Dr. James MacKillop lecturing this week on "Strong Celtic Women"

ALBANY, NY (06/05/2012)(readMedia)-- Dr. James MacKillop will present a lecture on Strong Celtic Women at the Hibernian Hall in Albany. The Capital District Irish American Association is hosting the lecture this Thursday June 7th from 7 – 8:30 PM at the Albany Ancient Order of Hibernians on 375 Ontario Street, Albany.

This presentation is an exploration of some of the reasons Celtic myths feature more prominent and forceful women than are generally found in Greek or Norse mythologies. Some are ancient goddesses, like Epona, the center of cults. Others are epic figures, like Maeve, a leading player in the Tain Bo Cuailinge, from medieval Ireland. An historical reality underlies the creation of goddesses and legendary heroines, some of it supported by early law books. Queen Boudicca is a real person, and many Celts were matrilineal, tracing descent through the mother. In early Ireland and Wales, women could both own property and initiate divorce. In this presentation, the speaker will draw on his own publications and personal knowledge, as well as the most recent findings of genome studies to explore centuries of strong Celtic women.

About the Presenter

James MacKillop has divided his career between arts journalism and Celtic scholarship. Over that past thirty years he has published more than 2000 reviews and feature articles in five publications. Since 1984 he has been a contributing editor of the Syracuse New Times, primarily as a theater and film critic; other assignments have dealt with travel and restaurants. His efforts have won the Syracuse Press Club Award for Criticism eleven times. The collection Contemporary Irish Cinema (1999) broke new ground in an emerging field, and his "The Quiet Man Speaks" remains the most often cited critique of that John Ford classic. From 1988 to 2000 MacKillop originated and led the first Irish theater tour from North America, now widely imitated. Since 2003 he has led the Syracuse Stage London Theater Tour.

Among MacKillop's seven books are the Oxford University Press Dictionary of Celtic Mythology (1998) and the Penguin Myths and Legends of the Celts (2005), the latter also appearing in Hungarian, Czech and Estonian translations. Mythology is an inter-disciplinary pursuit, requiring extensive work in archaeology, comparative religion, metalwork and jewelry-making and art history. He is also currently the editor of the Irish series at Syracuse University Press. An eighth book, now being written under commission, explains how Irish studies entered academia from 1960 to the present.

After completing a doctorate in English Literature at Syracuse University, MacKillop was a Visiting Fellow at Harvard University. He won a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship for Independent Study and was a Professeur Invité at the Université de Rennes II, Haute Bretagne. A winner of the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching, his career is cited in Who's Who, Directory of American Scholars, Contemporary Authors, Who's Who in Education and the International Authors' Who's Who. On national television he captained the Wayne State University team on the GE College Quiz Bowl and was later a finalist in Jeopardy! competition.

About the Albany Diocesan Cemeteries

Albany Diocesan Cemeteries is a member of the New York State Association of Cemeteries, the Catholic Cemetery Conference, and the National Catholic Ministry to the Bereaved.

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