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 - 19:30 | Welcome 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 - 22:00 | Screening 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
| Octagon | Boathouse | |
| 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. | |
| 11:40-12:40 | Donal Byrne - Afterlives of Big House Families | Christopher de Bellaigue - Suleyman the Magnificent |
| 12.45-13.45 | Conor 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- 15:30 | Russell Napier – The Aftermath of Debt | Breandan Mac Suibhne – The Miller Collection of Letters |
| 15:45-16:45 | Martin Doyle – The writing of Dirty Linen | Catherine Wynne – The Irish Soldier in the British Army in the Nineteenth Century |
| 17:00-18:00 | Anna Reid – A Nasty Little War: The West's Fight to Reverse the Russian Revolution | Ida Milne – The Elmes Letters: a Wexford Protestant family network on surviving the 1798 rebellion |
| 18:00-18:40 | Ruti 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 | ||
| 18:00-21:00 | Live 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 | |
| 10:00-11:00 | Tom 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 |
| 11.15-12.15 | Catherine Bateson – 'Words and Music by an Irishman’ – The Irish American Civil War Experience Expressed in Song |
| 12.30-13.30 | Myles 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 | |
| 14:30-15:30 | Caroline Campbell – The National Gallery in Irish Life |
| 15:45-16.45 | Henry Hemming – Four Shots in the Night: The Hunt for Stakeknife |
| 16:45 – 18:15 | Panel 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 |
