Helen Lawlor - "Emigration, Identity and Culture Building: Irish symbolism in Irish-American Song Sheets"

From the mid 19th century Irish emigrants arrived to the USA in waves of post-famine emigration. Ireland almost immediately became mythologised and romanticised as the land now out of reach: physically, politically and emotionally. This talk and performance will trace the changing fate of the Irish as a socio-cultural and political group in the USA of growing importance through the mid 19th to early 20th century. Popular Irish symbolism including the harp and icons of Gaelic culture were adopted by song writers in Vaudeville, Tin-Pan Alley and commercial publishing houses to reflect on the Irish experience in the USA.

This talk will draw on the song sheet collection housed at the Princess Grace Irish Library, Monaco to illustrate the presentation of Irishness in the USA with performance of songs from the collection by Helen and Dubh Linn: Ray, Aido & Fionnuala Lawlor.

Notes & Narratives will take place at Na Píobairí Uilleann, 15 Henrietta Street, Dublin 1, starting at 8:30pm on Thursday 18th January 2024. Admission is €10 (unwaged / student / retired €5). For those unable to attend in person, it will also be live streamed for free through our channel NPU-TV.

Na Píobairí Uilleann presents Notes & Narratives – a series of monthly performance-based lectures on traditional music, song and dance by some of Ireland’s finest traditional artists.

Supported by The Arts Council.