Irish-Austrian Conference
About
Irish-Austrian Cultural Ties from Modernism to the Present: Between Parallel Developments and Complex Entanglements.
Irisch-österreichische Kulturbeziehungen von der Moderne zur Gegenwart: zwischen Parallelentwicklungen und komplexen Verflechtungen.
The Irish-Austrian Conference will take place at MIC Limerick on 17-19 June 2026.
On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Austrian Embassy in Dublin, this conference will bring together an international group of researchers to explore the rich and nuanced cultural, literary, philosophical, and intellectual connections between Ireland and Austria from the late 19th century to today.
Focusing on both parallel developments and complex entanglements, it aims to challenge familiar clichés, move beyond national stereotypes, and illuminate the dynamic exchanges that have shaped both cultural spheres, with particular attention to modernist contexts and developments. By examining mutual influences as well as key differences, the event offers fresh perspectives on Irish-Austrian relations, complemented by a rich accompanying programme of events.
- When: 17–19 June 2026
- Where: Tara Building (Room T1.17), Mary Immaculate College (MIC), Limerick
Programme
| Wednesday 17 June |
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| All events will take place in T.117 |
| 1pm - 2pm: Registration for Speakers (opposite MIC reception) |
2pm - 2.15pm: Welcome Professor Dermot Nestor, President of MIC Assoc. Prof. Christiane Schönfeld, Head of German Department, MIC |
| 2.15pm - 4.30pm: Keynote - Transgressing Boundaries: New Perspectives on Erwin Schrödinger and the Challenges of Scientific Biography (Martin Gronau, ZfL Berlin) |
4.45pm - 6pm: Session 1 - Literary Ties, Early 20th Century 4.45pm - 5.15pm: “die Werke eines Ausländers, aber von einem Fernorientalen geschrieben” – Lafcadio Hearn and his Austrian Transmitters (Dr Sabine Strümper-Krobb, UCD Dublin) 5.15pm - 5.45pm: Landscapes of Decline: Death, Decay, and Melancholy in Trakl’s Irish Translated Poems and Their Resonance in Irish Literary Tradition (Dr Keith Ó Riain, Dr Sandra Wagner, MIC) 5.45pm - 6pm – Discussion |
6.30pm - 7pm: Reading - Andreas Pargger 7pm - 7.15pm: Presentation of the Centre for Irish-German Studies (Assoc. Prof. Marieke Krajenbrink, University of Limerick) 7.15pm - 9pm: Celebratory Dinner Marking 60 Years of the Austrian Embassy in Ireland (for speakers and invited guests), in Room G08 |
| Thursday 18 June |
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| All events will take place in T.117 |
9.30am - 10.45pm: Session 2 - Literary Ties, Postwar 9.30am - 10am: Seán O’Casey in Vienna - Irish–Austrian Cultural Transfer and Cold War Politics (Prof. Helga Schreckenberger, University of Vermont) 10am - 10.30am: Homo Ludens on the Celtic Fringe - Exoticist Construction and Linguistic Play in H. C. Artmann’s Irish Projects (Prof. Catriona Ni Dhuill, University of Salzburg) 10.30am - 10.45am: Discussion |
11am - 12.45pm: Session 3 - Literary Ties, 1990s to Present 11am - 11.30am: Überlebensstrategien im Zeitalter der Beschleunigung. Randnotizen zu den Irland-Krimis von Ellen Dunne (Prof. Johann Holzner, University of Innsbruck) 11.30am - 12pm: Der bedrohte Garten Eden in Irlandschilderungen von Ursula Posznanski und Christoph Ransmayr (Senior Lecturer Barbara Hoiß, University of Innsbruck) 12pm - 12.30pm: “Indem der Roman [...] zu singen anfing und damit kein Roman war”: Literaturtheoretische Überlegungen zum Genre Roman bei Peter Waterhouse und John Banville (Assoc. Prof. Barbara Siller, University College Cork) 12.30pm - 12.45pm: Discussion |
1.45pm - 4.45pm: Ingeborg Bachmann Centenary 1.45pm - 2pm: Introduction - Assoc. Prof. Christiane Schönfeld, MIC 2pm - 4pm: Film Screening: Ingeborg Bachmann – Reise in die Wüste (2023, dir. Margarethe von Trotta; German OV with English subtitles) 4pm - 4.30pm: "Scharf von Erkenntnis und bitter von Sehnsucht". Im Dialog mit Ingeborg Bachmann (Dragica Rajčić Holzner, introduced by Assoc. Prof. Barbara Siller, UCC) 4.30pm - 4.45pm: Discussion |
6pm - 9.30pm: Local Background - Limerick and Austria 6pm - 7pm: Guided Walk through Limerick, starting at Arthur’s Quay Park. 7.30pm - 9.30pm: Evening Keynote - The Brownes and Lacys in Limerick and Austria: Tracing Historical Connections (Dr Stephen Griffin, Historian) |
| Friday 19 June |
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| All events will take place in T.117 |
10am - 12.15pm: Session 4 - Cultural Ties Across Disciplines 10am - 10.30pm: Irish Traditional Music Practices in Austria: Evasions of National Identity? (Dr Felix Morgenstern, University of Limerick) 10.30am - 11am: Teaching Atrocities: Legal Obligations and Lived Memory in Ireland and Austria (Simona Grugger, Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas University; LMU Munich) 11am - 11.30am: Podcasting in Higher Education - An Irish Austrian comparison (Charlotte Lehmpfuhl, MIC) 11.30am - 12pm: Religion and Cultural Identity in Irish and Austrian Society: Entangled Histories (Lecturer Philip Egbule, University of Delta) 12pm - 12.15pm: Discussion |
1.15pm - 3pm: Session 5 - Core Modernist Ties, Literature and Philosophy 1.15pm - 1.45pm: Wittgenstein in Ireland (Prof. John Hayes, MIC) 1.45pm - 2.15pm: The Viennese “Lieber Augustin”-Song as an Austro-Hungarian Counterpart of James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake (Assoz. Prof. Dieter Fuchs, University of Vienna) 2.15pm - 2.45pm: Hermann Broch’s modernist novels: James Joyce through an Austrian lens (PD Dr Helmut Grugger, MIC) 2.45pm - 3pm: Closing Discussion |
- About
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