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There are high hopes that human remains, which were found at the site of an ancient church in Belgium, could be those of Irish war hero Patrick Sarsfield. The Sarsfield Homecoming Project, launched in November 2020 by Dr Loïc Guyon, Honorary Consul of France and Head of the Department of French Studies at Mary Immaculate College (MIC), Limerick, has spent the past number of years locating and repatriating the remains of national hero Patrick Sarsfield to Ireland. Sarsfield is best known for his defence of Limerick against the forces of William of Orange in 1690, in an event now known as the Siege of Limerick. Sarsfield, fighting for King James II, was eventually defeated; however, he helped negotiate the famous Treaty of Limerick, which ended the Williamite War in Ireland and from which Limerick gets its nickname as the ‘Treaty City’. After signing the Treaty of Limerick in 1691, Patrick Sarsfield then emigrated to France, with thousands of his soldiers, and enrolled in the army of the King of France, Louis XIV, to continue the fight against William of Orange and his allies. It was while fighting in the service of France that he was fatally wounded at the Battle of Landen in July 1693. Conflicting versions of the circumstances of his death meant that the location of his burial had remained a mystery up until recently.

A new book from MIC academic Dr Eóin Flannery explores how leading literary voices in contemporary Irish writing engaged with the events of Ireland’s turn-of-the-century economic ‘boom’ and the demise of the Celtic Tiger, and how they have portrayed the widespread and contrasting aftermaths. Form, Affect and Debt in Post-Celtic Tiger Irish Fiction is a fascinating analysis of the work of writers such as Donal Ryan, Anne Haverty, Claire Kilroy, Dermot Bolger, Deirdre Madden, Chris Binchy, Peter Cunningham, Justin Quinn, and Paul Murray.

MIC lecturer, Dr Susan Liddy of the Department of Media & Communications Studies, has co-authored the first report on harmful behaviours and practices within the Irish screen industries. Recently launched Light House Cinema in Dublin, Behind the Scenes: Exploring harmful behaviours in the Irish screen industries. The report takes a quantitative and qualitative approach, capturing the anonymised voices of respondents to convey their experiences across a range of industry roles and workplaces. The report’s launch on 30 September attracted industry organisations, third level institutions, screen executives and individual filmmakers. Attendees at the launch included Screen Ireland, Coimisiún na Méan, the National Women’s Council of Ireland, SIPTU, Writers Guild of Ireland, Screen Producers Ireland, Screen Guilds of Ireland, TUS Dublin and Trinity College. The launch included a panel discussion with Susan, Jessica Drum (Screen Guilds of Ireland), Colman Farrell (Screen Ireland), Ananta Kaur (Screen Producers Ireland), and Niamh O’ Donnell (Safe to Create) and afterwards, a Q&A session focusing on how to collectively foster a safer, more supportive work environment for all. The event was moderated by journalist, Aoife Barry.

MIC history lecturer Dr Miriam Nyhan has released a new volume evaluating the work of renowned Irish historian Joe Lee. A Tract for Our Times: A Retrospective on Joe Lee's Ireland 1912–1985 brings together a number of leading historians to assess the impact of her former colleague, Professor Joe Lee, and his writing on contemporary Irish history and historiography.

Preparing young people to deal with complex contemporary events and environmental issues can be challenging for teachers and a new book edited by Associate Professor at Mary Immaculate College (MIC) Dr Anne Dolan aims to do just that. Teaching the Sustainable Development Goals to Young Citizens (10-16 years) A Focus on Teaching Hope, Respect, Empathy and Advocacy in Schools will help teachers to navigate the big issues of our time including climate, biodiversity, peace, poverty, gender equality and more

The educational links between Africa and Mary Immaculate College (MIC) will be celebrated at a special event held at MIC on Thursday 1 June to coincide with Africa Day 2023. Organised around the theme of ‘Nurturing Africa and MIC’s Collaborative Relationship in Education’, the free public event will hear from African scholars studying at MIC who will share their African culture and diversity as well as discussing their contributions to Irish life, especially in education.

Are you a graduate of MIC? Learn how MIC seeks to foster lasting links with our alumni, who “individually and collectively embody our College’s mission”.