Weaver poets to feature in lecture

Former BBC producer Laura Spence will deliver a lecture on the Rhyming Weavers of Ulster, a group of writers who lived during the 18th and 19th centuries and whose poetry shines a light on a time of radicalism, religious piety and cultural development in Ulster, to kick off the annual Island Voices talk series on September 24.

The annual series focuses on Irish and Scots cultural heritage, and this year will explore the impact that socio-economic factors such as migration and famine have on language.

Laura’s lecture will be followed on October 29 with a talk by Dr Patrick Fitzgerald, Lecturer and Development Officer with the Mellon Centre for Migration Studies at the Ulster-American Folk Park.

Dr Fitzgerald will explore how human migration impacts upon language by focusing on the evolving use of language by trans-Atlantic migrants and shorter internal migrations.

The final lecture in the series will take place on Thursday, November 26, when author and senior lecturer in the Irish language at Ulster University, Dr Fionntán de Brún, will address the subject of the Great Famine and the Irish Language. The talk will look at the impact of the Great Famine focusing on some fascinating eye witness accounts from the time.

The talks run over lunchtime, they’re free, and everyone is welcome to attend but booking is essential due to numbers. Each talk will be hosted in the Tower Museum from 12.30pm – 2pm on each of the respective dates and lunch is provided.

For more information or to book places please contact the Tower Museum on (028) 7137 2411 or email [email protected]