As academics from around the world in the field of Irish studies, we wish to add our voices to the chorus calling upon Josepha Madigan, the Minister for Culture, Heritage, and the Gaeltacht, and Owen Keegan, Dublin City Manager, to intervene for the preservation of the house at 15 Usher’s Island and against its conversion to a hostel. Known to scholars and Joyce aficionados worldwide as “Joyce’s house of ‘The Dead’,” this cultural and historical landmark not only housed Joyce’s great-aunts for some time; it is, critically, also the setting for “The Dead”-- arguably the best known, most loved, and perhaps most frequently taught of Joyce’s short stories. As some of us have already argued (see “Artists and Writers call for protection of Joyce’s ‘House of the Dead’,” Irish Times,8 November), it would be difficult to overstate the lost opportunity the planned use of Usher’s Island would constitute—and it would be a sad irony, indeed, to see the year that Dublin celebrated the opening of the Museum of Literature Ireland (MoLI) also mark the city’s abandonment of a landmark so thoroughly imbued with the history of one of its own greatest authors.
The undersigned are members of the American Conference for Irish Studies (ACIS), the largest academic Irish studies organization in the world with a membership approaching 700 scholars. Hailing from 43 U.S. states, 15 countries, and nearly 400 institutions worldwide, we have dedicated our professional lives to studying, supporting, and promoting Irish literature, history, and culture. On behalf of our field and our students, and for the good of Dublin’s literary and cultural heritage, we urge you to reverse course and protect Usher’s Island for posterity.
Respectfully submitted,
The American Conference for Irish Studies Executive Board
Kate Costello-Sullivan, Le Moyne College, USA—President
Kelly Matthews, Framingham State University, USA--Vice-President
Tim McMahon, Marquette University, USA—Past President
Justin Dolan Stover, Idaho State Universisty, USA--Treasurer
Malcolm Sen, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, USA-- Secretary
Nicole McClure, Kutztown University, USA—Web and Communications Editor
Ray Cashman, Indiana University, USA--Social Sciences Representative
Cian McMahon, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA—History Representative
Kelly Sullivan, NYU, USA—Arts Representative
Julia Obert, University Wyoming, USA—Literature Representative
Úna Ní Bhroiméil, Mary Immaculate College, Ireland—Irish Language Representative
Margot Backus, University of Houston, USA—Women, Gender, and Sexualities Studies Rep
John Roney, Sacred Heart University, USA—New England Representative
Matthew Reznicek, Creighton University, USA—Mid-Western Representative
Donna Potts, Washington State University, USA—Western Representative
Bridget Keown, University of Pittsburgh, USA—Graduate Student Representative
Nathalie Anderson, Swarthmore College, USA—Southern Representative
Deirdre Nic Mhathuna, Dublin City University, Ireland - International Treasurer
Updates
November 13, 2019
The silence from the city manager remains deafening so we need to dial up the pressure on his office. Email him directly today to demand an urgent meeting regarding the future of the house. Post the petition link to your Facebook timeline and tag the local planning committee so they know we are watching.
November 13, 2019
The momentum behind this effort is undeniable and the message to our officials is clear. Post this link on Facebook and email your local representative today to ensure they understand this site must be protected. We have the attention of the city so keep pushing until the plans for this hostel are scrapped.
Reached 100 supporters
November 13, 2019
38 Comments
This would be an incredible injustice to this culturally and world renowned building to be used as a hostel. Why don't you turn it into a museum for Irish writers, specifically Joyce, and display his work? I have been to Dublin on many an occasion and believe me, there are plenty of other buildings that can be used as a hostel.
I've walked by this house dozens of times over the years, and show pictures of it whenever I teach Joyce. It's a national treasure -- made so much more so by the fact that only in imagination and creativity does it become a treasure.
In 2012 my students were treated to a tour of the house by the owner at the time. It was, I daresay, the highlight of their visit to Dublin, and of mine too.
I was lucky enough, several summers ago, to attend an out-of-season re-enactment of the famous Twelfth Night dinner in "The Dead." Among the many guests, only two others were Joyceans. The rest were Dubliners from all walks of life, including a woman bus driver. The house is an Irish cultural treasure.
We are lucky enough to have a very unique and historical building that is the setting for the greatest short story in the English language right on our doorstep. To turn it into a hostel would be like turning the balcony in Verona into a billboard.
The representatives of the Irish people are called upon to maintain the nation's affiliation to its cultural heritage. Not to sell off important cultural landmarks to property developers. If Ireland is anything beyond a free market, then it is imperative that such an historical resource must be preserved for generations to come.
Surely some plan can be developed to preserve the house and offset whatever revenues might be achieved by turning it into a hostel or another use that would threaten its status as a significant cultural landmark and permit public appreciation as such.
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As academics from around the world in the field of Irish studies, we wish to add our voices to the chorus calling upon Josepha Madigan, the Minister for Culture, Heritage, and the Gaeltacht, and Owen Keegan, Dublin City Manager, to intervene for the preservation of the house at 15 Usher’s Island and against its conversion to a hostel. Known to scholars and Joyce aficionados worldwide as “Joyce’s house of ‘The Dead’,” this cultural and historical landmark not only housed Joyce’s great-aunts for some time; it is, critically, also the setting for “The Dead”-- arguably the best known, most loved, and perhaps most frequently taught of Joyce’s short stories. As some of us have already argued (see “Artists and Writers call for protection of Joyce’s ‘House of the Dead’,” Irish Times,8 November), it would be difficult to overstate the lost opportunity the planned use of Usher’s Island would constitute—and it would be a sad irony, indeed, to see the year that Dublin celebrated the opening of the Museum of Literature Ireland (MoLI) also mark the city’s abandonment of a landmark so thoroughly imbued with the history of one of its own greatest authors.
The undersigned are members of the American Conference for Irish Studies (ACIS), the largest academic Irish studies organization in the world with a membership approaching 700 scholars. Hailing from 43 U.S. states, 15 countries, and nearly 400 institutions worldwide, we have dedicated our professional lives to studying, supporting, and promoting Irish literature, history, and culture. On behalf of our field and our students, and for the good of Dublin’s literary and cultural heritage, we urge you to reverse course and protect Usher’s Island for posterity.
Respectfully submitted,
The American Conference for Irish Studies Executive Board
Kate Costello-Sullivan, Le Moyne College, USA—President
Kelly Matthews, Framingham State University, USA--Vice-President
Tim McMahon, Marquette University, USA—Past President
Justin Dolan Stover, Idaho State Universisty, USA--Treasurer
Malcolm Sen, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, USA-- Secretary
Nicole McClure, Kutztown University, USA—Web and Communications Editor
Ray Cashman, Indiana University, USA--Social Sciences Representative
Cian McMahon, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA—History Representative
Kelly Sullivan, NYU, USA—Arts Representative
Julia Obert, University Wyoming, USA—Literature Representative
Úna Ní Bhroiméil, Mary Immaculate College, Ireland—Irish Language Representative
Margot Backus, University of Houston, USA—Women, Gender, and Sexualities Studies Rep
John Roney, Sacred Heart University, USA—New England Representative
Matthew Reznicek, Creighton University, USA—Mid-Western Representative
Donna Potts, Washington State University, USA—Western Representative
Bridget Keown, University of Pittsburgh, USA—Graduate Student Representative
Nathalie Anderson, Swarthmore College, USA—Southern Representative
Deirdre Nic Mhathuna, Dublin City University, Ireland - International Treasurer
Updates
November 13, 2019
The silence from the city manager remains deafening so we need to dial up the pressure on his office. Email him directly today to demand an urgent meeting regarding the future of the house. Post the petition link to your Facebook timeline and tag the local planning committee so they know we are watching.
November 13, 2019
The momentum behind this effort is undeniable and the message to our officials is clear. Post this link on Facebook and email your local representative today to ensure they understand this site must be protected. We have the attention of the city so keep pushing until the plans for this hostel are scrapped.
Reached 100 supporters
November 13, 2019
38 Comments
The world loves Dublin for several reasons but none so powerful as its devotion to the history of Irish literature. Individuals and groups have struggled to save Thoor Ballylee in the West; surely Dublin city officials can do the same for one of the most significant of the Joyce buildings.
This would be an incredible injustice to this culturally and world renowned building to be used as a hostel. Why don't you turn it into a museum for Irish writers, specifically Joyce, and display his work? I have been to Dublin on many an occasion and believe me, there are plenty of other buildings that can be used as a hostel.
I've walked by this house dozens of times over the years, and show pictures of it whenever I teach Joyce. It's a national treasure -- made so much more so by the fact that only in imagination and creativity does it become a treasure.
In 2012 my students were treated to a tour of the house by the owner at the time. It was, I daresay, the highlight of their visit to Dublin, and of mine too.
I was lucky enough, several summers ago, to attend an out-of-season re-enactment of the famous Twelfth Night dinner in "The Dead." Among the many guests, only two others were Joyceans. The rest were Dubliners from all walks of life, including a woman bus driver. The house is an Irish cultural treasure.
We are lucky enough to have a very unique and historical building that is the setting for the greatest short story in the English language right on our doorstep. To turn it into a hostel would be like turning the balcony in Verona into a billboard.
The representatives of the Irish people are called upon to maintain the nation's affiliation to its cultural heritage. Not to sell off important cultural landmarks to property developers. If Ireland is anything beyond a free market, then it is imperative that such an historical resource must be preserved for generations to come.
Surely some plan can be developed to preserve the house and offset whatever revenues might be achieved by turning it into a hostel or another use that would threaten its status as a significant cultural landmark and permit public appreciation as such.
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The world loves Dublin for several reasons but none so powerful as its devotion to the history of Irish literature. Individuals and groups have struggled to save Thoor Ballylee in the West; surely Dublin city officials can do the same for one of the most significant of the Joyce buildings.