Expert US political commentators and eminent academics, Prof. Scott Lucas of the Clinton Institute at University College Dublin, and Larry Donnelly, of the University of Galway Law School will be among the guest speakers at the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Autumn School which takes place in Bruff, Co. Limerick, and nearby Lough Gur, on October 25th-27th next.
With just ten days then remaining to the Presidential Election on November 5th, their session on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. is certain to be hugely popular in a town which has extraordinary links to US politics. Three of the four grandparents of President John F Kennedy’s mother (Rose Fitzgerald) came from the Bruff area, and they emigrated to Boston in the 1850s post-Famine exodus from Ireland.
Minister for Further & Higher Education, Patrick O’Donovan, who will open the event, and Minister of State for Skills and Further Education, Niall Collins, are among the local public representatives who will be attending the Friday evening opening of the school, which takes in the Thomas Fitzgerald Centre, Bruff.
This is the third year of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Autumn School, which has been established by members of the Bruff community to memorialise the Fitzgerald Kennedy links with Bruff, and Co. Limerick, and the committee also includes a number of cousins of the famous Fitzgerald Kennedy political dynasty.
The Director of the School, Declan Hehir said that as well as celebrating the ancestral links to the Fitzgerald Kennedy family, the school is also about exploring and celebrating
“the history and culture of Bruff and Co. Limerick, down the years, and exploring themes that chime with the remarkable Rose Fitzgerald herself, who died aged 105 in 1995, and who played a key role in the political successes of her husband, Joe Kennedy (he was US Ambassador to the United Kingdom in the 1930s), and their children, including President Kennedy, Attorney General Robert Kennedy, Sen. Ted Kennedy, and US Ambassador to Ireland, Jean Kennedy Smith”.
Another event at this year’s RFKAS echoes the remarkable resilience of Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. The opening session on Friday night (October 25) features a panel of women journalists who hail from the region -- Bruff native Maureen Browne; Limerick Leader Editor, Aine Fitzgerald; Gillian Devlin, Head of News at Live95 FM, and Susan Daly, Managing Editor of the Journal.ie. The moderator is Kathryn Hayes, Associate Professor of Journalism at the University of Limerick.
On Saturday evening (October 26), there will be a screening of the famous 1973 RTE Radharc Documentary interview with Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, and former Director of the National Museum, Dr. Pat Wallace will chat to local Fitzgerald family relatives, Eileen McMahon and Christina Fitzgerald, about their recollections of their Fitzgerald Kennedy family ties.
Also on Saturday, another session will focus on “Reflections on Irish Emigration and Diaspora Experience”. The speakers will be Dr Susan Halvey, TUS, on Charlotte Grace O’Brien; Prof. Sean Connolly, Queen’s University Belfast, on his book on Irish Emigration, “On Every Tide”, and Michael Dooley, Poet.
On Saturday morning, Lough Gur Visitor Centre will host an exciting Arts Exhibition, Inspirations, curated by local artist John Carew. A body of work by sixteen local creative people - four artists, four writers, four crafts people, and four photographers - 32 new pieces of work have been created. Culture was always a key focus of Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy and her family and we are delighted to showcase this important Exhibition as a central part of the Autumn School.
On Sunday afternoon there will be a parade led by the City of Limerick Marching Band, and it will also feature some vintage cars (including one used for the visit of President Kennedy to Ireland in 1963). The weekend’s events will conclude with a concert performance by the Bruff Branch of Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann.
Commenting on the significance of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Autumn School, Tim O’Connor, one of the members of the Organising Committee, and who was National Chair of the Advisory Board of the Gathering Project in 2013, said:
“Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy’s roots – and therefore those of her family - lie in the Bruff area. Hosting this Autumn School in her memory is an act of custodianship on our part and we undertake that act gladly as a sign of how much we value our relationship with our Diaspora, who have been such supporters of Ireland around the world and through the generations.
“In thanking Limerick City and County Council, led by Mayor Moran, and Failte Ireland for their support, we are excited by the potential of this relationship between the Home Place and those who left, including in tourism and economic terms. We look forward to working with the Mayor and his Team at the Council, with Discover Limerick, with Failte Ireland and with the entire community in the Bruff/Lough Gur area in developing the Autumn School as part of that wider Strategy into the future.” , he added.
Full details of the autumn school can be found at rosefitzgeraldkennedyschool.ie
Tickets to attend any of the sessions cost €10, with a €40 fee covering all five ticketed events. The fee for senior citizens is €5 per session. Students and children free. Tickets are available online at Eventbrite.
