As part of the 200-Year Anniversary celbration of the Benevolent Irish Society in 2025, the Society is proud to feature at the Irish Hall a very select group of local and international speakers on Irish subjects. There are 8 lectures in total in the period of August 1 - August 16 and the range of topics is expected to be thoroughly thought provoking.

The lectures are free but we are asking for sign-up so that we can predict refreshment numbers.

MAR BHLÀTH AN FHEÒIR | LIKE THE FLOWERING GRASS: SONGMAKING AND SINGING IN PRINCE

EDWARD ISLAND

The songmaker in Prince Edward Island has long served and continues to serve as an

integral figure in the expression and communication of Island experience. From Edward

‘Sandy’ Ives’ seminal study on the universal fear of being commemorated in a satire by

‘the man who made the songs’ Larry Gorman to internationally acclaimed Juno-award

winning Island singer-songwriters’ return-migration narratives, the tradition of local verse

set to music capable of being joined on a chorus highlights the songmakers’ function in

voicing the all-too-often voiceless everyday experiences in their and their fellow

Islanders everyday lives. This lecture will explore this wider tradition within ongoing

personal research on the extant songs composed by various local bards in PEI’s Gaelic-

speaking communities in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. By observing the lines

of verse that spread like seeds of grass on the wind, connecting Island communities in

both time and space, this lecture will reflect on the power wielded by the singer and

songmaker in encapsulating and empathizing with the breadth of human experience in

Prince Edward Island and beyond to this very day.