For episode 2 of the Corrymeela Podcast, host Pádraig Ó Tuama talks with the poet Gail McConnell, whose forthcoming collection The Sun Is Open considers an archive-box of her father’s writings, clippings, poems and pamphlets. He was murdered by the IRA in 1984. Gail also speaks about creaturely poetry, parenthood, living with loss, and identity. Full transcript of the conversation, and group discussion questions are all available here. Gail McConnell teaches at the Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry at Queen’s University in Belfast.
The collection of poetry discussed — The Sun Is Open — will be released by Penned in the Margins in the Autumn of 2021.
The Corrymeela Podcast, Season 1, Episode 1. President Dr. Mary McAleese
We talked homeplace, religion, British-Irish politics, and leadership with former President of Ireland, Dr. Mary McAleese. This episode is filled with story, insight and the complicated art of compromise and negotiation. You can download the discussion question and episode transcript here. President McAleese’s memoir Here’s the Story is published by Penguin.
The Corrymeela Podcast, Season 1, Trailer.
Host Pádraig Ó Tuama gives a preview of season 1 of the Corrymeela Podcast, a season considering Irishness and Britishness in 2021: a year with Covid; a year marking the centenary of the partition of Ireland; and the first year of Brexit. For all our interviews, we asked our guests some 'Very Short Story Questions' - questions you might want to ask yourself, or people you know. You can find these questions here. (We don't broadcast all the answers the guest gives to these, just one or two.)
About the Corrymeela Podcast
During this year of the pandemic, we are not hosting any groups, or conversations at the Corrymeela centre, on the north coast of Ireland. But it is a significant year in Irish and British history, marking the centenary of the partition of Ireland, and the first year of Brexit. So, we are bringing twelve conversations from our kitchen table to yours; conversations that discuss Irishness and Britishness through the lenses of politics, history, art and theology.
So pull up a chair, listen with us as we listen, and talk with us as we talk. Every episode ends with our guest telling a very short story from their life, so don’t forget to listen right to the end.
You can hear all the episodes (one released every Thursday) below, or you can subscribe on your favourite podcast app.
With deep thanks to our funders: The Henry Luce Foundation, the Irish Government’s Fund for Reconciliation, the Community Relations Council, Northern Ireland, and the Friends of Corrymeela.