August

Thomas D’Arcy McGee International Summer School 2012

The inaugural "Thomas D'Arcy McGee International Summer School" will take place in Carlingford Co. Louth this August with guest speaker Prof. David Wilson, Thomas D'Arcy McGee's Biographer.

Thomas D’Arcy McGee was born in Carlingford, Co. Louth, Ireland on April 13th 1825 and at seventeen he emigrated to the United States. He returned to Ireland as a successful nationalist, journalist and enthusiastically supported the 1848 Young Ireland rebellion. He escaped to Philadelphia as ‘a traitor to the British Government’.

Over the following years McGee moved to Canada and to the right of the political spectrum. He became one of the founding fathers of the Canadian Confederation, but was assassinated on April 7th 1868.

Portrait: Young Irelander, Founding Father of the Canadian Confederacy, Poet, Journalist and Carlingford native Thomas D'Arcy McGee.

View the Programme for the Summer School Here

The Thomas D'Arcy McGee International Summer School will explore the life and times of Thomas D'Arcy McGee, through his poetry and music.

“From his early involvement in Ireland, to his political leadership in Canada which led to him being called a ‘Father of Confederation’, D’Arcy McGee has created his place in history. This contribution is fittingly recognised in the establishment of the Thomas D’Arcy McGee International Summer School in the home town of his birth”.
His Excellency  Loyola Hearn, Canadian Ambassador to Ireland.
“A brilliant writer, outstanding orator and charismatic politician, Thomas D’Arcy McGee was one of the greatest Irishmen of the nineteenth century — a one-time revolutionary republican who wound up as a Father of Canadian Confederation, and whose career is endlessly fascinating”.
Prof. David Wilson, Professor of Celtic Studies, University of Toronto and Biographer of Thomas D’Arcy McGee.
“The Thomas D’Arcy McGee International Summer School allows us to focus on the very different geographical and political journeys of the Young Irelanders following the 1848 rebellion – like McGee many served under two flags”.
Anthony Russell, Retired Senior Lecturer in Education, Anglia Ruskin University.

The launch of the Summer School took place in Taaffe's Castle in Carlingford on the 8th of May. The local students from St. Oliver's N.S. were on hand to greet and welcome the dignatories in attendence which included the Canadian Ambassador, the Chairman of Louth County Council, the Chairman of DKIT and Tommy Fegan, Secretary General of the Atlantic Academy.

Below: His Excellency Loyola Hearn, the Canadian Ambassador, Margaret Harold, Chairperson of CLHT, Prof. David Wilson and the Great Great Grandson of Thomas D'Arcy Magee, D'Arcy Magee Quinn at the launch.

We have provided the podcast of the launch which gives a good overview of the project Here

This year, the theme for the Summer School will be – Thomas D’Arcy McGee ‘From Young Irelander to Canadian Loyalist’.

It will explore Young Ireland and its legacy, McGee’s relationship with John Mitchel, the changing and diverse natures of our cherished ‘isms’ and why so many Young Irelanders served under two flags; Carlingford’s D’Arcy McGee in Canada, Newry’s John Mitchel in the Confederacy, Newry’s John Martin in Westminster, Monaghan’s Sir Charles Gavin Duffy in Victoria and Waterford’s Thomas Francis Meagher with the Union.

The theme will be discussed through various keynote speeches by academics from Canada including Dr David Wilson, Professor of Celtic Studies, University of Toronto and Biographer of Thomas D’Arcy McGee. Also speaking will be Anthony Russell, Retired Senior Lecturer in Education, Anglia Ruskin University.

The International Summer School is being organised by Carlingford Lough Heritage Trust and The Atlantic Academy of The Arts, a faculty of Dundalk Institute of Technology. The stories of D’Arcy McGee and the Young Irelanders will be presented in words, images and music, and the relevance of these stories to modern Irish politics will be discussed. Those attending the summer school will have the opportunity to explore the local landscape, especially those sites associated with the Young Irelanders

The Atlantic Academy of the Arts is an organisation dedicated to enhancing the educational experiences of students in the Department of Music and Creative Media at Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT). It aims to achieve this by providing creative opportunities in America for young men and women at undergraduate and postgraduate level at DkIT. The vision of the Atlantic Academy is to promote the creative arts as a lifestyle and a career. Through this we hope to encourage a vibrant economy in the Oriel region, through music and the creative industries.

The Summer School will be held from August 20th to the 22nd.

For more information please contact Tommy Fegan 
Tel: (+353) 42 937 0241 / 0200 ext. 2121
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Click to Download the 2012 application form Here

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