in the shaping of our Nation; the concept of ethical remembrance; and the consideration of poetry as commemoration with reference to their own and MacDonagh’s poetry.

THOMAS MAC DONAGH HEDGE SCHOOL SCHEDULE

Saturday 23 September

Thomas MacDonagh Hedge School

10am – 6pm

10am – Registration & Coffee/Tea

11am – Keynote – ‘Creativity and Friendship’ 

We are honoured that Margaret Kelleher, Professor and Chair of Anglo-Irish Literature and Drama at University College Dublin, will give the keynote address entitled ‘Creativity and Friendship’, to open the first Thomas MacDonagh Hedge School. Professor Kelleher, currently writing a biography of Mary and Padraic Colum, will explore the cultural milieu in which MacDonagh and his compatriots lived and worked.

12.30 – Lunch (included)

2pm – Discussion – Ethical Remembrance

Professor Linda Connolly, Director of the Maynooth University Social Sciences Institute and Martin Doyle, Books Editor Irish Times will read from their work and discuss how ethical remembrance has informed their own writing and our understanding of the past in the Decade of Centenaries. As well as moderating this panel, Dr. Lucy Collins, Associate Professor of Modern Poetry, UCD School of English, Drama & Film will contribute to the discussion.

4pm – Discussion & Poetry Readings – Poetry as Commemoration

Poets Stephen Sexton, Gail McConnell and Eleanor Hooker, in a discussion with poetry readings on how ethical remembrance has informed their work and how the arts contribute to the debate. Chaired by poet and writer Nessa O’Mahony.

Thomas MacDonagh Museum has received funding for the Thomas MacDonagh Hedge School as part of the Creative Ireland programme with support from Tipperary County Council.

We have also received funding from Tipperary County Council and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media as part of the Tipperary Decade of Centenaries programme.

We are also supported by Poetry as Commemoration, an initiative of the Irish Poetry Reading Archive at UCD, supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, under the Decade of Centenaries 2012-2023 programme.