Beyond Belief is a one day seminar taking place at the TUS Campus in Thurles, Co. Tipperary. Information of all the talks that day can be found here: Beyond Belief

My presentation will explore the Irish obsession with death, funerals and the afterlife. Elements of tradition, folk belief, mystery and superstition will be weaved around stories ranging from grave robbing, American wakes, political funerals, cemeteries, wakes and funeral sandwiches. The talk will examine death and burial in Ireland from Newgrange to recent times and it will also consider how death has been represented in art, music, fiction and poetry to see if James Joyce was correct when he stated: ‘The Irishman’s house is his coffin’.