merrion street

Friday, June 20th 2014: Jimmy Deenihan T.D., Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, this evening officially opened the Seán Mac Diarmada Summer School in Kiltyclogher, Co. Leitrim.

The theme of this year’s summer school, Reflections on Commemorating the Easter Rising, promises, over the next two days, to promote lively debate as to what form the 2016 commemoration should take, as well as an opportunity to experience all the facets of Irish culture, traditional music, Sean-nós singing and storytelling.

Seán Mac Diarmada was born in 1883 near Kiltyclogher, County Leitrim. He fought in the General Post Office during the 1916 Rising and was one of the seven signatories of the Irish Proclamation of Independence. Along with the other six signatories, Mac Diarmada was executed in Kilmainham Jail, just three week later, on May 12th 1916. Seán MacDermott Street in Dublin is named in his honour, as is the railway station in Sligo. The GAA park in Carrick-on-Shannon, Páirc Sheáin Mhic Dhiarmada, is also named after him.

Speaking in advance of the opening, Minister Deenihan commented:

“The Seán Mac Diarmada homestead here is a wonderful resource, an important part of the history of the Nation, and I am delighted to be able to announce that funding of 150,000 euro has been secured to make it more accessible to visitors. These works, funded by my Department, will be taking place in conjunction with Leitrim County Council.”

“Having seen the list of speakers, I am sure that this year’s summer school will be an entertaining and informative event. I hope that the ideas and recommendations expressed here can feed into the formulation of a programme for the commemoration of the Easter Rising in 2016.”