The Dublin Lectures explore the history of Dublin and her people. Our first season was curated by Ruth Kenny and Simon O’Connor. Catriona Crowe, Roy Foster and Adrian Hardiman are among the speakers.
Each event commences with a Carmen wine reception at 6.30pm, and the lectures start at 7pm. (With one exception. Roy Foster’s lecture is at 3pm.) Subject to availability, tickets to individual lectures (€9) will be available at the door. For a season ticket to all 12 lectures, sign up as a Friend of the Little Museum (€95).
Here’s the line-up for the next few months:
Thursday 17th May
A Wander down the Beaux Walk
‘Dublin can be Heaven, with coffee at eleven and a stroll through Stephen’s Green’ sang Noel Purcell in the 1960s. Desmond McCabe, the author of a definitive new history of the Green, reveals its chequered history, from rebel garrisons to prize-winning ducks. Chairman: Dr Patrick Geoghegan of TCD and Newstalk.
Wednesday 13th June
Murderers, Hawkers and Jumpers: Ulysses and the Law
Adrian Hardiman is both legendary orator and gentleman historian. This evening the Supreme Court Judge revisits the real-life cases that made their way into James Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’. David Davin Power chairs proceedings.
Friday 6th July (3pm)
Bram Stoker’s Dublin
When Bram Stoker died not a single obituary mentioned his most famous work. A hundred years later it has been translated into more than fifty languages. Roy Foster reconsiders Stoker and his masterpiece, one of the most popular books ever written by an Irishman. Chairperson: Miriam O’Callaghan.
Thursday 16th August
William Rowan Hamilton: the ‘Einstein of Ireland’
In association with Dublin City of Science 2012, historian, author and tour-guide Pat Liddy celebrates the great Dubliner William Rowan Hamilton, without whose genius computer graphics, animated films and 3-D would not have been possible. Roisin Ingle of the Irish Times is our chairperson for the evening.
Thursday 13th September
Dublin Lost and Found
The art auctioneer Ian Whyte and the artist, writer and conservationist Peter Pearson reveal what Dubliners past and present have collected.
Peter will reveal the story behind his extraordinary artefacts in our museum collection, while Ian gives you the inside scoop on what’s worth keeping and what to throw away.
Thursday 18th October
Schrödinger in Dublin
Erwin Schrödinger, Nobel Prize-winning physicist, came to Dublin in October 1939 at the personal invitation of Éamon de Valera. In association with Dublin City of Science 2012, poet and physicist Iggy McGovern discusses the legacy of Schrödinger’s 17-year stay.
Thursday 15th November
Nothing to Say: Mannix Flynn’s Dublin
A celebrated artist, performer and writer, Mannix Flynn is also an independent Dublin City Councillor for the South-East Area, where his probing analysis of Irish society has found a new platform. Councillor Flynn reflects on his remarkable journey over the last four decades.
Thursday 13th December
The Incredible Life of Brendan Bracken
Brendan Bracken was the most mysterious Dubliner of the twentieth century. A Fenian’s son educated by the Christian Brothers, his widowed mother exiled him to Australia. He returned to England and forged a career as a Tory MP, minister in Churchill’s wartime government and publisher of the Financial Times. His biographer Charles Lysaght describes the quest for the full facts about Bracken’s unique life.
