Given that our ability to travel is curtailed, Galway Public Libraries will look at a cultural Ireland from c. 1840-1950 through the social commentary of travel writers. It will focus on the writings of Samuel and Anna Maria Hall, Sir William Wilde and Richard Hayward, the art of William Evans (aka Evans of Eton) whose work complimented the Halls’ book, Ireland its Scenery, Character etc. and Richard Piper whose illustrations accentuated Hayward's books, The Corrib Country and Connacht and the City of Galway. This project will take place from 22nd - 26th November 2021 online on Galway Public Libraries Facebook page and Galway Libraries YouTube Channel 

Speakers include:

Dr Jim Higgins: Archaeologist & Heritage Officer: Travelling Westward; in the footsteps of the Halls, Wilde and Hayward

Dr Amélie Dochy: Associate Professor, Dept of English, University of Toulouse II, France: Imperial Gaze and Tourism in Galway, Anna Maria & Samuel Carter Hall’s exotic exploration in the 1840s

Ann Hodge: Curator of Prints and Drawings, National Gallery of Ireland: William Evans of Eton’s Galway watercolours and 19th Century travel writing

Paul Clements: Literary journalist and author: Richard Hayward: Galway & Connacht

Gerry Hanberry, Author & Poet: Sir William Wilde, An Amazing Life and his West of Ireland Roots.

Please note that the details of events listed above are provided by the relevant Local Authorities.