Projects funded by the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism
Major Private Sector, North/South Projects supported by the Cultural Institutions Unit of the Department:
Commentarius Rinnuccinianus –
North/South Academic Initiative
Commentarius Rinuccinianus is one of the most important primary sources of political, diplomatic and religious history of mid-seventeenth century Ireland (1645-1649). It provides an alternative view of Irish History which is currently based largely on papers espousing the Ormonde view point. The Irish Manuscripts Commission (IMC) published the Latin narrative in six volumes between 1932 and 1949.
A group of scholars, North and South, have produced a modern English translation of the Commentarius Rinuccinianus. The University of Ulster is the lead institution working with colleagues in University College Dublin. The Irish Manuscripts Commission (IMC) will publish the modern translation of the project.
Translation of The Historia Missionis...
- North/South Academic Initiative
The annalistic methodology of the Commentarius is the chosen frame for a sophisticated and not entirely partisan view of a particularly complicated period in Irish society. However, before his involvement as chief author of the Commentarius, Father Robert O'Connell (a co-author of the Commentarius) wrote a substantial historiographical work in 1654 called the Historia Missionis... The Historia predates the Commentarius in which it is extensively quoted and complements that work. It is, in effect, a history of Ireland in the 17th Century as seen through the eyes of the Capuchin ministry in the country in those most turbulent times.
The Academy for Irish Cultural Heritage at the University of Ulster is now receiving funding from the Department to translate the transcript of the Historia. The work is of immense value in understanding Ireland and Europe in the 17th Century. The Historia contain items of correspondence from various sources and therefore, like the Commentarius, is a valuable repository of 17th Century Latin. The transcript is a unique example of textual criticism in action, as it contains what is, in effect, the rough work on transcription of the manuscript. The monk's notes are invaluable when seeking to solve textual problems. On the broadest level, the transcript is an impressive testimony to the rigour of Irish scholarship.
The Project aims to improve accessibility for scholars in this research
area. It will also generate further research into Irish and British history
in the 17th Century and promote co-operation in historical study in Ireland
and Britain. In addition it provide source material for the study of the
European 'general-crisis' of the time and promote the inter-relationships
between Ireland and Britain. The project will greatly add to the value of
the translation of the Commentarius and as with that project, the Irish
Manuscripts Commission will publish the translated text, which will also
be made available electronically. The IMC will have ownership and copyright
of the translated text.
The Armarium Codicum Hibernensium (ArCH)Project -
(Facsimiles of Mediaeval Irish Manuscripts Project)
Early Irish learned culture was remarkable both for the degree of its sophistication and for the generosity of its scholars in sharing their knowledge. The presence of Irish scholars of high calibre in the cathedral and court schools of western Europe in the early Middle Ages, and their expertise in the craft of the scribe, are witnessed by the medieval manuscripts preserved in major libraries of Europe. Despite their significance to the earliest period of Irish history when the foundations of nationhood were laid, only a handful of manuscripts written by the Irish in the years before AD 1000 survive in Ireland; the vast majority are preserved in the great libraries of Britain and continental Europe, mostly inaccessible.
The ArCH Project in the Department of History, University College Cork. ArCH is an acronym for Armarium codicum hibernensium – the Bookcase of Irish Manuscripts; its mission is to create a series of facsimile editions of the major historical Irish manuscripts.
ArCH intends to contribute to the sustainability of the great bookmaking tradition of Ireland and endeavour to assist in the preservation of a highly specialised and increasingly scarce expertise. Facsimiles will take two forms of presentation. One will be done as a simple hardbound copy available to Irish libraries and the general public and to scholars and students. The second will be produced in limited numbers as a special edition, using the craftsmanship of artisan bookmakers.
In keeping with the tradition of early Irish learned culture, scholars engaged in the Project will share their knowledge and make these materials accessible to the research community and create an awareness in the wider community of Ireland’s rich cultural patrimony. Each facsimile will be accompanied by a scholarly commentary, which in itself will constitute a unique contribution to the field. The commentary and apparatus will be commissioned from leading scholars in the fields representing the core disciplines of the Project, including palaeography/codicology, history, Latin, Old Irish, and art history.
Year one of the project commenced in 2007. Year two will see the completion of a scoping project that will define the design and management of programme planning and other matters and will seethe publication of two facsimiles with appropriate academic commentaries.
A Project Review will be conducted on completion of year two. This Review
will assess progress of the Project in Years One and Years Two.
80th Anniversary of the Gate Theatre
The Gate Theatre was established as a theatre in 1928, by Hilton Edwards and Micheál MacLiammóir and will celebrate its 80th Anniversary this year (2008). The Theatre introduced Dublin audiences to the world of European and American avant-garde theatre, and to the modern and classic Irish repertoire. Today the Theatre continues to offer a stimulating and inclusive programme, appealing to theatregoers of all generations.
To mark the 80th Anniversary of the foundation of the Theatre, and the 20th Anniversary of the first performance of
Waiting for Godot, the Gate Theatre proposes to tour Waiting for Godot to every county over an eight-week period, covering 40 individual
venues for one night each, commencing in late sunmmer/early autumn 2008. The Department's 2008 allocation includes a provision of
€250,000 to support this project The Gate Theatre opened for its first public performance on 14th October 1928.
Ongoing visit of Viking Warship Sea Stallion
In August 2007, The Sea Stallion of Glendalough, a reconstruction of a Viking Warship built in Dublin in 1042, sailed from Denmark to Dublin where it was placed on exhibition in the National Museum of Ireland at its Collins Barracks facility. This exhibition has attracted large numbers of visitors to the Museum. This Department funded some of the costs of the safety vessel, which accompanied the Ship on its journey, and paid towards the translation of scientific and academic findings of the voyage from Danish to English. The funding also supported the crew accommodation costs in Dublin and a number of events in the Docklands, City Hall, Glendalough and the Mansion house for officials of the Roskilde Museum, and the Crew of the Sea Stallion. The principal cost was the support to the Voyage and a mini festival including re-enactors on the Quayside for the arrival ceremony and for two days of viewing of the vessel. The second phase of the joint Roskilde Ship Museum Thoroughbred of the Sea Project involves the voyage home. In 2008 a Viking themed festivalwas held over a number of days in June to mark the Departure. A friendship agreement between Dublin City Council and Roskilde City Council was signed as a centrepiece to the Viking Festival.
Flight of the Earls and other 2007 Commemorations
In 2007 in association with the Department of the Taoiseach, The Department
has supported commemorations of:
The Quartercentenary of the Flight of the Earls, 1607
The Foundation in 1607 of the Irish College in Louvain, Belgium.
The death 150 years ago of noted Franciscan, Luke Wadding OFM.This commemorative programme will continue in 2008.
www.flightoftheearls.com; www.louvain400.eu
Glucksman Scholarship UCC €50,000
In 2007 the Department commenced supporting the Glucksman Bursary at UCC, which is run in cooperation with New York University. An Irish Student from UCC attends on scholarship in New York and an NYU student attends in Ireland. The NYU provides an equasl amount. The Bursary will run from 5 years and commenced in 2007.
CLÉ Irish Book Publishers Association €40,000
The Department has supported the Irish Book Publishers Association in their efforts to establish the inaugural Dublin Book Festival in 2008. Ireland's leading writers, poets, journalists and thinkers shared their writing, debated the state of Irish literature and discussed issuesaffecting Ireland today. Lively panel discussions dealt with issues across a range of topics including sport, crime, history and politics.
TCD Beckett Drama Scholarship €5,000 (€10,000)
Under the Beckett Centenary programme a commitment was made for a TCD Drama scholarship for five years of €5,000 per annum. The 2008/9 academic-year will be the third year of this grant.
Michael Balfe Bicentenary
Opera Ireland is Ireland's national opera company. It currently stages four main scale operas each year in The Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, and on occasion tours these productions regionally and internationally. Opera Ireland's youth opera, lecture series, young members' scheme, Transitions programme and Masterclasses contribute to the development of opera throughout Ireland. Opera Ireland proposes to commemorate the Bicentenary of the birth of Michael William Balfe (1808 - 1870), the great Irish composer, best known for his opera, The Bohemian Girl. He was a child prodigy who left Dublin for London at the age of 15 and then for the continent at 19. He is recognised as the most famous 19th Century composer of English language opera after Arthur Sullivan of Gilbert and Sullivan fame. Opera Ireland propose, in association with RTE, to commission a new (first) performing edition, to mount the first concert performance and broadcast in over 100-years of Balfe's great Italian opera Falstaff. It is also proposed to make the first ever commercially available recording of Balfe's work , for release in December 2008.
Opera Ireland has indicated that the bicentenary performance and recording is substantially funded by the presenting partners and will cost approximately €290,000 of which €210,000 is currently available, leaving a shortfall of €80,000 and the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism has agreed to support this venture.