The Irish in Fiction: A Book Discussion Series with Dr. John Tully

LITCHFIELD, Conn. - March 23, 2016 - PRLog -- Irish Americans have a rich literary history, one that encompasses the sweep of their history in the United States. Novels, in particular, have been a way for Irish Americans to explore issues of family, religion, politics, assimilation, and alienation. Our reading group and discussions will focus on three of the most iconic and insightful works in this long tradition.

Dr. John Day Tully will provide an historical context of both the novels and their settings within the wider struggles of Irish Americans to find their own identity and meaning. The legacy of those efforts live on in every Irish American family today.

The Irish in Fiction Series will explore Brooklyn byColm Tólbínon April 10, and Charming Billy by Alice McDermott on May 15.

April 10: Brooklyn Brooklyn, It is Ireland in the early 1950s and for Eilis Lacey opportunities are scarce. When her sister arranges for her to emigrate to New York, she arrives in a crowded lodging house in Brooklyn and can only be reminded of what she has sacrificed. Just as she takes tentative steps towards friendship and more, Eilis receives news which sends her back to Ireland. There she will be confronted by a terrible dilemma - a choice between duty and one great love.

Dr. John Tully is a Professor of History at Central Connecticut State University and the author of Ireland and Irish Americans, 1932- 1945: The Search for Identity, published by Irish Academic Press. He has been a Visiting Fellow at the Clinton Institute for American Studies at University College, Dublin, and has presented papers at meetings of the American Conference for Irish Studies and the American Historical Association. In April, he will be presenting at the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies at the University of Notre Dame.

Books will be available to borrow one month in advance. All Oliver Wolcott Library events are free and open to the public. Space is limited. Registration is required and can be done by calling 860-567-8030 or logging onto www.owlibrary.org and clicking on Programs/Adult Programs.  This program is generously funded by the Warshasky Fund.