Come and hear Kathleen Donohoe & Friend at 12:15pm.

Kathleen is a native of Cavan, Ireland – who has had a lifelong passion for sharing songs, and music with audiences. Kathleen has represented SouthEast US in the world finals in traditional singing in Ireland. Whether it is plaintive love songs, political ballads, unfamiliar comic songs, songs of emigration or songs that evoke a picturesque Ireland – Kathleen inhabits all with her inimitable verve! She also sings in the Irish language, and assists with promoting the language in and around Atlanta. Kathleen's CD 'Irish Songs You'll Love' features compilations with Debra Peterson (on harp, whistle and flute), and other guest musicians on uilleann pipes, fiddle, mandolin, bodhran, bass guitar, and guitar, as well as a capella tracks.

Join Marilynn Richtarik at 3:30pm as she discusses her book Getting to Good Friday. The book intertwines literary analysis and narrative history in an accessible account of the shifts in thinking and talking about Northern Ireland’s divided society that brought thirty years of political violence to a close with the 1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. She describes literary reactions and contributions to the peace process during the fifteen years preceding the Agreement and in the immediate post-conflict era, demonstrating the extent to which authors were motivated by a desire both to comment on and to try to influence political developments. In this session, Professor Richtarik will introduce the book briefly and read an excerpt from the second chapter about the lead-up to the IRA ceasefire of August 1994 and Michael Longley’s poem “Ceasefire.”

Our 2nd annual IrishFest Atlanta Barrel and Half Door Exhibition at 5:30pm. Sean-nós /old style dancers as well as Irish step dancers welcome! Sean-nós is translated as the “old style” or the “old way”. Sean-nós dancers perform to live, traditional music, using improvised battering style dance characterized by loose, playful movements and strong musicality. Traditional sean-nós dance surfaces included a door that has been taken off the hinges, a table, a barrel, or even the top of a stool!