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.

THE SEARCH FOR ARTHUR DELANEY: BRENDAN O’GRADY’S LABOUR OF LOVE

In this talk, Prof. Thomas O’Grady, a scholar in his own right, will engage with Exiles and Islanders (2004), his father’s landmark history of the Irish on Prince Edward Island. While appreciating the full range and reach of that undertaking, he will focus particularly on how that book project relates to Brendan O’Grady’s loving commitment to his wife, Leah (neé Brothers), in her search for the roots of her Irish-born maternal grandfather, Arthur Delaney, a well-established farmer in the PEI community of Avondale. He will pay special attention to how “the parish and the universe” are often one and the same when Irish historical and cultural matters are involved.