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