Irish Studies Program Brings Music, Poetry to UNF

CONTACT AMY PARMELEE

OFFICE OF NEWS&PUBLICATIONS

(904) 620-2140

Two upcoming events at the University of North Florida will bring slices of Irish culture to Northeast Florida through the John Francis Reilly Irish Studies Performance and Lecture Series.

Paddy League and Laura Risk will perform Irish music Friday, Oct. 3, at 7:30 p.m. in the Robinson Theatre, Building 14, and Kerry Hardie will read from her poetry and sign books Tuesday, Oct. 14, at 7:30 p.m. in the Robinson Little Theatre, Building 14, Room 1700. The events are free and open to the public.

League played at UNF last year and returns this year with Risk. League plays guitar, mandolin, bouzouki, concertina and the bodhran. He has played many Irish and Celtic festivals in North America, and he has performed for music recordings for various artists. Risk performs Scottish fiddle music and has recorded two compact discs, Celtic Dialogue and The Merry Making. Their repertoire includes songs of Celtic origin from Ireland, Scotland, Cape Breton Island and Quebec.

Hardie was born in Singapore and grew up in County Down, Northern Ireland. She worked as a researcher and radio interviewer for the BBC in Northern Ireland during The Troubles, which fueled a fascination with “people who found themselves in a hard place and with how they reacted to this place.” She has three published collections of poetry . “A Furious Place,” “Cry for the Hot Belly” and “The Sky Didn’t Fall” . and she published her first novel, “A Winter Marriage,” in 2000. Her appearance at UNF is sponsored by Hibernia.

For information about these events, contact the Office of News and Publications at (904) 620-2140.

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