‘Blazing a Trail’ at the Austin Public Library
News
18 February 2020
‘Blazing a Trail’ event at the Central Library in Austin, Texas.
The Consulate General of Ireland in Austin hosted a special Brigid’s Day event on 15 February called: ‘Blazing a Trail – Irish Women Who Changed the World’. The event marked the grand opening of the ‘Blazing a Trail’ exhibition in Texas. The exhibition is a collaboration between the Irish Government (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade), Herstory and the EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum and highlights the lives and legacies of Irish Diaspora women. The exhibition will be touring throughout our region in 2020.
Over 100 people gathered at the Austin Public Library for a program that began with performance by Irish violinist Niamh Fahy (formerly of Riverdance) and her students at the Irish Music Academy. The music performance began with a rendition of ‘Mná na hÉireann’ (composed by Seán Ó Riada) which captured the attention of many visitors in addition to the invited audience.
The program continued with a reading of the poem ‘A Non-Letter to My Daughter’ (from Extract from Constellations by Sinéad Gleeson) followed by more traditional Irish music, Barry’s tea, Irish shortbread, an exhibition and a storytime reading session for children based on the book ‘Blazing a Trail – Irish Women Who Changed the World’ by Sarah Webb.
A special thank you to the Austin Public Library, O’Brien Press, Irish Music Academy, the three poetry readers (Felicity Maxwell, Cathy Healy and Rosie Cahill) and all of the attendees for making this event so special.
We thank you all for coming to our event!
Here are a few of the best photos from the celebration:
