'Enigmatic territories': geographies of popular music

Music is by nature geographical. Musical phrases have movement and direction, as though there are places in the music: quiet places and noisy places, places that offer familiarity, nostalgia or a sense of difference, while the dynamism of music reflects changing lives. Sound is a crucial element in the world we construct for ourselves, and the world that others construct and impose on us (Connell and Gibson 2003: p280)

'Corkonian exceptionalism': identity, authenticity and the emotional politics of place in a small city's popular music scene

Drawing from ethnographic research on Cork city’s popular music scene, this article explores meanings of ‘authenticity’ as constructed through geographical, social and ideological referents. It unpacks local music producers’ position-takings within the local field of cultural production, and locates their narrative claims to authenticity with respect to the city’s strong sense of cultural identity. Their authenticating discourses are revealed as complex, often produced through building imagined communities of ‘us’ (in Cork) versus ‘them’ (in Dublin). The analysis indicates local actors’ deep sense of emotional attachment to place and to others within the music-making community, which impacts on their self-conception as creative labourers, sustains DIY, collaborative practices, and promotes a solidaristic ethos within the local music scene

The Survival of Irish Gaelic in the Gaeltacht of County Galway, 1880-1920

In the 1850s in post-famine Ireland, the Irish-Gaelic language was neglected in favor of English which equipped speakers to be members of the United Kingdom. But, the agrarian society of the County Galway Gaeltacht (designated Irish-speaking region) remained a stronghold of the Irish language despite British imperialists. The Survival of Irish-Gaelic addresses the survival of the native language in the Galway Gaeltacht. While my work has identified several reasons for the survival in this one specific region, this thesis focuses upon interrelated explanations. First, the Catholic schools in the Gaeltacht continued to teach in Irish despite the attempts of the British-backed National School System to ban the language from schools. The evolution of the application for the establishment of a National School shows the discrimination that the Irish people faced in their hopes of receiving an education in their native language. Second, the Irish Literary Revival (1880-1920s) elevated Irish-Gaelic literacy while adding a new ingredient of cultural prestige which poor Irish-speakers of the Gaeltacht could not have given themselves with literature written in their native tongue. My research focuses on this interconnectedness to better understand contemporary cultural issues of incorporating Irish-Gaelic into everyday lives. After the Revolution, Irish literary scholar Peter Maguire said the Gaeltacht developed into the home of all things that are Gaelic and was an inspiration to the rest of the country for “Irishness” preserved in its truest form is. The struggles that the Irish language went through because of the lengths the National Education Board went to in County Galway were outstanding. But, the people of the Gaeltacht valued their language and heritage to the point of resurgence. The Literary Revival coupled with the efforts to get Irish taught in any compacity in the National Schools helped to preserve the language for generations to come

Intersections: proceedings of the youth work and music education symposium

The ‘Intersections: Youth Work and Music Education’ Symposium took place on Friday, 27th June 2014 in University College Cork. This event, held in association with the Institute of Social Sciences in the 21st Century (ISS21), was made possible thanks to funding from UCC’s Strategic Research Fund. The principle aim of this seed funding is to generate new research interests and this presented the ideal opportunity for developing collaborative relationships between youth work and music education lecturers, researchers and practitioners across the island of Ireland. This led to the formation of a new ‘Intersections’ research cluster, comprising representatives from four third-level institutions, each of which offers both youth work and music education undergraduate and/or postgraduate programmes, namely: University College Cork; National University of Ireland, Maynooth; Dundalk Institute of Technology; and, University of Ulster. This document presents some preliminary findings from primary research conducted through each of the participating institutions in their local areas. Data was also collected during the symposium, through engaging in small group discussions populated by the event’s participants. The publication and dissemination of this document was included in the original Strategic Research Fund proposal. Its intended audience includes youth workers, music educators, community-based practitioners, policy-makers and academics who are motivated and enthused by the possibilities of music-oriented youth work in Ireland and beyond

Sir Henrys @UCCLibrary: Telling the history of a live music venue through a librarian-led research exhibition

In 2014, University College Cork presented the Sir Henrys@UCC Library research exhibition, which documented the history and socio-cultural significance of a famous Cork live music venue called Sir Henrys. This article explains how the story of Sir Henrys was researched, shaped and told, how it was presented to as wide an audience as possible, and how that audience responded. It also looks at the impact and legacy of the exhibition

The Currency of Art: a collaboration between the Baring Archive and the Graduate School of CCW.

This publication arises from a collaborative project undertaken by The Baring Archive and the Graduate School of CCW (Camberwell College of Arts, Chelsea College of Art and Design and Wimbledon College of Art, three of the constituent colleges of University of the Arts London). In 1995, ING acquired the business of Barings plc, after Barings became insolvent as a result of unauthorized trading. Along with the acquisition of the company came a collection of archival material relating to the long history of Barings, whose origins stretch back to 1717 when John Baring of Bremen settled in Exeter and set up business as a merchant and manufacturer. In 1762, his three sons established the London merchant house of John & Francis Baring & Co., later known as Baring Brothers and, by the nineteenth century, the firm had expanded to become a leading financier for overseas governments and businesses. Documentation and objects relating to the illustrious history of the bank were augmented by portraits – eighteenth and nineteenth century paintings of the Baring family by leading practitioners of the period, such as Thomas Lawrence, Benjamin West, John Linnell, Ambrose McEvoy and William Orpen. From the 1970s onwards, a distinguished collection of water-colours was added to the historical archive, containing works by artists such as Paul Sandby, Francis Towne and David Cox, and Barings, with great discernment, had also accrued an impressive group of modern British artworks to hang on its office walls.Prunella Clough, L.S. Lowry, Paul Nash, Matthew Smith, Stanley Spencer, Keith Vaughan and Carel Weight are just a few of the artists represented. The Currency of Art is one outcome of a collaboration initiated with ING seven years ago. Staff and students from Wimbledon College of Art, and pupils from three of its neighbouring secondary schools, were invited to create new works in response to the painting collection which now hangs in ING’s offices at 60 London Wall. The staff, students and schoolchildren – diverse communities in themselves – brought fresh perspectives, distinct from those of financial historians or more traditional academics, to the collection. Residencies, symposia and workshops generated responses to the paintings, culminating in two exhibitions hosted by ING, re:MAKING and re:INVENTING, whereby the newly created works were hung alongside the originals that had inspired them. This represented an unusual opportunity, given the problems associated with conservation and stewardship that often inhibit such a combination

Interview with Eileen Hogan about Portraiture

This interview is a contribution to the project About Face. About Face is a research group at the University of the Arts London which emerged from the UAL's commitment to encouraging communities of practice to work collaboratively and in cross disciplinary contexts. It brings together artists, theorists, curators and writers to examine what happens when different disciplines and perspectives are brought to bear on the edges of portraiture. The website https://aboutface.arts.ac.uk/ has been archived by the UK Web Archive (UKWA) and therefore can be found via http://www.webarchive.org.uk

In vivo dissection of the chromosome condensation machinery: reversibility of condensation distinguishes contributions of condensin and cohesin

The machinery mediating chromosome condensation is poorly understood. To begin to dissect the in vivo function(s) of individual components, we monitored mitotic chromosome structure in mutants of condensin, cohesin, histone H3, and topoisomerase II (topo II). In budding yeast, both condensation establishment and maintenance require all of the condensin subunits, but not topo II activity or phospho-histone H3. Structural maintenance of chromosome (SMC) protein 2, as well as each of the three non-SMC proteins (Ycg1p, Ycs4p, and Brn1p), was required for chromatin binding of the condensin complex in vivo. Using reversible condensin alleles, we show that chromosome condensation does not involve an irreversible modification of condensin or chromosomes. Finally, we provide the first evidence of a mechanistic link between condensin and cohesin function. A model discussing the functional interplay between cohesin and condensin is presented

Edges and Enclosures (catalogue)

Eileen Hogan contributed to the catalogue for her exhibition "Edges and Enclosures". The catalogue is a critical overview of paintings and drawings by by Eileen Hogan between 2009 and 2015. The essay by Dr. Wendy Baron sets Hogan's work in an art historical context