From: Mark Hall
Subject: Re: Ir-D The Invention of 'craic' 6

> I also clearly remember first hearing the word craic when I moved to
> Belfast at the beginning of the 1980s. When Sally Belfrage used the
> word in the title of her book about Belfast, which came out in the
> early '80s, that confirmed my impression that it was more of the
> northern term - or at least not a common Dublin one.

When I was doing museum based research for my dissertation at the National
Museum in Dublin (every June-July between 1985-1989), the younger staff
there used the word, but it the context from when I joined in, seemed to
indicate a more active or festive type of pub-going/bar hopping. Usually it
implied going to several pubs, possibly some dancing, and if an all
male-crowd, trying to pick-up women.

I never will forget when I first heard the word, thought it meant cocaine,
and the laughter when I said, "But I thought that stuff was illegal."

Best, Mark Hall

- --
Mark Hall
Niigata Prefectural Museum of History

From: "Padraic Finn"
To:
Subject: Re: Ir-D The Invention of 'craic' 7

I'm not sure about Terry Eagleton's alleged insults...........

Craic might have originated as the phrase "s/he's great crack" which I
remember from my Galway youth in the 1970's. "Having the craic" is
undoubtedly a London version, used to describe the humour of a group of
people in a pub.

The second verse of the following ditty has already been mentioned, by Steve
McCabe I think. I first heard it in the 1980's.

"The craic was good in Cricklewood in a pub they called the Crown.
Glasses flying, Biddies crying and Paddies going to town"

It continues..

"Oh mother dear, I'm over here and I'm never coming back...........

The Crown in Cricklewood had just such a reputation......it's being revamped
now.......but it gives a different spin to the meaning of the word.

Finally, one other variant: "What's the craic here" meant "what's the story"
or "what's going on".

Padraic Finn

Email Patrick O'Sullivan

This week is the school half-term break for my younger son, Jake. So, we
are going to have a little break - and take a narrow boat, an English canal
boat, round the canals of Cheshire. So, we will be navigators rather than
navvies...

I should explain that an English canal boat is like a floating Winnebago -
except that you travel at only 3 or 4 miles an hour. Very relaxing, very
comfortable. A very good way to see a most interesting and mostly pleasant
side of England. And I do mean England - there are canals in Scotland, and
some do go into Wales. But the canal network - a survival from the late
eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries - is centred on the English
Midlands.

There is now much on the web about the English canals - for example Rob and
Marlane O'Neill from Miami have put an account of their adventures on their
web site...

http://www.robandmarlane.com/

Though the saddest part of their journey has to be their attempt to take
their boat down the Leeds & Liverpool Canal into inner-city Liverpool...

Whilst we are away Russell Murray will take care of the Irish-Diaspora list.
Messages to will be distributed in the usual
way. Messages to me personally will have to wait till my return.

Paddy

- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit

Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Personal Fax 0044 (0) 709 236 9050

Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/
Irish Diaspora Net Archive http://www.irishdiaspora.net

Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Department of Social Sciences and Humanities
University of Bradford
Bradford BD7 1DP
Yorkshire
England

From: Dymphna=20Lonergan
Subject: Re: Ir-D The Invention of 'craic' 8

My brother, Declan Hunt, was part of a live recording in Mark McLaughlin's
pub in Dundalk in 1970 and the sleeve of the LP that came out of that says:
'They sing and play because they love it. They do it for the 'crack'.'
That would see the word in use in the entertainment scene in the 60s,
although we Dublin based folkies didn't use it.

While the dictionary definition of craic is 'chat, conversation', and we can
imagine the extension of this to mean 'having a good time', I'm also mindful
of the Irish for sexual intercourse as 'bualadh craiceann'(literally the
'beating of skin'). In Australia my theory of this being the basis for the
Aus. expression 'to crack on to a woman' has been accepted, as this phrase
means 'to chat a woman up for the purpose of engaging in sexual
intercourse'.

The first time I heard the term 'crack' in Ireland was in the context of
'where's the crack', meaning 'where can we go to have a good time'. So the
word has come into mainstream Irish English speech comparatively late. The
1960s saw a freeing up of English in the accepted use of non standard words
in standard speech.
Slang words could now be used where previously they would have been taboo.
This Irish language word 'craic' may have been a code word in areas where
the Irish language was prevalent and the term 'where's the crack' may have
meant where can I find an opportunity to have sex (the term 'bean craiceann'
means
'prostitute': literally 'woman of the skin').

It would have been safe to use the word 'craic' in a closed community and it
may even have been exclusively a male word. Perhaps with the rise of the
fleadhanna and the movement of young people around the country people
outside the Irish speech community may have begun to use the term thinking
it to be a reference to having a good time.

I'd be interested to hear if anyone knows of the use of the term 'craic'
earlier than 1970 (and it is also interesting that it is now almost always
written according to the Irish language spelling)

Dymphna Lonergan
Flinder University of South Australia

=====
Go raibh tú daibhir i mí-áidh/May you be poor in ill-luck Agus saibhir i
mbeannachtaí/rich in blessings Go mall ag déanamh namhaid/slow to make
enemies go luath a déanamh carad/quick to make friends

Subject: Re: Ir-D ACIS, Liverpool, General excitement 2
From: Eileen A Sullivan

Paddy

No complaint from me about Liverpool session. Good idea!

Eileen

Dr. Eileen A. Sullivan, Director
The Irish Educational Association, Inc. Tel # (352) 332
3690
6412 NW 128th Street E-Mail :
eolas1[at]juno.com
Gainesville, FL 32653

From: "Noreen Bowden"
To:
Subject: Re: Ir-D The Invention of 'craic' 10

My mother used the term 'crack' frequently when I was a kid growing up in NY
in the 1970s and 80s. She grew up in Mayo and left in 1956 as a 21-year-old
- - while I always assumed it was a term she had picked up when she lived in
Ireland, I have no way of knowing.

She would usually use the word to explain why she had gotten up to some
mischief as a younger person, or fooled anyone into believing something that
wasn't true - she'd often say something like "We just did it for the crack",
and occasionally cajole us into participating in something she thought would
be fun by saying "Do it for the crack".

Dymphna Lonergan's theory adds on fascinating layers of meaning!

Noreen Bowden


- ----- Original Message -----
>
> From: Dymphna=20Lonergan
> Subject: Re: Ir-D The Invention of 'craic' 8
>
> My brother, Declan Hunt, was part of a live recording in Mark
> McLaughlin's pub in Dundalk in 1970 and the sleeve of the LP that came
> out of that says: 'They sing and play because they love it. They do it
for the 'crack'.'
> That would see the word in use in the entertainment scene in the 60s,
> although we Dublin based folkies didn't use it.
>
> While the dictionary definition of craic is 'chat, conversation', and
> we can imagine the extension of this to mean 'having a good time', I'm
also mindful
> of the Irish for sexual intercourse as 'bualadh craiceann'(literally
> the 'beating of skin'). In Australia my theory of this being the basis
> for the Aus. expression 'to crack on to a woman' has been accepted, as
> this phrase means 'to chat a woman up for the purpose of engaging in
> sexual intercourse'.
>
> The first time I heard the term 'crack' in Ireland was in the context
> of 'where's the crack', meaning 'where can we go to have a good time'.
> So the word has come into mainstream Irish English speech comparatively
late. The
> 1960s saw a freeing up of English in the accepted use of non standard
words
> in standard speech.
> Slang words could now be used where previously they would have been taboo.
> This Irish language word 'craic' may have been a code word in areas
> where the Irish language was prevalent and the term 'where's the
> crack' may have meant where can I find an opportunity to have sex (the
> term 'bean craiceann' means 'prostitute': literally 'woman of the skin').
>
> It would have been safe to use the word 'craic' in a closed community
> and it may even have been exclusively a male word. Perhaps with the rise
of
> the fleadhanna and the movement of young people around the country
> people outside the Irish speech community may have begun to use the
> term thinking it to be a reference to having a good time.
>
> I'd be interested to hear if anyone knows of the use of the term 'craic'
> earlier than 1970 (and it is also interesting that it is now almost
> always written according to the Irish language spelling)
>
> Dymphna Lonergan
> Flinder University of South Australia
>
> =====
> Go raibh tú daibhir i mí-áidh/May you be poor in ill-luck Agus saibhir
> i mbeannachtaí/rich in blessings Go mall ag déanamh namhaid/slow to
> make enemies go luath a déanamh carad/quick to make friends
>
>
>
>

>From: "T.Murray"
>
>
>I can remmber cousins of mine in Donegal using the term in the mid-1960s, as
>in "come on, we'll have the craic".
>
>Tony Murray
>Irish Studies Centre, London Metropolitan University

>From: lryan[at]supanet.com
>
>
>MEETING OF MINDS: Comparing Migrant Experiences Across Ethnic Groups: only two
>more days for early bookings discount.
>
>Saturday 22nd November 2003 at the Camden Irish Centre, London.
>
>As this conference is based in London, one of the most multi-ethnic
>cities in the world, we want to facilitate a coming together of diverse
>migrant experiences. Therefore, we have chosen the conference theme of
>comparing migrant experiences across different ethnic groups. The idea
>of the event is that papers on Irish experiences will be given alongside
>papers on, for example, Kurdish migrants or Turkish migrants, etc. In
>addition to the academic papers, we also want to celebrate the cultural
>diversity and creativity of migrant groups and so we will be inviting
>poets, musicians and artists to come along to the conference. This is
>one of the most innovative and ambitious events that the Network has
>ever organised and we really hope that as many members as possible will
>come along to participate.
>
>Speakers already confirmed include
> David Miller (asylum seekers, refugees representation in the media)
> Choman Hardi (empowerment of Kurdish refugee women)
> Joanne O'Brien (art and political expression, photography and Northern
> Ireland)
> Mary Tilki (health of the Irish migrants and the importance of home)
>
>
>Fees - For those who book before 30 October 2003
>Registration Fee: Waged ?30.00
>Registration Fee: Unwaged and Postgraduates ?15.00
>
>Fees - For those who book after 30 October 2003
>
>Registration Fee: Waged ?40.00
>Registration Fee: Unwaged and Postgraduates ?20.00
>
>
>
> Please contact Carmen Mangion at carmenmangion[at]freeuk.com for a Booking Form
>and programme.
>
>
>--
>Dr. Louise Ryan, Royal Free and University College Medical School, London, NW3
>2PF.
>lryan[at]supanet.com
>l.ryan[at]rfc.ucl.ac.uk

From Email Patrick O'Sullivan

For information...

Please distribute...

P.O'S.

________________________________
From
Ranke de Vries
On behalf of the Crosscurrents committee

Dear everyone,

This year, the Crosscurrents conference in Irish/Scottish studies will be
held at Trinity College Dublin from April 23-25, 2004. I have the pleasure
of sending you a call for papers. We are currently inviting abstracts from
postgraduate students and postdoctoral scholars in the area of Irish and
Scottish studies. The deadline for receipt of abstracts is January 30, 2004.


I should be most obliged if you could circulate the call for papers in your
department, and if you could bring the conference to the attention of anyone
who might be interested in attending or presenting. For more information,
please e-mail our secretary, Johanna Archibold at
tcdcrosscurrents[at]yahoo.com, or visit our website at
http://www.geocities.com/tcdcrosscurrents

We hope to see you in April!

Kind regards,

Ranke de Vries
On behalf of the Crosscurrents committee

___________
FROM the web site...

Postgraduate Conference in Irish-Scottish Studies
CALL FOR PAPERS
The AHRB Centre for Irish-Scottish studies
is organising the 3rd annual International Crosscurrents
Conference at Trinity College, Dublin from
April 23-25, 2004. The conference will provide
a forum for postgraduate students and research
fellows with interest in Irish and/or Scottish
Studies. The major disciplines covered in this
conference include History, Celtic Studies,
English Studies and Cultural Studies.
Proposals are welcomed for both individual 20-
minute papers, and round-table discussions.


Suggested Topics:
Religion and Representation - Myth, Ritual and Identity -
Dystoppia - Edinburgh, Dublin and the Rise of
International Publishing - Early Irish Satire -
Black and Asian Histories in Ireland and
Scotland - Irish & Scottish Images of Nation -
Brehon Law - Music and Ethnic Space - Queer
Identities in Art, Literature and History

Selected Proceedings will be published
300-word abstracts are to be mailed
before January 30, 2004 to Crosscurrents,
Centre for Irish-Scottish Studies, Trinity College Dublin,
Dublin 2, Ireland
or e-mailed to tcdcrosscurrents[at]yahoo.com



- -

Email Patrick O'Sullivan

Fans of Paul Krugman, and un-fans, might like to know that he is over here,
or up or down here, promoting his book.

The Guardian newspaper - I noticed on my narrow boat - commented on his
visit to Scotland. I found this Scotland/Ireland contrast very interesting
- - especially because, as I gave said, the small nations/peoples of Europe
seem to have created for themselves an 'Irish model' of the route forward...

For those who don't know Krugman... Web sites below, plus text of Guardian
leader...

Warning... This is the economics of the sabre, rather than the scalpel -
and often drives economists, and historians, mad.

P.O'S.

http://www.wws.princeton.edu/~pkrugman/

http://web.mit.edu/krugman/www/

http://www.pkarchive.org/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/leaders/story/0,3604,1073849,00.html

Scotland
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- ----
The hidden assets

Leader
Thursday October 30, 2003
The Guardian

Paul Krugman is a rare creature: an intelligible economist. Making sense of
the dismal science from his perch at Princeton and the pages of the New York
Times, Professor Krugman has made a name for himself as the most vociferous
and effective critic of the Bush White House. The academic's turn of phrase
and clarity of thought arrived in Scotland this week. There to promote his
latest book, Prof Krugman had a message that will be hard to swallow for
many convinced that an English Treasury has shackled the Scottish nation.

For those who think Scotland could tax-cut its way to success in the manner
that Ireland managed in the 1980s, Prof Krugman had a pithy answer: don't
bother. The reason is simply that Ireland's wealth was created before the
rise of Asia, which can now out-compete any western workforce in terms of
cost. Prof Krugman also claims the argument that aggressive tax cuts leads
to growth has been discredited by recent US experience. It suggests,
instead, they spark a boom that leads to a bust. This rejection of the idea
that more autonomy would not necessarily be good for Scotland is painful for
emotional nationalists. The birth pangs of a new country often are: look at
the rising cost of the Scottish parliament building. But all is not lost.

Prof Krugman thought Scotland's revival could be kickstarted by marketing
the country's distinctiveness. The thinking is that people and firms would
move north of the border for the cheap homes, above average state-education
system and good transport links. Having a landscape covered in heather,
sprinkled with castles and dotted with golf holes helps too. Scots have
fashioned institutions, after devolution, which reflect their particular
bents and national spirit. Some of these are undoubtedly attractive. Saying
no to university tuition fees and providing free long-term care to the
elderly are clearly powerful incentives to live there. If Prof Krugman is
right, the lesson, perhaps, is that there may be more gained from the
uniqueness of a region's identity than whether it is about to become fully
independent.

>Good news from Geneva! The Irish Argentine Historical Society (IAHS) has
>been founded by a group of scholars, researchers and writers in 6
>countries. The new website is online in the current address:
>http://mypage.bluewin.ch/emurray
>
>In this first edition you will find, among other contents:
>
>- About the IAHS (mission, executive committee members, constitution)
>
>- 'Researching the Irish in Argentina: an Irish-Argentine History or an
>History of the Irish Argentines?'
>
>- 'The Children of the Diaspora: Irish Schools and Educators in
>Argentina, 1850-1950' by Mar=EDa Jos=E9 Roger (Universidad Cat=F3lica
>Argentina)
>
>- 'Dictionary of Irish-Argentine Biography' edited by Gonzalo Can
>(Buenos Aires)
>
>- 'How the Irish Became 'Gauchos Ingleses': Diasporic Models in
>Irish-Argentine Literature' by E. Murray (Universit=E9 de Gen=E8ve)
>
>- Plus databases of passengers, settlers, landowners, and 'camp'
>school-masters
>
>
>
>I hope this material is as entertaining and instructive as you may
>expect. Please distribute the attached Press Release among your
>contacts.
>
>
>Thank you for you continuing support,
>
>Edmundo Murray
>Irish Argentine Historical Society
>Maison Rouge
>1261 Burtigny Switzerland
>+41 22 739 5049=20
>edmundo.murray[at]irishargentine.org
>Irish Diaspora Studies in Argentina:
>www.irishargentine.org
>

>Sender: P.Maume[at]Queens-Belfast.AC.UK
>
>From: Patrick Maume
>The current issue of the NEW STATESMAN has an article by a
>CATHOLIC HERALD journalist [I can't remember the author's
>name and I don't have a link] which argues that the way to bring
>about long-term integration of Muslims into British society is
>to give official recognition and funding to Islamic institutions
>on the grounds that this will encourage the growth of a BRITISH
>Muslim identity rather than one which sees Islam and Britishness
>as inherently opposed. It compares present-day "indigenous"
>attitudes to Muslim immigrants with similar stereotypes of Irish
>Catholic immmigrants in the Famine era, and cites Mary Hickman's
>work on how the Catholic Church tacitly co-operated with the
>state to encourage its members to think of themselves as British
>Catholics rather than Irish.
> This is an interesting use of Hickman's argument - especially
>since I thought Hickman's view was that this Church-state
>alliance was a BAD thing and that it would have been better for
>the Irish in Britain to continue to see themselves as
>distinctively Irish and enemies of the British Establishment
>rather than being co-opted by it.
> Anyone else on this list seen the article? Any thoughts on it?
> Best wishes,
> PAtrick
>
>----------------------
>patrick maume

>From: "MacEinri, Piaras"
>
>
>Dear list memberse
>
>Those following current Irish immigration issues may be interested in a
>short report just published by the Immigrant Council of Ireland (independent
>Dublin-based NGO working with labour migrants) entitled Labour Migration
>into Ireland: Study and Recommendations on Employment Permits, Working
>Conditions, Family Reunification and the Integration of Labour Migrants in
>Ireland.
>
>Ireland has had one of the highest immigration rates in the EU since the
>mid-1990s.Legislation and policy is in need of radical reform. The report
>gives the basic facts, figures and underlying trends, surveys current
>legislation and policy, reviews immigration policy in other immigrant
>countries and makes a series of detailed policy and legislative
>recommendations. The full report may be downloaded from the Immigrant
>Council's website at http://www.immigrantcouncil.ie.
>
>On the same topic, the Central Statistics Office (www.cso.ie) has just
>published a detailed breakdown of Usual Residence, Migration, Birthplaces
>and Nationalities. The entire report (Volume 4 of the 2002 Census) is
>available free for downloading from the CSO website and contains a level of
>detail not previously available on internal and international migration
>including return migration. 7.2% of the population of Dublin now consists of
>non-Irish nationals, while more than 10% of the population aged 25-34 in the
>country as a whole is non-Irish.
>
>Regards
>
>Piaras Mac Einri
>Migration Studies Group
>Department of Geography
>University College Cork

Email Patrick O'Sullivan

As the databases expand this item has fallen into our nets, and seems worth
noting...

I am now looking for the companion piece of work on Scotland.

P.O'S.


Folklore associated with dying in the west of Ireland

Authors: Sinead Donnelly1
Author Affiliations: 1: West of Scotland Palliative Medicine Hunters Hill
Marie Curie, Belmont Road, Springburn, Glasgow G21 3AY United Kingdom

Source: Palliative Medicine, Volume 13, Number 1 (January 29, 1999)
Page Numbers: 57 - 62
Available Full Text: Full Text: Open in New Window
Format: PDF
Size: unknown
Location: Publisher's Site
Authentication: EBSCOhost EJS



Abstract: The warm welcome for modern advances in the care of the
dying should not exclude the past in which there is much to be learned from
the skills of our ancestors.

A bilingual two-year qualitative research project into traditions associated
with dying and death was undertaken. Research began in the archives
available in the internationally recognized university folklore departments
of Ireland and Scotland. This was augmented by 40 indepth personal
interviews with Gaelic- and English-speaking residents in rural communities
of both countries, recalling local customs and practices in the care of the
dying. This paper reports the Irish experience; the collection of data in
Scotland continues.

From this study, several main themes emerged. Death was seen and accepted as
a natural continuation of life, simply a step into the spirit world. In view
of people's oneness with nature and the spiritual world, death was not to be
feared. Traditions were unique to each area even down to the precise number
of candles used at the sickbed. People understood the signs and symptoms of
dying and were skilled in alleviating the distress of both relatives and the
dying; and, in this, language was important in capturing and expressing the
philosophy of these people. The acceptance of death as the one truism of
life was facilitated by the strong faith and prayer of people for whom, in
the celebration of death, humour was never far away. In their grief, the
community was supported by the loose formality of the wake (torramh),
funeral procession, keening (caoineadh) and music. In all these, the men and
women of the community and its leaders had distinct and respected roles to
play.

Citation: Sinead Donnelly. Folklore associated with dying in the west
of Ireland. Palliative Medicine, Volume 13, Number 1 (January 29, 1999), pp.
57-62,

URL:
http://ejournals.ebsco.com/direct.asp?ArticleID=4HRA5UU93TDA6812XDUY

Email Patrick O'Sullivan

I should remind everyone that...

BLACK '47
Britain and the Famine Irish
by Frank Neal

...is now re-published by Newsham Press, Liverpool...

Contact info at...
http://www.newshampress.com/

When I have time I will write up and share my own notes on this book -
which, with all its faults, remains one of the most important, and moving
books about the Famine, and about the history of the Irish in Britain.

P.O'S.


From the web site...

BLACK '47
Britain and the Famine Irish
by Frank Neal
First published in hardback 1997 (Macmillan)

The appearance of the potato blight in August 1845 was the beginning of a
nightmare during which an estimated one million people died. This book is
the first work to examine the experience of those Irish Famine victims who
sought refuge in Britain during the year 1847, the worst year of the Famine,
and the relief operations launched in the host towns on the British
mainland.

The journey to Britain on the decks of overcrowded steamers and the battle
for survival in the slums of British towns were a continuation of the
horrors endured in Ireland. Far from finding sanctuary, thousands died in
the fever sheds of Liverpool, Glasgow, Manchester, Newport and Newcastle.
The influx of the hoards of destitute Irish posed major health and financial
problems for poor law guardians charged with keeping them alive. Black '47
reconstructs the horrors experienced in the major areas of Irish settlement
in Britain. It provides the first ever estimates of casualties and costs,
and also rescues from anonymity, victims, heros or heroines.

ISBN: 0-9545013-1-4

paperback edition, xv + 292 pages

Published: 31st July 2003

Price:
18.00 GBP*
32.00 USD**
26.00 EUR***

* includes free p&p in UK
** includes free p&p in US and Canada
*** includes free p&p in EC

>From: "MacEinri, Piaras"
>
>
>I haven't read the New Statesman article but it suggests, from Patrick
>Maume's description, an approach which bears some similarity to that which
>the French Government has been attempting to follow for some years now - a
>kind of 'French national Islam'. The present Minister for the Interior,
>Nicolas Sarkozy, is moving to create the Conseil français du culte musulman
>(CFCM), a supposedly representative organisation which will serve as a kind
>of interface between the French Islamic community and the rest of civil
>society.
>
>There are, however, several difficulties with the project. For one thing, it
>flies in the face of the traditional French republican insistence that the
>only relationship which exists in the public domain is that between the
>individual citizen and the State - religion is regarded as a private matter
>(as the Comte de Clermont-Tonnerre put it in 1793, Jews should have all of
>the rights of citizens but not those of a nation). Secondly, any attempt to
>promote a kind of official Islam is bound to be bedevilled by connections,
>real and imagined, between such a (domestic) project and the broader
>landscape of French foreign policy in the Arab world, included the roles
>played by Morocco, Algeria, Saudi Arabia and other states. Thirdly, while it
>probably is true that many French Muslims are relatively integrated, even
>assimilated, in French society, the Sarkozy approach (and he is a fairly
>hard-line minister in other respects) is probably not going to address the
>underlying issue of the alienation of young 'beurs' - French people of Arab
>ethnicity - in the marginalised suburbs, or banlieux, around Paris,
>Marseilles and the other major cities. Their often extreme alienation occurs
>at the crossroads between class and ethnic background and they are for the
>most part unlikely to be attracted by an official Islam preached by people
>they will inevitably see as part of the establishment. Finally, there is the
>unpalatable truth that hard-line Saudi-financed political Islam has been
>promoted for years now in some of the mosques of France and other European
>countries. Given that many Muslims perceive with some considerable
>justification that there is a climate of Islamophobia in the West, and that
>the USA places little value on their rights and freedoms, such efforts are
>finding some fruitful ground, even though it is only among a minority.
>
>The parallel with the Irish in Britain and with Mary Hickman's arguments is
>certainly interesting. But I would have thought that Muslim alienation
>within British society needs to be seen against a very different global
>background than was the case with the Irish in an earlier period. Moreover,
>thinking about multiethnic societies has advanced greatly. I doubt that
>official attempts to foster a respectable Islam, whether in Britain or in
>France, are likely to achieve anything like as much as the creation of a
>climate where diversity is truly accepted and respected. Moreover, it's
>difficult to see how the British Government can foster such a movement
>within Britain while tamely following George Bush's insane foreign policy in
>the Middle East, especially towards Palestine and Iraq, any more than the
>Irish Government can preach a rhetoric of anti-racism while following a
>sometimes harshly intolerant policy on immigration and asylum.
>
>Piaras
>
>Piaras Mac Éinrí
>Department of Geography/Roinn an Tíreolais
>National University of Ireland, Cork/Coláiste na hOllscoile, Corcaigh
>email/post leictreonach migration[at]ucc.ie
>web/idirlíon http://migration.ucc.ie

Email Patrick O'Sullivan

The article was...

British Muslims are the new Irish
Government cash helped the first wave of immigrants from Ireland to become
good British Catholics. Now Islam should get the same support. By Jack
O'Sullivan

(No relation...)

The New Statesman has a web site...
http://www.newstatesman.com/thisweekcontent.htm

Which allows access to material for one pound.

Some New Statesman material appears for free on www.findarticles.com, but
there seems to be a considerable time delay before recent stuff turns up.

P.O'S.

- -----Original Message-----

>Sender: P.Maume[at]Queens-Belfast.AC.UK
>
>From: Patrick Maume
>The current issue of the NEW STATESMAN has an article by a CATHOLIC
>HERALD journalist [I can't remember the author's name and I don't have
>a link] which argues that the way to bring about long-term integration
>of Muslims into British society is to give official recognition and
>funding to Islamic institutions on the grounds that this will encourage
>the growth of a BRITISH Muslim identity rather than one which sees
>Islam and Britishness as inherently opposed. It compares present-day
>"indigenous"
>attitudes to Muslim immigrants with similar stereotypes of Irish
>Catholic immmigrants in the Famine era, and cites Mary Hickman's work
>on how the Catholic Church tacitly co-operated with the state to
>encourage its members to think of themselves as British Catholics
>rather than Irish.
> This is an interesting use of Hickman's argument - especially since
>I thought Hickman's view was that this Church-state alliance was a BAD
>thing and that it would have been better for the Irish in Britain to
>continue to see themselves as distinctively Irish and enemies of the
>British Establishment rather than being co-opted by it.
> Anyone else on this list seen the article? Any thoughts on it?
> Best wishes,
> PAtrick
>
>----------------------
>patrick maume

>From: lryan[at]supanet.com
>
>
>Hi all,
>I am writing to let you know that the Women on Ireland Research Network
>conference Meeting of Minds, which will take place on 22 November, is
>fully booked. We have been overwhelmed by the interest in this
>event. The room we had booked has a maximum capacity of 45 people and we
>have 49 people who wish to come to the event. All those who booked by 30
>October will be able to attend but anyone else who is interested will have
>to join a waiting list in case anyone pulls out a place is suddenly freed
>up. While we dislike turning anyone away from the conference, we are also
>delighted that so many people are interested in comparing Irish migration
>with other migrant groups in Britain. Had we anticipated this high level
>of interest we would have booked a larger room but unfortunately at this
>late stage it is impossible to change venue.
>Best wishes,
>Louise Ryan
>--
>Dr. Louise Ryan, Royal Free and University College Medical School, London,
>NW3 2PF.
>lryan[at]supanet.com
>l.ryan[at]rfc.ucl.ac.uk
>
>-

From Email Patrick O'Sullivan

Forwarded on behalf of...
Chris Snyder
Subject: Celtic Studies Lecture at Marymount University

To List members in the Washington, DC area (with apologies for
cross-posting):

Please join us on Thursday, November 20 at Marymount University for the 2003
Celtic Studies Lecture. Dr.
Philip Freeman, Assistant Professor of Classics at Washington University in
Saint Louis, will be presenting an illustrated talk on the Druids. Dr.
Freeman's books include _Ireland and the Classical World_ and _War, Women,
and the Druids_.

The lecture is free and open to the public. It will begin at 7 PM in the
Reinsch Library Auditorium on Marymount's Main Campus. For more
information, please contact Dr. Chris Snyder in the Department of History
and Politics (contact information below).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dr. Christopher A. Snyder, Chair
Department of History and Politics
Marymount University
2807 North Glebe Road
Arlington, Virginia 22207-4299
Phone: 703-284-3857
Fax: 703-284-3859
csnyder[at]marymount.edu
http://muweb.marymount.edu/~csnyder
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From Email Patrick O'Sullivan

I have pasted in, below, 2 items about the NORTH AMERICAN CONFERENCE ON
BRITISH STUDIES...

P.O'S.


- -----Original Message-----
From: "Moira Maguire"
Subject: NACBS panel

I am interested in putting together a panel for the 2004 NACBS conference
that examines some aspect of state care for neglected, abused, and
illegitimate children in the early 20th century. My own work examines state
provisions for children in care in mid-20th century Ireland, so anything
that relates to social policy, "child saving", institutional care, boarding
out/foster care, etc would be relevant. Please reply to me off-list if you
are interested in putting such a panel together.

Regards - Moira Maguire

Moira Maguire
Asst. Professor
Department of History
University of Arkansas Little Rock
2801 S. University Avenue
Little Rock, AR 72204
501-569-8399
mjmaguire[at]ualr.edu


- -----Original Message-----
Subject: CFP: NACBS

THE NORTH AMERICAN CONFERENCE ON BRITISH STUDIES IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE
MID-ATLANTIC CONFERENCE ON BRITISH STUDIES
2004 ANNUAL MEETING, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA OCTOBER 29-OCTOBER 31, 2004
CALL FOR PAPERS

The North American Conference on British Studies (NACBS) will hold its
2004 Annual Meeting, in conjunction with the Mid-Atlantic Conference on
British Studies (MACBS) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from

Friday, October, 29 to Sunday, October 31, 2004.

The NACBS, the main organization for British Studies in Canada and the
United States, along with its Mid-Atlantic affiliate, the MACBS, seek
participation by scholars in all areas of British Studies. We solicit
proposals for panels on England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and the British
Empire broadly defined. Our interests range from the medieval to the modern
and we welcome participation by historians, literary critics, economists,
sociologists, art historians, and scholars in other allied disciplines. We
invite panel proposals treating selected themes, methodology, and pedagogy,
as well as roundtable discussion of topical work. North American scholars,
international scholars, and graduate students are all encouraged to submit
proposals to the Program Chair of the NACBS. Proposals for entire panels on
a common theme will be given priority, although individual paper proposals
will also be considered if several of them can be assembled to create a
viable panel. No participant will be permitted to take part in more than
one session, and no more than one proposal will be considered from each
applicant.
Committed to the principles of ensuring the broadest possible participation
of scholars of all facets of British Studies, the program committee will
give priority to proposals submitted by those who did not read papers at
each of the last two consecutive meetings. North American participants in
the meeting must be members of the NACBS.

Proposals should include FOUR COPIES of each of the following: (a)
completed Cover Sheet, (b) a statement of the overall purpose and goals of
the panel, (c) a 200-300 word abstract for each paper to be read, and
(d) a one or two page curriculum vitae for ALL participants.

The Call for Papers, Cover Sheet, and Guidelines for Submission of Proposals
are located at

http://www.nacbs.org

To be considered, all proposals MUST be received by the NACBS Program
Committee by Friday, January 23, 2004. We do not accept proposals via
e-mail or fax. Please MAIL FOUR hardcopies of your proposals to:

SETH KOVEN, NACBS PROGRAM CHAIR, DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY, VILLANOVA
UNIVERSITY, VILLANOVA, PA 19085-1699

Phone: +1 (610) 519-7792 Fax: +1 (610) 519-4450 E-Mail:
NACBS[at]villanova.edu