The Merriman Winter School

Dates are provisional

A companion to the longer established Merriman Summer School, this event has become an important annual forum for the interchange of ideas between the Irish language academic community and Irish speakers.

The core events are conducted entirely in the Irish language, although there is a lively programme (official and unofficial) of social events on on the fringe where both Irish and English are spoken.

Each year in association with the Winter School Cumann Merriman, the organisers of the event,  publish a new work of Irish language scholarship which is launched during the School.

Brian Merriman & The Midnight Court

Brian Merriman, in whose memory the School is held, was a poet whose most famous work was the celebrated satirical poem Cúirt an Mheán Oíche or The Midnight Court.

The poem was written in the 17th century but not published first until 1850, having been passed around orally in the intervening time. In the 1900s several translations were published, of which the most popular was by Frank O’Connor. Popular in some quarters at least – his unexpurgated version was not approved of by all and was banned in Ireland, giving it the distinction of being the only poem ever banned here.

The poem takes a humouros look at such weighty topics such as marriage, sex, population control, women’s rights, births outside marriage and clerical celibacy. These matters can still incite controversy today and provide plenty of themes and talking points for the Schools held in Merrimans name.

Details and Location

Details of the 2011 programme will be announced on the Cumann Merriman website. The base for the school is the Hotel Meyrick in Galway, marked below.