Who’s/Whose Irish?:
Philadelphia Stories
from Penn to
the Present
VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY
CENTER FOR IRISH STUDIES
Inaugural Conference
OCTOBER 15, 2016
Riot in Philadelphia July 7th 1844
Images from Villanova’s Digital Library at Falvey Memorial Library
1:30 - 2:50 p.m.
Panel III
“Whose Commemoration?: US Civil War Re-enactors Honor
Twentieth-Century Irish American Heroes”
Doris Panzer, PhD, University of Pennsylvania
“Competitions of Transcendence: Mummers, Minstrels, and Mimesis”
Caroline Tatem, Graduate Student, New York University
“Molly on the Main Line: Irish Servant Girls
in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh”
Maureen Murphy, PhD, Hofstra University
Moderator: J
oseph Lennon, PhD, Emily C. Riley Director,
Villanova University Center for Irish Studies
Location: St. Augustine Center, Room 300
2:50 - 3:00 p.m. Break
8:30 - 9:00 a.m.
Registration/Breakfast Buffet
3:00 - 4:20 p.m. Panel IV
9:00 - 9:10 a.m.
Opening Remarks
9:10 - 10:30 a.m.
Panel I
“Ireland v. Ireland: The Theatrical Context of the Irish Players in
Philadelphia”
Gary Richardson, PhD, Mercer University
“Imagining Empire in Ireland after the annus mirabilis, 1759-1765”
Benjamin Bankhurst, PhD, Shepherd University
“Over the Waves: The Broadcast History of Philadelphia, Here I Come!”
Kelly Matthews, PhD, Framingham State University
“The Relief of Irish Emigrants: Down but Not Out
in Late Eighteenth Century Philadelphia”
Padhraig Higgins, PhD, Mercer County College
“Grace Kelly, Philadelphia, and the Postwar Politics
of Fashion and Beauty”
Mary Burke, PhD, University of Connecticut
“Lawyers, Geographers and Men of Letters: Irish Immigrants
and Enlightenment Culture in Philadelphia, 1790-1830”
John Waters, PhD, New York University
Moderator: Mary Mullen, PhD, Villanova University
Moderator: Craig Bailey, PhD, Villanova University
4:20 - 4:40 p.m. Break
Location: Driscoll Hall Auditorium, Room 132
10:30 - 10:40 a.m.
Break
10:40 a.m. - Noon
Panel II
4:40 - 5:20 p.m. “The World of Captain Christopher O’Connor: Seafaring,
Migration and Community in Southwark, 1790-1820”
Edward McCarron, PhD, Stonehill College
“
Three Philadelphia Stories”
Kevin Kenny, PhD, Boston College
5:20 - 5:30 p.m. Plenary Address
Closing Remarks
“Hiding in Plain Sight: Unearthing Irish History in Nineteenth-Century
Germantown, Philadelphia”
Theresa Roney, Graduate Student, New York University
“
Duffy’s Cut”
Bill Watson, PhD, Immaculata University
Moderator: Megan Quigley, PhD, Villanova University
Noon - 12:30 p.m.
“Dennis Clark’s Legacy”
James Murphy, PhD, Villanova University
Maureen Murphy, PhD, Hofstra University
12:30 - 1:30 p.m. Lunch
St. Augustine’s Church before the Riots of 1844
Images from Villanova’s Digital Library at Falvey Memorial Library
Philadelphia’s original St. Augustine Church, site of the original St.
Augustine Academy and precursor to Villanova University. It was burned
down in 1844 in the anti-Catholic Nativist Riots of Philadelphia.
VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY’S
CENTER FOR IRISH STUDIES
Housed in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Villanova’s Irish Studies
Program is one of the oldest programs of its kind in the U.S., providing students
with diverse academic and cultural experiences—including partnerships with the
Abbey Theatre and others—that connect to the University’s Irish Augustinian
Catholic heritage. Irish Studies courses are offered in Literature, History, Art,
Politics, Folklore, Theatre and Irish Language, allowing students to understand
the richness of Irish culture.
The Charles A. Heimbold, Jr. Chair of Irish Studies is held in the spring semester
of each academic year by a distinguished Irish writer. Inaugurated in 2000, it has
become one of the most prestigious Irish Studies positions in the United States.
In 2016, The University received a $1 million commitment from the Connelly
Foundation to support a new Center for Irish Studies. This gift allows the
Center to host world-renowned scholars and provide students with a dynamic
educational experience at Villanova and in Ireland and to serve as the premier
Irish Studies resource for Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley.
MAEVE DAWLEY
Maeve Dawley ’16 discovered a passion for Irish politics and
culture in our Irish Studies program and wrote her senior
thesis on the political and social issues of the Irish Diaspora.
She also served as president of Villanova Irish Cultural
Society. She is currently working at EMC, a Fortune 200,
and aspires to a career in public policy in which she can
help create positive change.