Irish Songs and Stories Among Friends
Thursday, March 7, 2024
The Department of Catholic Studies invites you to an evening of Irish music and mirth, "Irish Songs and Stories Among
Friends." This event will take place in the Beck Rooms on the ground floor of Walsh Library
on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, at 7 p.m.
About the Event
The Irish name for the storyteller is Seanchaí. This delightful man’s stage in the West of Ireland is a private house with a bar, generally illegal, called a shebeen, such as in John Millington Synge’s The Playboy of The Western World. Here is the beginning of all great theater: one actor sitting before an open fire, with only himself, his voice, and the spoken word to evoke an entire fictional world called theater. With storytelling often the profession of a blind man, the Seanchaí's inner eye weaves through poetry and song, recitation and gesture, people, places, and actions that provoke wondrous laughter and tears.
On this evening, Professor Emeritus James McGlone, Ph.D., will bring you, with the "usual suspects," our performance of such an Irish country evening. We have been adapting to dramatic reading novels that regard the fictional world through Catholic lenses for nearly twenty years. At this event, we go back to the origins of this storytelling, celebrating this St. Patrick’s festival with with "Our Lady of Knock" and the "Old Woman From Wexford," "Dooley on Marriage," and "The Ballad of the Tinker’s Wife." You might take the opportunity to sing along with our troupe to “My Wild Irish Rose” or “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling.” So, as the song says, “If you’re Irish, come into the parlor.” And, if your name isn’t Celtic, do not worry; everyone is Irish on and around St. Patrick’s Day.
About Catholic Studies:
The Department of Catholic Studies at Seton Hall University offers an innovative, interdisciplinary curriculum for students of any creed who are interested in deepening their knowledge of Catholicism's rich intellectual tradition and living heritage. Combining the study of history, philosophy, theology, literature, art, sociology, and other disciplines, Catholic Studies focuses on the Church's dialogue with culture and encounter with the world. Students interested in Catholic Studies have the option to pursue a major, minor, or certificate that complements and enhances the university's other degree programs and fields of study. Over 20 years the academic program and its variegated activities have stayed true to and fulfilled the Catholic mission and vision of the University.
For more information, please contact Ines Murzaku, Ph.D., Director of the Department of Catholic Studies, or Gloria Aroneo.
Categories: Arts and Culture
