Clare Museum’s Lecture Series will continue on Wednesday, February 11, at 7.30pm, with a talk by Karol Mullaney-Dignam entitled ‘Singing the Revolution: ballads, folklore, and memory in County Clare’.
The talk will explore the cultural and political significance of song in County Clare, during and after Ireland’s struggle for independence. Drawing on local ballads, folklore, and first-hand testimonies, it reveals how singing was an act of resistance and a source of solidarity during the revolutionary years (c.1916–1923).
It also examines how new songs commemorated ambushes and martyrs, ensuring that these events lived on in popular memory.
Discover the stories behind ballads like Mac and Shanahan, The Rineen Ambush and The Scariff Martyrs and hear how Clare people used music and storytelling to sustain hope and shape identities in those turbulent times.
Dr Karol Mullaney-Dignam is Associate Professor in History, and Director of the MA Public History and Cultural Heritage programme at the University of Limerick. Her research and teaching interests lie in Irish cultural, social, and public histories.
Karol has published on the cultural and social history of Irish music, country houses and landed estates, cultural nationalism and politics, and public history and heritage interpretation. Her work has been supported externally by the Office of Public Works, the Irish Research Council and the Royal Irish Academy.
The talk begins at 7:30pm and admission is free of charge. While entry is free, there is likely to be a high level of interest in the talk, so those attending are asked to book a seat in advance by email. *Telephone bookings cannot be accepted.
The Lecture Series will continue at Clare Museum on the second Wednesday of each month, until May 2026.
Upcoming topics include threatening letters of pre-Famine Ireland, the Centenaries of Irish folklore and the folklore of County Clare’s caves. Visit www.claremuseum.ie for further information.