Tuesday 12 June 2012

Tales of Medieval Dublin: new series starts next week

A third series of the lunchtime Tales of Medieval Dublin lectures has been announced. Each of the seven Tuesday lectures takes place in the Wood Quay Venue at Dublin City Council Civic Offices, Dublin 8, a thoroughly modern facility despite incorporating part of the original Hiberno-Norse city wall.

The talks will be officially launched by Senator David Norris prior to Lecture 1, The Miller’s Tale, at 1.05pm on June 19th, so that lecture finishes a little later than all the subsequent ones.

All lectures are free and everyone is welcome.

Here's the full programme:

Tuesday 19 June:
The Miller’s Tale — Grain was an integral part of the diet of early medieval Dubliners and the work of millwrights was pivotal to the economy of the town. Come and hear about the life of a miller from Chapelizod. With Claire Walsh. 1.05–2.00pm.

Tuesday 17 July: The Duibh Linn(ers’) Tale — Come and hear about the lives of the unnamed dead buried at the church of St Michael le Pole, near what may have been the site of the early Christian monastery of Duibh Linn. With Edmond O’Donovan. 1.05–1.45pm.

Tuesday 21 August: The Slave’s Tale — What happened to the men and women who were sold on the Dublin slave market in the early middle ages? A few of their voices have survived to be told. With Poul Holm. 1.05–1.45pm.

Tuesday 18 September:
The Crusader’s Tale — William Fitzroger was a Prior of the Order of the Knights Hospitaller in Ireland based in Kilmainham in the late thirteenth century. His conflicting loyalties to his king and his order presented him with a difficult choice: would he fight for the Holy Land or defend the English colony in Ireland? With Edward Coleman. 1.05–1.45pm.

Tuesday 9 October: The Augustinian’s Tale — The political and cultural renaissance that occurred in the late-medieval cathedral priory of Christ Church, Dublin, was witnessed and guided by Canon Thomas Fyche, its sub-prior (1502-16): Augustinian, archivist and administrator. With Stuart Kinsella. 1.05–1.45pm.

Tuesday 20 November: The Potter’s Tale — Many skilled workers lived and plied their trades in high-medieval Dublin. William le Crockere de Nas was a potter who had the important job of crafting glazed jugs to hold the wine and ale consumed by the citizens. With Clare McCutcheon. 1.05–1.45pm.

Tuesday 11 December:
The Poet’s Tale — Maoilín Óg Mac Bruaideadha was a famous bardic poet and historian in the latter half of the sixteenth century. He spent the last few years of his life in Trinity College translating the New Testament into Irish. With Katharine Simms. 1.05–1.45pm.

For more details, contact the Friends of Medieval Dublin.