Lectures @ the Linenhall Library
Wednesdays at 1.00 pm. Free.
From Lagan to Lavery
6 February 2008
Belfast before Belfast: the prehistoric archaeology of the Lagan valley
Sinéad McCartan
Prior to the arrival of Christianity at approximately AD 450, people lived for some 7000 years in and around the Lagan valley, and the area that we know today as Belfast. The Lagan valley and its resources initially attracted Stone Age hunter-gatherers and later, early farming groups settled in the valley and built great ritual monuments and stone tombs. Gold and bronze objects, burials and standing stones dating to the Bronze Age have also been discovered. There is no actual evidence for Iron Age people, sometimes known as 'the Celts', although we should assume that they settled within the Lagan valley.
13 February 2008
Belfast in times of war (1912-1994)
Trevor Parkhill
For much of the last quarter of the twentieth century, Belfast was as synonymous as Beirut as a shorthand form of conceptualising violence, usually on a brutal scale featuring civilian casualties. This lecture will seek to set in a more holistic context Belfast’s legacy of street violence and confrontation in the twentieth century. Belfast’s role in World War II – when more people were killed in one night than in any other British city apart from London - will also be considered and illustrated.
20 February 2008
Bringing it all back home: exotic objects for the Museum in Belfast 1836-1950
Winifred Glover
When the Belfast Natural History & Philosophical Society opened its Museum in College Square North in 1831, its members contributed objects for its collections. The Society made appeals to travelers, merchants, sea captains and army & navy officers to bring back interesting specimens to the museum for which they were granted free admission. This is the story of some of these exotic objects and the people who brought them home to Belfast.
27 February 2008
Dress in eighteenth century Belfast
Elizabeth McCrum
Dress in eighteenth century Belfast (Elizabeth McCrum) The lecture will discuss and illustrate the dress of all social classes in Belfast. Belfast’s connection with the fashionable world will also be covered - despite their distance from centres of court fashion such as London or Dublin, the citizens of eighteenth century Belfast had a keen interest in fashion, as evidenced by the reports and advertisements in the Belfast Newsletter.
5 March 2008
Paintings, Painters and Patrons: Art in Belfast 1760-1888
Eileen Black
The talk will examine the careers of resident artists in Belfast, discuss the bringing to town of well-known paintings for display in printsellers' shops and highlight the trade in art at commercial galleries and auction rooms.
12 March 2008
Sir John Lavery R.A. 1856-1941
Anne Stewart
Born in Belfast, Lavery began his career in Glasgow. This lecture charts his career from humble beginnings to his success as one of the most accomplished artists of his generation.