Speaker: Dr. Síle Ní Choincheannain.
Talk Title: Brian Ó hUigínn: Who was he and why is he featured on the famous mural in the O’ Curry Irish College
Date:Wednesday, 13th July 2022 at 8pm No. 2 of 9 Talks.
Talk Description:

Brian Ó hUigínn (1st July 1882 – 10th March 1963), also known as Brian na Banban, was an Irish Revolutionary, Poet, Gaelic Revivalist, Sinn Féin Politician and a founding member of the organisation. He was President of Sinn Féin from 1931 to 1933.

Born in Meath his ghost resides mostly in the history of West Clare. After attending an Irish-language summer college at Ballingeary, Co. Cork, O’Higgins received a Language Teacher’s Certificate in 1906 and began work as a Múinteoir Taistil (Travelling Teacher) for the Gaelic League.

During this time, he was one of the founders of Coláiste Uí Chomhraidhe, an Irish Language College in Carrigaholt, County Clare and in 1917 he became the College Secretary. In May 1918 he was arrested and deported to Birmingham Jail on suspicion of German conspiracy. While he was in prison, he was elected Sinn Féin candidate for West Clare during the 1918 General Election.
It is said that because of Brian’s republican affiliations and involvement with the Irish College that the Black and Tans paid a visit to the college in 1920 and burnt half of the building down. Dr. Síle Ní Choincheannain Coláiste Uí Chomhraidhe ~ Carrigaholt, Co. Clare Brian Ó hUigínn 12 This talk hopes to shed some light on Brian Ó hUigínn, this lesser-known Republican, and his connection to West Clare, particularly Carrigaholt.
O’Curry College, better known as Coláiste Uí Chomhraidhe, was named in honour of Doonaha native and renowned Irish scholar, Eugene O’Curry.
About the Speaker:
Dr. Síle Ní Choincheannain is currently working as a full-time Irish Lecturer in Mary Immaculate College. She spent time lecturing in the University of Limerick and spent two years (2017-2019) in Canada as an Irish Canadian University Fellow at the University of Ottawa.

Síle also spent the academic year 2013-2014 on a Fulbright Scholarship in the University of Montana. Síle also has experience working on Raidió na Gaeltachta and TG4. Her current research deals with modern Irish historical fiction, the role of women in this genre, and the O’ Curry Irish College. She recently held a conference commemorating local scholar Eugene O’ Curry, 160 years after his death in Mary Immaculate College.