n this year of commemorations, from the centenary of the 1916 Rising to the quatercentenary of Shakespeare’s death, this two-day symposium at Maynooth University will explore historical and cultural connections between Shakespeare and Ireland. “Shakespeare 400 Ireland” will feature a keynote lecture by Professor Willy Maley (University of Glasgow) '"They are rising, they are rising": Shakespeare and 1916'. Other invited speakers Professor Mark Burnett (Queens University Belfast), Dr Jane Grogan (UCD) and Professor Patrick Lonergan (NUI Galway) will present papers on Shakespeare in Irish writing, film and theatre. The symposium represents an opportunity to examine Shakespeare’s Irish reception contexts and to critically reflect on the interrelations between national literary traditions, history and memory. As part of the event, an exhibition of a 1685 Shakespeare Folio will be held in the University library.
Organiser: Dr Stephen O’Neill, Maynooth University Department of English.
Supported by Maynooth University’s Commemoration Committee.