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IMC 2018: Sessions

Session 523: Commemorating Saints and Martyrs, I: Transforming Identities in Hagiography

Tuesday 3 July 2018, 09.00-10.30

Sponsor:MARTRAE Network
Organiser:Nicole Volmering, Department of Irish & Celtic Languages, Trinity College Dublin
Moderator/Chair:Ann Buckley, Trinity Medieval History Research Centre, Trinity College Dublin
Paper 523-aShort Stories of Saints: New Perspectives on the Presentation of Hagiographical Memory
(Language: English)
Sarah Waidler, Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Celtic, University of Cambridge
Index terms: Ecclesiastical History, Hagiography, Language and Literature - Celtic, Mentalities
Paper 523-bSacrifice for Virginity's Sake: The Case of St Cairech Dercáin and Her Charge in Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, Stowe MS B iv 2
(Language: English)
Kathryn O'Neill, Department of Celtic Languages & Literatures, Harvard University
Index terms: Hagiography, Historiography - Medieval
Paper 523-cÓengus and His Féilire: Shaping Sanctity, Memory, and Commemoration
(Language: English)
Nicole Volmering, Department of Irish & Celtic Languages, Trinity College Dublin
Index terms: Hagiography, Language and Literature - Celtic, Religious Life
Abstract

In the MARTRAE sessions we seek to explore the ways in which saints and martyrs are remembered and how forms of commemoration functioned in creating, perpetuating, or altering this collective cultural heritage. In session I, Sarah Waidler will argue that a collection of short anecdotes of the saints Ciarán of Clonmacnoise and Moling present an alternative memory from that which appears in what are often considered more 'official' hagiographical texts, such as Lives. Kathryn O'Neill will argue that the life of the female saint Rícenn demonstrates a shift in emphasis away from the typical topos of self-mutilation and manipulates memory to suit a new generation of readers and patrons. Nicole Volmering will argue that the reception of the Féilire Óengusso and the beatification of Óengus in the hagiographical sphere transform the concepts of sanctity and commemoration originally embedded in the Féilire.