Prof Gerry Smyth joins us to discuss his new book Tara of the Kings - Ancient Irish Myths and Legends Retold

We welcome Professor Gerry Smyth - lecturer in Humanities and Social Sciences at LJMU - who joins us to discuss his fascinating and lavishly illustrated book Tara of the Kings - Ancient Irish Myths and Legends Retold.

Irish mythology comprises a rich and diverse body of stories accumulated over thousands of years in a variety of oral and literary forms. The stories reach back into pre-history, telling of the island’s ‘original’ inhabitants and their relations with a series of invading races throughout what is assumed to be the neolithic, bronze and iron age periods. Preserved in memory by professional castes of druids and bards, the stories survived in oral form until they began to be written down towards the end of the first millennium by monkish clerics keen to establish a narrative of Irish history culminating in Christian hegemony.

This new collection rewrites stories from the canon as simply and as accessibly as possible to win a new audience for this wonderful tradition. Such stories will include Deirdre and the Sons of Ulster from the Ulster Cycle and Finn mac Cool and the Salmon of Knowledge from the Fenian Cycle, as well as The Children of Lir and The Coming of Patrick. These stories will be accompanied by commentaries which introduce readers to some of the historical and literary issues attending the survival of the stories, all beautifully illustrated with images from the printed collections of the British Library.

Gerry will be in conversation with Professor Gillian O'Brien. Their conversation will be followed by an audience Q&A and then a book signing.

Gerry Smyth was born and grew up in Dublin. After working in Spain for five years as a professional musician, he moved to Liverpool in 1986 where he took a degree in 'Literature, Life and Thought' at the Polytechnic, before going on to do an MA in Cultural Studies at the University of Lancaster, and a PhD at the University of Stafford.

He combines his academic and pedagogic interests with various musical and theatrical activities.

Gillian O'Brien is Professor of Public History at Liverpool John Moores University, where she is also the Programme Leader for the MA in Modern History and teaches on undergraduate and postgraduate courses. She is a member of the Board of the Irish Museums Association, a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a former Fulbright Scholar.

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