Thomas Rice has a fascinating personal history. Born in rural Ireland, leaving school at 13 and emigrating to the US at 16, he received a degree from Cornell and was a professor of sociology at Georgetown University.
Upon his retirement he began to write (Far From The Land: An Irish Memoir; Carby’s Fate; Rites of Passage: Five Irish Stories , etc.) He is a speaker and storyteller with over 30 years of experience presenting in the Ireland, U.S., Canada, Great Britain, Africa, and Mexico.
Join us to visit a traditional Irish pub and witness a spirited debate about the Easter Rising(1916) as though it happened yesterday; drop in on a “rambling house” where the neighbors gathered after the workday to tell stories, sing ballads, dance, recite poetry, and recreate community; attend a schoolhouse taught by an alcoholic schoolmaster(occupational hazard of bored intellectuals in a sleepy rural setting), with no windows, and freezing, barefooted students. Perhaps, if there is interest, hear some classic poems from Yeats, Heaney, or Kavanagh. Maybe even enjoy a few harmonica reels and hornpipes to round out the evening.