2024 Festival Programme

The West Cork History Festival took place over the weekend of 9 - 11 August 2024 at beautiful Inish Beg.

Our programme had two broad themes: Aftermaths and Diaspora - find out more about our fantastic range of speakers and topics below.

Friday 9 August 

17:30-21:00

Octagon
17:30 - 19:30Welcome and introduction

Please note due to their flight being cancelled this morning with no warning, Professors Margaret MacMillan & Roy Foster will now be speaking 10-11.30am on Saturday 10 August.

Andy Bielenberg, John Dorney & Helene O’Keeffe have kindly agreed to speak on their Mapping the Civil War (originally scheduled for the morning of Saturday 10 August) at this time.
20:00 - 22:00Screening of Rebel Wife, directed by Williams Rossa Cole, and telling the story of Mary Jane O’Donovan Rossa (running time around 60 minutes).
The bar will be open and food available

Saturday 10 August 

10:00-21:00

OctagonBoathouse
10:00-11:30

Professors Roy Foster & Margaret Macmillan in conversation, reflecting on the themes and preoccupations of their careers as historians

Please note this has been rescheduled from the evening of Friday 9 August; the talk by Andy, Helene & John has been moved to that slot.
11:40-12:40Donal Byrne - Afterlives of Big House FamiliesChristopher de Bellaigue - Suleyman the Magnificent
12.45-13.45Conor Gearty – How Counter-Terrorism Law Has Changed What We Allow Under Liberal Democracy

This talk is in memory of James Kingston
Rosa Gilbert - Oral Histories of the Irish in Britain
13:45-14:30 Lunch – food and drink will be available
14:30- 15:30Russell Napier – The Aftermath of DebtBreandan Mac Suibhne – The Miller Collection of Letters
15:45-16:45Martin Doyle – The writing of Dirty LinenCatherine Wynne – The Irish Soldier in the British Army in the Nineteenth Century
17:00-18:00Anna Reid – A Nasty Little War: The West's Fight to Reverse the Russian RevolutionIda Milne – The Elmes Letters: a Wexford Protestant family network on surviving the 1798 rebellion
18:00-18:40Ruti Lachs –  Cork’s Jewish Culture Past & Present

Please note the timing of Ruti's talk is slightly later than originally advertised. Ruti will be also be playing later in the evening with her band, Fresh Air Collective
Food and drink will be available
Saturday evening only tickets are available for music & film screening, under 16s are free
18:00-21:00Live music:

19:15-20:00-ish Fresh Air Collective - lively klezmer music, tangos, waltzes & original songs & tunes led by Ruti Lachs

20:00-21:00-ish Open the Taps - a local trad band
Screening of Rebel Wife, directed by Williams Rossa Cole, and telling the story of Mary Jane O’Donovan Rossa (running time around 60 minutes)

Sunday 11 August

10:00-18:30

Octagon
10:00-11:00Tom Keneally joins us live from his home in Australia to discuss his book Fanatic Heart with Myles Dungan
Please note due to ill health, Myles will conduct the interview by Zoom
11.15-12.15Catherine Bateson – 'Words and Music by an Irishman’ – The Irish American Civil War
Experience Expressed in Song
12.30-13.30Myles Dungan on his book Land Is All That Matters
Please note due to ill health, Myles will speak via Zoom
13:30-14:30 Food & Drink will be available
14:30-15:30Caroline Campbell – The National Gallery in Irish Life
15:45-16.45Henry Hemming – Four Shots in the Night: The Hunt for Stakeknife
16:45 – 18:15Panel Discussion with Festival speakers including Roy Foster, Andy Bielenberg and Anna Reid: Are Aftermaths when the action happens?
END

Field Trips: Skibbereen Walking Tour, Gormú & Atlantic Sea Kayaking

The Festival included a walking tour of Skibbereen, lead by local historian William Casey and trips on foot, by e-bike and on the water exploring the history, archaeology and mythology of West Cork.

Thursday 8 August
18:30
A Walking Tour of Skibbereen Town

This walking tour, with local historian William Casey, will explore the history of Skibbereen. Concentrating mainly on the nineteenth century history of the town it will look at how major events like the Great Famine and the Fenian Movement impacted the area. It will touch on important events in the town’s history such as the O’Connell Monster Rally of 1843 and individuals who made an impact, like newspaper proprietor Fred Potter and astronomer Agnes Mary Clerke. The built history, the cultural history and the stories of the town are all included, and all this for free. The tour will be 3 km in length (1.5 km tour and 1.5 km back to the carpark). It will commence at the Skibbereen Heritage Centre (eircode P81 WK06) carpark at 6:30 pm sharp. Numbers are limited to 15 max and booking in advance is required via the Festival booking page on Eventbrite.

Gormú Field Trips

We are delighted to be partnering with the brilliant Gormú again this year for Festival Field Trips.

Please book all the events below via the Gormú website where you can select the relevant date. And as Festival attendees, do use the discount codes provided below when booking. We are also offering a 20% discount for those who book during June!

Friday 9 August
09:00
Gormú Clifftop Hike with Coffee & Cookies (book via Gormú website)

In addition to the regular content of the Clifftop Hike, Conor will discuss the local lore and stories about lives of British soldiers stationed at the Signal Tower in Gortacrossig
during the early 19th century.
This ties in with our Festival talk by Catherine Wynne on The Irish Soldier in the British Army in the Nineteenth Century.

Starting Location: Toe Head Coast Guard
Book via Gormú website with Promo Code SEANCHAS
Friday 9 August
10:00
Gormú Luxury eBike tour with coffee stop in Rosscarbery (book via Gormú website)

In addition to the regular content of the tour, we will have a special guest speaker
discussing local civil war sites around Leap and Roscarbery, tying in with the Festival presentation on UCC's Mapping the Civil War project.

Starting Location: Cnoc Buí, Union Hall
Book via Gormú website with Promo Code SEANCHAS
Friday 9 August
Midday
Gormú Placenames walking tour with artisan picnic featuring local foods (book via Gormú website)

In addition to the regular content of our Placenames tour, on this special version of the tour, Conor will bring participants to the grave of Rossa’s only child buried in Ireland and
Rossa’s second wife Ellen O’Donovan Rossa who was Conor’s grandaunt.
This links to the Festival's screenings of Rebel Wife directed by Williams Rossa Cole, and telling the story of Mary Jane O’Donovan Rossa.

Starting Location: Castlehaven Cross near Castletownshend
Book via Gormú website with Promo Code SEANCHAS
Saturday 10 August
07:30
Saturday Dawn Swim with Hot Breakfast (book via Gormú website; wetsuits included)

In addition to the regular content of this swim, Conor will bring participants to the grave of Rossa’s only child buried in Ireland and Rossa’s second wife Ellen O’Donovan Rossa who was Conor’s grandaunt.
This ties in with the Festival's screening of Rebel Wife directed by Williams Rossa Cole, and telling the story of Mary Jane O’Donovan Rossa.

Starting Location: Castlehaven Cross near Castletownshend
Book via Gormú website with Promo Code GEALADH
Sunday 11 August
07:30
Sunday Dawn Swim with Hot Breakfast (book via Gormú website; wetsuits included)

In addition to the regular content of this swim, Conor will bring participants to the grave of Rossa’s only child buried in Ireland and Rossa’s second wife Ellen O’Donovan Rossa who was Conor’s grandaunt.
This links in with the Festival's screening of Rebel Wife directed by Williams Rossa Cole, and telling the story of Mary Jane O’Donovan Rossa.

Starting Location: Castlehaven Cross near Castletownshend
Book via Gormú website with Promo Code GEALADH

Atlantic Sea Kayaking Field Trip

We are also really pleased to be partnering with our friends at Atlantic Sea Kayaking again this year for a history-themed kayak in Castlehaven Bay. Book via the Atlantic Sea Kayaking website.

Update - we're sorry to say that due to the adverse weather forecast for Friday, this trip will instead be a talk by Tony McCarthy.

Friday 9 August
11:00-14:30
Castlehaven Bay Kayaking (book via ASK website)

The kayaking trip will be led by Tony McCarthy, local historian and genealogist. He will cover the period from the Viking area through Gaelic Ireland and the Plantations in Munster up to the Napoleonic Wars as it affected and was played out in Castlehaven Bay. There'll be a cup of tea after the paddle and the opportunity to chat and ask questions.

Starting Location: Reen Pier