A talk at the splendid Kilkenny Arts Festival:

It’s no secret that the Irish are obsessed with misery, suffering and death. Where else would a website that publishes death notices get five million hits per month, a marriage proposal begin with the words ‘Do you want to be buried with my people?’ or popular ballads extol the attractions of martyrdom?

In this fascinating talk, historian Gillian O’Brien explores our obsession with all things macabre. Why do the Irish, as Heinrich Böll once observed, love ‘the poetry of unhappiness’? Why is the funeral scene such an iconic moment in Derry Girls? And what exactly was her grandmother doing when she laid herself out as a corpse?

Tickets available here: https://www.kilkennyarts.ie/festival/programme/death-becomes-us-tradition-ritual-the-comedy-of-grief#info