2004 1st Annual Irish-American Crossroads Festival

March 6 – 13, 2004

CROSSROADS 2004 showcased San Francisco as a cultural crossroads of Ireland and America. Audiences joined us for a weeklong gathering to uncover the strands of the Irish American story. Through poetry, song, story and film, we celebrated this community.

MARCH 6th, 2004

Irish History Through Poetry Music & Song

Narrated by Sue Jean Halvorsen with performances by The Gasmen, Irish musical ensemble, along with Colm O’Riain and Pireeni Sundaraligam

Hybrid Irish Histories

Moderator: Margaret McPeake, Co-Director, Irish Studies Program, New College of California

• Peter Linebaugh, Professor of History, University of Toledo; Author: The Many-Headed Hydra: The Hidden History of the Revolutionary Atlantic
• Kerby Miller, Professor of History, University of Missouri at Columbia; Author: Emigrants and Exiles: Ireland and the Irish Exodus to North America; Editor: Irish Immigrants in the Land of Canaan: Letters & Memoirs
• Janet Nolan, Professor of History, Loyola University, Chicago; Author: Servants of the Poor: Education and Mobility in Ireland and Irish America, 1880-1920
• Patrick O’Sullivan, Director, Irish Diaspora Research Unit, University of Bradford, England; Editor: The Irish World Wide: History, Heritage and Identity

MARCH 7th, 2004

A Literary & Musical Variety Show

Interlocutors: Conor Howard, IAF and Sedge Thompson, West Coast Live

• James Liddy, Poet and Professor of English, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee; Author: Gold Set Dancing (Salmon Poetry)
• Mary O’Donoghue, Poet and Visiting Lecturer, Babson College; Author: Tulle (Salmon Poetry)
• Eddie Stack, Co-Founder of the IAF; Author: Out of the Blue and The West (Tintaun)

AND FEATURING: Daniel Cassidy, The Gasmen, Emer Martin, Melanie O’Reilly, Colm O’Riain and Pireeni Sundaraligam and other surprise guests!

MARCH 8th, 2004

The Irish Language in America / An Gaeilge sa Mheiricea

• Moderator: Turla Ó Colbaird, Coordinator, Breacghaeltacht Berkeley
• Daniel Cassidy, Co-Director of the Irish Studies Program, New College of California; Film Director: Uncensored Voices (1996); Civil Rights & Civil Wrongs (1994)
• Micheal Ó hAodha, University of Limerick, Ireland
• Esther O’Hara, Professor of Irish, New College and U.C. Berkeley

Co-sponsored by Seachtain na Gaeilge (www.snag.ie)

MARCH 10th & 11th, 2004

Award-Winning Irish Films

Wednesday:

• “YuMing is Aimm Dom” (2003) Director: Daniel O’Hara. Chinese Immigrant comes to terms with the Irish. (15 min)
• “Black Tunnels” (2003) Director: Hillary Dully. Provocative documentary on teen alienation. (52 min)
• “Headrush” (2003) Director: Shimmy Marcus. Crime comedy. Two disillusioned youths smuggle cannabis. (85 min)

Thursday — Contemporary Irish Classics:

• “Valley of Ghosts” (2003) Director: Emer Martin. Comedy set in Silicon Valley – the new wild west.(16 min)
• “Dublin Story”(2003) Director: Tom Hopkins -Street kids lives starkly contrasted -Academy Award short-list. (14 min)
• “Zulu 9” (2001) Director: Allan Gilsenan – Smuggling of African migrants into Ireland as its theme. (11 min)
• “If I Could Read the Sky”(1999) Director: Nichola Bruce. Dramatic – Irish immigration and exile. (83 min)

MARCH 12th, 2004

Irish Americans in the Labor Movement

Moderator: Daniel Cassidy, New College Irish Studies

• Mike Casey, President, Hotel Employees andRestaurant Employees Union, (HERE) Local 2
• Tom Hayden, Former State Senator; Author: Irish on the Inside; Irish Hunger
• Mary Foley, Past President of the California NursesAssociation (CNA) and American Nurses Association (ANA)
• Josie Mooney, Executive Director, SEIU, Local 790
• Patrick Mulligan, Financial Sec.,Carpenters Union Local #22