The 2021 Francis Roche Memorial Lecture will be delivered in association with the North Atlantic Fiddle Convention, with guest Prof. Sven Ahlbäck presenting “‘We hear what we know’ – On the power of concepts and how traditional fiddle music in contemporary society can benefit from folk music theory”. This lecture is free to the public and will be live-streamed on the Irish World Academy youtube channel. Click here to watch.

PAST FRANCIS ROCHE LECTURES: 

2019 – Peter Browne: “Séamus Ennis – A Tall Genius (1919-1982)”
2018 – Dr. Orfhlaith Ní Bhriain and Mick McCabe: “From Jigs to Jacobites—Set Dances as a Historical Record”
2017 – Dr. Helen Lawlor: “Come Summer, Come Winter, from the Mouth of Harps”: The Irish Harp in Myth, Poetry and Music
2016 – Dr Ryan Molloy: “Traditional Contemporary Music – Conflicts of Influence”
2015 – Dermot McLaughlin: “A Soundscape of the Donegal Fiddle – a response to the challenges of defining a regional style”
2014 – Toner Quinn: “The Thin Green Line: In Writing About Irish Traditional Music”
2013 – Professor Breandán Ó Madagáin: “The Elemental function of music and magic in the Gaelic tradition of Ireland and Scotland”
2012 – Dr Mel Mercier: “Making Music Together: Father and Son Duets”
2011 – Dr Breandán de Gallaí: “Noċtú: Irish Dance Laid Bare”
2010 – Paul Brady: “From Holyrood to Hooba Dooba: My Life in Music”
2008 – Dr Matt Cranitch: “Learning and Teaching ‘Outside the Tradition”