Hilary Bishop, Visiting Fellow (Liverpool John Moores University) talk on ‘Irish Mass Rocks’.

‘Sliding Rock’ Mass Rock, Shantalla, Galway City.

We are delighted to invite you to a seminar by Moore Institute Visiting Fellow and Irish Studies Scholar, Dr Hilary Bishop on ‘Irish Mass Rocks’ at NUI Galway next week.

The history of Catholicism is an essential component in the history of modern Ireland. As locations of a distinctively Catholic faith, Mass Rocks are important historical, ritual and counter-cultural sites. Their continued use reflects, and helps reconstruct and legitimise, contemporary Irish identity whilst providing a tangible and experiential connection to Irish heritage and tradition. Based on initial research in counties Cork, Mayo and Galway, this paper will challenge a number of accepted assumptions concerning the nature and location of Mass Rock sites and explore the language, memory and ritual use of Mass Rocks in Ireland.

Biography:

Dr Hilary Bishop studied at the Institute of Irish Studies, University of Liverpool and now works at Liverpool John Moores University. She is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and holds a Willard Potts and Don Jordan Emerging Scholar Award from the American Conference for Irish Studies (West) in San Francisco.

To find out more information on Hilary Bishop see the following link https://mooreinstitute.ie/visiting-fellows-scheme/ and her research-dedicated website: www.findamassrock.com.