International Irish Language Conference held

The title of the conference was ‘Ar an Imeall i Lár an Domhain’ (On the Periphery in the Centre of the World) and its theme was liminality in Irish and European literature and culture. Dr Pádraig Ó Liatháin (former lecturer and current Associate Member of the Centre for Irish Studies, Charles University, Prague) and Professor Emerita Máirín Nic Eoin of Fiontar & Scoil na Gaeilge were members of the conference committee. 10 members of Fiontar & Scoil na Gaeilge presented on their research. Scholars attended from over 10 third-level institutes in Ireland, as well as academics from the Czech Republic, France, Finland, Poland and North America. The Irish language is being taught in Charles University for almost 30 years. Its position on the curriculum has been strengthened in recent years, however, and Dr Radvan Markus, the current Irish language lecturer (a former student of Pádraig Ó Liatháin) is an example of someone whose personal ‘turas teanga’ has taken him from an undergraduate ab initio course to mastery of the language.  

The multidisciplinarity of Irish-language studies as practiced both in Ireland and internationally was a marked feature of the conference programme. A wide range of scholarly fields and critical approaches and methodologies were represented: applied linguistics, literary and cultural criticism, migration studies, politics, education, the digital humanities, manuscript traditions, literary history, folklore, performance studies, comparative literature, translation studies.

Conference website: https://cslc.nd.edu/news-and-events/events/2017/09/16/ar-an-imeall-i-lar-an-domhain-an-tairseachulacht-i-litriocht-agus-i-gcultur-na-heireann-agus-na-heorpa/

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