One of the main highlights of the Ireland 2016 Centenary Programme, the commemoration of Proclamation Day, has been marked at educational institutions across Ireland, including IT Sligo.
A series of campus events, coordinated by the staff of the Institute’s Yeats Library, included the raising of the Tricolour, the reading of the 1916 Proclamation by a student, followed by a reading of the school’s own Proclamation for a new generation. Students also showcased their own contribution to the day in the form of music, theatre, poetry and other displays.
IT Sligo students Philip Courtney, Amanda Roche, Edward Lynch and Deirdre Kelly read The Proclamation and other extracts from Easter 1916 Rising material during the Institute’s Proclamation Day Commemoration Service.
“The main theme of this commemoration was to enable our students and staff to remember and reflect on Ireland’s history over the past 100 years, and in particular the events of 1916,” said Colin McLean, Registrar at IT Sligo.
“The centenary commemorations nationally aim to reflect on Ireland’s achievements as a Republic AND to reimagine our future for coming generations.”
As a follow up to the theatrical and other events of the day, two talks provided some reflection on aspects of the Rising.
Dr. Miriam Haughton, Lecturer at the Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance at NUI Galway, spoke on “Mná na hÉireann 1916 – 2016: Gender Representations and Politics on Stage and Off.”
Dr. James Moran from the School of English Studies at University of Nottingham gave a talk on The Rising and the Theatre, which focused on Seán O’Casey’s The Plough and the Stars – a piece of work that has become central to debates about the legacy of The Easter Rising.
Photo caption
IT Sligo accounting student Philip Courtney, a great grand-nephew of Seán MacDiarmada, one of the leaders of the 1916 Rising, reads out the Proclamation in the Institute’s main reception on Tuesday.