Organized by the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa, the second edition of the Global Irish Diaspora Congress was recently held.
It was presided over by Professor Regina Uí Chollatáin, president of the GIDC, from University College Dublin (UCD) as well as by the head of the local organizing committee, Professor Donal McCracken, a well-known historian.
After the inaugural speech of Professor Nhlanhla Mkhize, Deputy Vice Chancellor of KZN University, the keynote speaker, myself, spoke about "The History of the Irish Press in South America."
There were three days of interaction among many local scholars and from abroad, with themes such as "Identities," "Social Problems," "Literature" and "Museum" as well as papers related with Ireland, Great Britain, South Africa, America, China and Australia, the African wars, music and dance, and presentation of books.
William Mulligan, Jr. (Murray State University, USA), John Mitcham (Duquesne University, USA), Tom McGrath (Maynooth University, Ireland), Phil Mullen (Trinity College, Ireland), Darragh Gannon (Georgetown University, USA/ UCD, Ireland), Chen Li (Foreign University, Beijing, China), Cathal Billings (UCD, Ireland), Christopher Dorman-O'Gowan (Independent scholar, UK) and Steven Ellis (University of Galway, Ireland), as well as the locals Donal McCracken, Ruth Teer-Tomaselli and Mary Lange (KZN University, South Africa), among many others, took part in interesting presentations and debates in the different sessions held at Howard College, the venue at the Faculty of Humanities of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) University.
The Irish Ambassador to South Africa, Fionnula Gilsenan, also addressed the Congress and launched an exhibition related to the apartheid era.
The congress concluded with a two-day trip to the battlefields of the Anglo Zulu and Anglo Boer wars, which took place in the old Natal and Zululand regions, visiting where Isandlawana (1879), Rorke's Drift (1879) and Talana (1899) battle's took place, researching the many Irish roots there, with the guidance of Professor Donal McCracken.
This second Global Irish Diaspora Congress was modeled on the successful inaugural congress held at University College Dublin in 2017, and which featured a wide range of papers relating to the global Irish Diaspora from Africa to South and North America, to the Pacific islands, Europe and subject such as history, archaeology, art, cultural studies, genealogy and language.
Professor Regina Uí Chollatín, President GIC and Principal and Dean, College of Arts and Humanities, University College Dublin spoke about the success of the congress and announced the forthcoming third edition to take place in Ireland in 2026.
Guillermo MacLoughlin is publisher of the Southern Cross in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Southern Cross (La Cruz Del Sur) is the oldest continually published newspaper in the Americas.
