IASIL (IASAIL): The First Fifty Years
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IASIL (IASAIL): The First Fifty Years
Dear IASIL members, dear Irish literature scholars,
As IASIL, the largest global network in Irish literary studies celebrates fifty years of its existence,
we have compiled a brief chronicle that outlines some of the most important moments of its
history. The Association was initiated by A. Norman (“Derry”) Jeffares as the first international
network of scholars, the aim of which would be to first map out where Irish literature in English
is being taught and researched (to this aim, another founding member, Ann Saddlemyer,
compiled a comprehensive list of courses and institutions for the inaugural conference), and to
instigate cooperation amongst scholars in the network and with related professional organisations
such as the American Committee for Irish Studies.
The importance of the International Association for the Study of Anglo-Irish Literature
(IASAIL) – as it was then called – was presently recognized well beyond academic circles, with
numerous prominent writers accepting an invitation to read at its conferences, and the President
of the Republic of Ireland, Erskine Hamilton Childers, attending the second conference in 1973.
Conferences were initially planned as taking place triannually but as IASAIL grew quickly, they
became an annual event from the 1980s.
Another important objective of the Association was to both publish and record the most
up-to-date research on Irish writing. To this end, founding member Maurice Harmon set up the
Irish University Review in 1970, which has swiftly established itself as a leading periodical in the
discipline; the original editorial board included Desmond Williams, Patrick Lynch, Roger
McHugh, John O’Meara, Alexis Fitzgerald, and Judge Sean Kenny. A regular feature of the IUR
has been an annual bibliographical bulletin, listing the publications of IASAIL members; the first
instalment appeared in 1972, edited by Trinity College librarian Mary (“Paul”) Pollard, whose
successors as Chairs of the Bibliographical Sub-committee have included Colin Smythe, Maureen
Murphy, William T. O’Malley, Frank Molloy, Beatriz Kopschitz Bastos, and Christopher Cusack.
Publisher Colin Smythe – apart from being a founding member and a bibliographer of the
Association – also went on to bring out a number of volumes of conference proceedings, until
the amount of material to be included became too large and the practice of publishing the
proceedings was abandoned.
However, the early years are best described by those who were there, so let me hand over
to Professors Carpenter and Jeffares. Their reports on the foundation of the Association are
followed by the list of delegates at the inaugural conference and lists of IASAIL/IASIL
Chairpersons, Secretaries, and conferences. The next section concerns the Newsletter, which has
been an important source of information about current events and publications; this is followed
by a section outlining the change of the Association’s name in 1997. An important part of this
chronicle is dedicated to the Japanese branch of the Association, the history of which is outlined
by its former President, Yoko Sato, and includes a list of its chairs, Secretaries, and photos from
several IASIL Japan conferences. The concluding sections of this document feature a smattering
of photos from conferences of the 1980s to the 2010s and two snapshots of the current online
presence of IASIL. Any researchers inclined to delve deeper into the activities of the Association
over the years are advised that an IASAIL/IASIL archive is kept at the UCD library, currently
consisting of 23 boxes of materials lodged there by past Chairpersons, chiefly in the pre-digital
age.
Let me express my sincere gratitude to all who have shared their memories and materials
or have helped in the compilation of this document in other vital ways, in particular David
Burleigh, Laura Izarra, Michael Kenneally, Youngmin Kim, Christina Hunt Mahony, Akiko
Manabe, Ken’ichi Matsumura, Christina Morin, Christopher Murray, Munira Mutran, Margaret
Kelleher, Riana O’Dwyer, Clíona Ó Gallchoir, Mitsuko Ohno, Tina O’Toole, Ann Saddlemyer,
Tetsuro Sano, Yoko Sato, Colin Smythe, Bruce Stewart, Haruko Takakuwa, Fuyuji Tanigawa, and
Kumiko Yamada.
I wish you happy reading, and would like to extend a cordial invitation to any for whom
this document might be the first introduction to IASIL: do join the ranks of an association that
has always been marked by its openness and inclusivity, where ideas are freely shared, research
plans are hatched, and life-long friendships are frequently born.
Ondřej Pilný
1 July 2019
International Association for the Study of Anglo-Irish Literature: Report
Andrew Carpenter
The International Association for the Study of Anglo-Irish Literature (IASAIL) was founded in
1969 to encourage research and study in all aspects of Anglo-Irish literature and to act as a link
between the many scholars working in the field in all parts of the world. In practical terms, the
association will organize a conference every three years and will disseminate information to its
members twice a year through the medium of the Irish University Review. This information will
include news of publications (in prospect and completed), of courses offered in universities
around the world, of work in progress, of travel and exchange facilities and of the nature and
location of source materials. The association now has more than two hundred members drawn
from twenty-two countries. The inaugural IASAIL conference was held in Dublin during the last
week in August 1970 under the chairmanship of Professor A. N. Jeffares; it was attended by 115
delegates from forty-four countries in four continents. The week’s activities were arranged on an
informal basis so that members should have as much time as possible for personal contact, and
several of the sessions were designed as discussions rather than as lectures. Among these
discussions were an attempt to define the term “Anglo-Irish literature”, a series of meetings with
panels of Irish novelists, poets and editors and a symposium with Irish publishers. In the
evenings, those attending the conference were most generously entertained by a number of
organizations including the Department of External Affairs, Arthur Guinness & Co., Hodges
Figgis & Co., the Irish University Press and the Yeats Association. It is hoped that the next
conference will take place in Cork during the last full week in August 1973.
– from Irish University Review 1.2 (Spring 1971): 289.
International Association for the Study of Anglo-Irish Literature: Chairman’s
Address
A. Norman Jeffares
The basic aim of this association is to provide a form of organization which will promote “study
and research in Anglo-Irish literature”. […] There has been a very large increase of interest in
Anglo-Irish literature throughout the world – let us instance the Yeats Society of Japan, the
American Committee for Irish Studies, or the Anglo Irish seminars in the University of Toronto.
Many literary scholars throughout the world introduce their pupils to Anglo-Irish literature, and
increasingly they do this with a realization that these authors cannot have justice done to them
within the context of a course of English literature – even less of American literature. In fact,
what is happening to Anglo-Irish literature is what has happened to American literature: originally
included in courses of English literature, it needed to be seen in the context of its own growth, its
own literary relationships, its own social and political history, its own cultural pattern. And after
the establishment of a serious view of American literature has come the growth of studies in
Commonwealth literature. And so courses in Anglo-Irish literature are established, increasingly,
throughout the world.
Literature is a living force. Scholarship and criticism, however meticulous, however
stimulatingly interpretive, lack the immediacy given by the living writer. So we think an
association, to possess genuinely lively life, ought to include writers as well as scholars, critics
and, most important, readers. Each needs the stimulus and support of the others. This means
that the association must provide occasions such as the present one for members to meet and
talk of their common yet diverse interests in Anglo-Irish literature.
In this conference we have kept papers to a minimum and left the afternoon periods free
so that we may get to know each other personally and to discuss our common interests and
problems informally. Later conferences may well be organized on a slightly more formal basis.
We have, however, included discussion of reports on the matters which justify our association
beyond the pleasant purpose of arranging meetings of writers and scholars. We can, however,
provide a service in several areas where information and co-ordination is very necessary. […]
One of the first needs is for information about both teaching and research as it is carried out in
universities, schools of advanced study, colleges and other homes of learning. Here Professor
Saddlemyer has already amassed a great deal of very interesting information […]. It is also
obvious to anyone teaching Anglo-Irish literature or undertaking serious research work in the
subject that one of the outstanding problems is that of obtaining texts. These are needed at all
levels and it is a measure, I believe, of our realism that we have asked a number of publishers to
attend the conference and that they have responded so readily. This age can be at its best when
collaborative, and the links between author, publisher, critic and reader can afford to be closer.
There is the further extension into audio-visual realms, into radio and television, and here more
could be done not only to avoid some superficial work but to create material useful not only in its
own aesthetic right, but for students in universities, colleges and, especially in Ireland, in schools. […]
Of course, in the early, heady days of a new association one can draw up a grandiose list
of desirable projects; but there is not much point in doing so without securing the necessary
financial support or without having a reasonable hope of achieving one’s aims. We have had
encouragement from the Irish government and Bord Fáilte and we hope that the government
and board are cognizant of the benefits to this country of an international interest in her literature
– her writers and her publishers and her producers. This international interest is rapidly
developing, and it can help Irish writing in the future as well as helping to increase and spread
knowledge of what has been written. It can help by providing non local criticism of what is
produced; this stops national writing becoming provincial, and it also provides an increasing
audience throughout the world for Irish points of view.
– from Irish University Review 1.2 (Spring 1971): 292-295.
List of Delegates at the Inaugural IASAIL Conference (Trinity College Dublin, 1970) Compiled by Rodelle and Stanley Weintraub Dr. Dapo Adelugba, University of Ibadan, Nigeria Prof. Jean Alexander, Calgary, Alberta, Canada Prof. William A. Armstrong, University of London, England Miss F. Bachellerie, France Dr. & Mrs. John Barnard, Leeds, England Prof. Bernard Benstock, Kent, Ohio, USA Mrs. M. Berthoz-Proux, Paris, France Prof. Alan Bliss, English Dept., U.C.D., Ireland Dr. Birgit Bramsbäck, Uppsala, Sweden Dr. Terence Brown, Eng. Dept., T.C.D., Ireland Mr. Timothy Brownlow, Bath, England Prof. S. B. Bushrui, Beirut, Lebanon Prof. Francis John Byrne, Dept. of Early & Medieval Irish History, U.C.D., Ireland Prof. James Carens, Bucknell University, Pennsylvania, USA Dr. Richard Allen Cave, Cambridge, England Monsieur Jacques Chuto, Paris, France Dr. Michael Collie, Downsview, Ontario, Canada Prof. Les Conner, USA Prof. William A. Dumbleton, New York, USA Capt. Kevin Danaher, Irish Folklore Commission, U.C.D. Prof. Gareth W. Dunleavy, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA Dr. Janet Egleson, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA Dr. Maurice Elliott, Downsview, Ontario, Canada Prof. Lloyd Fernando, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Prof. Richard J. Finneran, New York, USA Dr. & Mme, A. Frecht, Orleans, France Madame L. Genet, Limoges, France Miss Laureen Glasch, Sligo Miss Joan Godfrey, Trumbull, Connecticut, USA Mrs. A. A. Hampton, Geneva, Switzerland Prof. George M. Harper, Tallahassee, Florida, USA Mrs. Freda Harris, Ottawa, Canada Dr. & Mrs. T. R. Henn, Cambridge, England Miss Desiree Hirst, Swansea, Wales Mr. & Mrs. Moreau C. Hunt, Deerfield, Massachusetts, USA Miss Patricia Hutchins, Richmond, Surrey, England Mrs. Hiro Ishibashi, Tokyo, Japan Miss Claude Jacquet, Paris, France Prof. & Mrs. A. N. Jeffares, Leeds, England Mr. John Kelly, Canterbury, Kent, England Prof. Brendan Kennelly, English Dept., T.C.D., Ireland Prof. Johannes Kleinstück, Hamburg, Germany Dr. R. H. Lass, Coventry, Warwickshire, England Prof. Therese Law, New York, USA Dr. Paul M. Levitt, Boulder, Colorado, USA Prof. Margaret Linders, Trumbull, Connecticut, USA
Prof. Richard Londraville, New York, USA Prof. Sean Lucy, University College, Cork, Ireland Mrs. Sybil Le Brocquy, Dublin Dr. Robert McGlynn, Deerfield, Massachusetts, USA Dr. Eileen McCarvill, Dublin, Ireland Prof. Roger McHugh, Dept. of English, U.C.D., Ireland Mr. M. G. Maguire, Naas, Co. Kildare, Ireland Prof. Desmond Maxwell, Downsview, Ontario, Canada Prof. James H. Matthew, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA Prof. E. H. Mikhail, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada Prof. Anne Mulkeen, Camden, New Jersey, USA Mrs. Ann Murphy, Paris, France Lord Moyne, Castleknock, Co. Dublin, Ireland Mrs. F. Ni Chreachain, Dublin, Ireland David Norris, Eng. Dept., T.C.D., Ireland Prof. James H. O’Brien, Bellingham, Washington, USA Prof. & Mrs. Robert O’Driscoll, Toronto, Canada Miss Zdenka Pregely, Leeds, England Prof. Patrick Rafroidi, Lille, France Prof. B. Rajan, London, Ontario, Canada Prof. Lorna Reynolds, Eng. Dept., U.C.G, Ireland Prof. Ann Saddlemyer, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Prof. G. Brandon Saul, Storrs, Connecticut, USA Dr. M. J. Sidnell, Toronto, Canada Mr. James Simmons, Coleraine, Northern Ireland Prof. Kristian Smidt, Oslo, Norway Mr. Colin Smythe, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, England Miss A. G. Stock, Ilminster, Somerset, England Prof. William L. Sullivan, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA Prof. Weldon Thornton, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA Prof. Donald Torchiana, Evanston, Illinois, USA Miss Mary Tyrrell, Naas, Co. Kildare, Ireland Dr & Mrs. Brian F. Tyson, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada Prof. & Mrs. William Walsh, Leeds, England Prof. Florence L. Walzl, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA Prof. Alan Warner, Coleraine, Northern Ireland Prof. & Mrs. Stanley Weintraub, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA Dr. Katherine J. Worth, Englefield Green, Surrey, England Prof. Lorna D. Young, Ottawa, Canada Prof. Flora Z. Zbar, Tampa, Florida, USA Dr. A. Carpenter, English Dept., U.C.D., Ireland Mrs. Mary Canning, Dublin Mrs. Noelle Clery, Language Centre of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland Monsieur Gerard Leblanc, Nantes, France Mr. Colin Meir, Charlecote, Warwick, England Prof. Vivian Mercier, Boulder, Colorado, USA Mrs. Marilyn Norstedt, Irish University Press, Dublin Gerard O’Flaherty, Irish University Press, Dublin, Ireland Patrick F. Sheeran, English Dept., U.C.G., Ireland Miss Joan Girlinghouse Dr. H. Kusgen
Mr. David Hoskins Prof. Richard Hindley, New Hampshire, USA Mr. Bill McCann Mrs. Maureen Concannon O’Brien, English Language Institute, Dublin, Ireland Guests John Broderick, Athlone Rivers Carew, Dublin Magazine Kevin Faller, Dublin Benedict Kiely, Dublin Maurice Leitch, London Liam Miller, Dolmen Press, Dublin Dr. Conor Cruise O’Brien, Dáil Éireann Sean O’Faolain, Dublin Miss Paul Pollard, The Library, T.C.D. Allen Figgis, Hodges Figgis, Dublin IASAIL/IASIL Chairpersons 1969-1970 A. Norman Jeffares 1970-1973 Roger McHugh 1973-1976 Ann Saddlemyer 1976-1979 Patrick Rafroidi 1979-1982 Maurice Harmon 1982-1985 Heinz Kosok 1985-1988 Suheil Badi Bushrui 1988-1991 Robert Welch 1991-1994 Maureen Murphy 1994-2000 Michael Kenneally 2000-2003 Christopher Murray 2003-2009 Riana O’Dwyer 2009-2016 Margaret Kelleher 2016-2022 Ondřej Pilný IASAIL/IASIL Secretaries 1970-1973 Andrew Carpenter 1973-1976 Christopher Murray 1976-1979 Terence Brown 1979-1982 Mary FitzGerald Finneran 1982-1985 Robert Welch 1985-1988 Barbara Hayley 1988-1995 Martin J. Croghan 1995-2000 Bruce Stewart 2000-2003 Christina Hunt Mahony 2003-2016 Dawn Duncan 2016-2019 Clíona Ó Gallchoir 2019- Cormac O’Brien
IASAIL/IASIL Conferences 1970 Inaugural Conference (Trinity College Dublin) Conference Organiser: A. Norman Jeffares 1973 The Gaelic World and Writers in English (University College, Cork) Conference Organiser: Sean Lucy 1976 Place, Space, Personality and the Irish Writers (University College, Galway) Conference Organiser: Lorna Reynolds 1978 Ireland at the Crossroads (Université de Lille III, France) Conference Organiser: Patrick Rafroidi 1979 Literature in a Changing Society (St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth) Conference Organiser: Peter Connolly 1981 Anglo-Irish Literature (Gesamthochschule Wuppertal, Germany) Conference Organiser: Heinz Kosok 1982 The Irish Writer and the City (University College, Dublin) Conference Organiser: Maurice Harmon 1984 Literary Cross-currents: Ireland, England and the World (Karl-Franzens Universität, Graz, Austria) Conference Organiser: Wolfgang Zach 1985 Critical Approaches to Anglo-Irish Literature (The Queen’s University of Belfast) Conference Organiser: John Cronin 1986 Aspects of language and Culture (Uppsala Universitet, Sweden) Conference Organiser: Birgit Bramsbäck 1987 The Irish Theatre (Université de Caen III, France) Conference Organiser: Jacqueline Genet 1988 The Influence of Irish Literature on the World (University of Ulster at Coleraine) Conference Organiser: Robert Welch 1989 Irish Letters – A Small Nation’s Contribution to the World (Lajos Kossuth University, Debrecen, Hungary) Conference Organiser: István Pálffy 1990 Irish Literature as an International Literature (Otani University, Kyoto, Japan) Conference Organiser: Tetsuro Sano 1991 The Literature of Politics and the Politics of Literature (Leiden University, The Netherlands) Conference Organiser: Tjebbe Westendorp
1992 Creativity and Its Contexts (Trinity College Dublin) Conference Organisers: Terence Brown and Nicholas Grene 1993 Literary Inter-relations: Ireland, Egypt and the Far East (Ains Shams University, Cairo, Egypt) Conference Organiser: Mary Massoud 1994 Insulae/Islands: The Classical World and the Mediterranean (University of Sassari, Sardinia, Italy) Conference Organiser: Giuseppe Serpillo 1995 Coming of Age (University College, Cork) Conference Organiser: Colbert Kearney 1996 Irish Studies: Old Worlds and New (Hofstra University, New York, USA) Conference Organiser: Maureen Murphy 1997 Irish Literature – Areas of Research Today (Göteborg Universitet, Gothenburg, Sweden) Conference Organiser: Britta Olinder 1998 1798/1998: Back to the Present, Forward to the Past (University of Limerick) Conference Organiser: Patricia Lynch 1999 Irish Literatures at Century’s End (University of Barcelona, Spain) Conference Organiser: Jacqueline Hurtley 2000 Irish Literature: Borders and Border Crossings (Bath Spa University College, UK) Conference Organiser: Neil Sammells 2001 Odysseys (Dublin City University/St. Patrick’s College, Drumcondra) Conference Organisers: Barbara Freitag and Patrick Burke 2002 Irish Literatures and Other Forms of Knowledge (Universidade De São Paulo, Brazil) Conference Organisers: Munira H. Mutran and Laura Izarra 2003 Getting Into Contact (University of Debrecen, Hungary) Conference Organisers: Csilla Bertha and Donald Morse 2004 Writing Ireland 2004: Past, Present and Future (National University of Ireland, Galway) Conference Organiser: Riana O’Dwyer 2005 Ireland: A Global Village? (Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic) Conference Organisers: Louis Armand, Ondřej Pilný, Clare Wallace 2006 Those Images That Yet/Fresh Images Beget – Intertextuality in Irish Literature (University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia) Conference Organiser: Peter Kuch 2007 Varieties of Irishness (University College Dublin) Conference Organiser: Anthony Roche
2008 Home and Elsewhere: The Spaces of Irish Writing (University of Porto, Portugal) Conference Organiser: Rui Carvalho Homem 2009 Irish Literatures: World Perspectives (University of Glasgow, UK) Conference Organiser: Paddy Lyons 2010 Irish Literature and Culture: New and Old Knowledges (National University of Ireland, Maynooth) Conference Organiser: Margaret Kelleher 2011 Irish Literatures: Conflict and Resolution (Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium) Conference Organiser: Hedwig Schwall 2012 Weighing Words: Interdisciplinary Engagements with and within Irish Literatures (Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada) Conference Organisers: Michael Kenneally, Rhona Richman Kenneally, Susan Cahill 2013 Urban Cultures (Queen’s University Belfast) Conference Organisers: Eamonn Hughes, Edward Larrissy, Stefanie Lehner, Edna Longley 2014 Embodying/Disembodying Ireland (Université Charles de Gaulle-Lille 3, France) Conference Organisers: Alexandra Poulain, Fiona McCann, Chantal Dessaint, Virginie Girel- Pietka 2015 Reconciliations/Athmhuinterais (University of York, UK) Conference Organisers: Matthew Campbell, Emilie Morin, Ríona Nic Congáil, Bryan Radley 2016 Change (University College Cork) Conference Organisers: Claire Connolly, Alex Davis, Anne Etienne, Adam Hanna, Lee Jenkins, Heather Laird, Barry Monahan, Maureen O’Connor, Clíona Ó Gallchoir, Anna Pilz 2017 Ireland’s Writers in the 21st Century (NTU Singapore) Conference Organisers: Neil Murphy, Daniel Jernigan, Richard Barlow, Michelle Wang, Guinevere Barlow, Derek Hand, Keith Hopper 2018 Reimagining Traditions (Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands) Conference Organisers: Marguérite Corporaal, Ruud van den Beuken, Christopher Cusack, Odin Dekkers, Lindsay Janssen, Chris Louttit, Radvan Markus, Frederik Van Dam 2019 The Critical Ground/Ithir na Critice (Trinity College Dublin) Conference Organisers: Tom Walker (Chair), Paul Delaney, Rosie Lavan, Eoin Mac Cárthaigh, Eve Patten, Sam Slote
Conference programme covers
IASAIL/IASIL Newsletter
In the early years of the Association, members were kept up to date as regards its affairs,
forthcoming conferences, and Irish literary studies in general by way of a newsletter compiled by
the Secretary of the Association and sent out by post. By the late 1990s, the newsletter developed
into a well-produced, comprehensive source of news in the discipline and beyond under the
editorship of Bruce Stewart, who created the first IASIL website in 1997 (with the first pages
written in html in Notepad, a passably high-tech method at the time!). Bruce also solicited the
present logo of IASIL from Louis Le Brocquy, which is taken from the artist’s design for the
“Brendan the Navigator” tapestry (1962-63). The newsletter was distributed electronically from
the year 2000, and with the launch of the new website in 2010 was replaced by a weekly news
digest sent out by the Secretary.
The front page of the IASIL Newsletter, 1998 and 2000, the latter announcing that the publication
has moved online
Name Change
IASAIL changed its name to IASIL in 1997, in order to better reflect its remit and to indicate its
incorporation of the new, salutary trends in critical nomenclature. The change was a result of a
lengthy, at times even stormy debate, whose germs were apparent already in publications from
the early 1990s, such as The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing or Bruce Stewart’s provocatively
titled article “‘Anglo/Irish Literature’, moryah” (The Irish Review 14, 1993). In the event, the new
name quickly gained wide acceptance, reflecting the inclusive drive that has defined the
Association from its very foundation. Professor Jeffares indicated this succinctly in his opening
address at the first conference (as much as from a contemporary perspective, gender equality may
glaringly appear to have been kept waiting in the wings in 1970); in naming the Association, he
asserted,We have followed Daniel Corkery’s definitions: that Irish literature is “literature
written in the Irish language alone”; that Anglo-Irish literature is “literature written in
English by Irishmen”. Now the choice of this term by Corkery has some
convenience; generally though, for our purposes, it needs expansion. . . [… In the]
future it may be that the term “Irish” literature should supersede “Anglo-Irish” in
IASAIL’s title and elsewhere. (This might mean using the term “Gaelic” literature to
describe literature written in the Irish language.) But while there may be some
difficulties in sorting out the Irish and the English aspects of some seventeenth to
twentieth-century writers – Sterne, for instance, was surely the spiritual father of
George Moore and Joyce in his flexible, fluid Irish use of the English language –
nonetheless we do have problems of definition when, for instance, we find the work
of Mary Lavin, Frank O’Connor and Liam O’Flaherty included in a volume of British
Short Stories or the poems of Thomas Kinsella, John Montague and Brendan Kennelly
characterized as Modern British Poetry […] The point of our title, IASAIL, at present is
that it is, and ought to be, inclusive. The bilingual writer, for instance, combines the
two traditions of Gaelic and Anglo-Irish in himself and he is our concern as much as
the writer in English. For we need more translation and more exploration of the
effects of the intermingling of oral and written traditions. Carleton is an early and
powerful example of a writer who united both elements in his writing; today Pearse
Hutchinson, to name one writer equally at home in Irish and English, adds to his
skills in both a capacity to enrich the tradition further by translating from other
literatures, rather as Mangan did in the nineteenth century. This stems from a
traditional awareness of Europe, which stretches back to the days when Latin, Norse,
English, French and Irish languages lived together in Ireland. There is enough
material for argument here to occupy us over long and such argument, while
fascinating as an exercise in itself and revelatory as it is of the various protagonists’
personal reading and outlooks, may well get in the way of our more practical aims.
(Irish University Review 1.2 (Spring 1971): 292-293)
IASAIL/IASIL Japan: A History
Yoko Sato
IASIL Japan is one of the largest organizations in Japan for the study of Irish literatures. The
President of IASIL Japan serves as one of the Vice Presidents of IASIL, and three
Representatives are elected as members of the executive committee of IASIL.
In April 1984, an academic association, the predecessor of IASIL Japan, was established
in order to promote the study of Irish literatures in Japan and also to deepen the academic
communication between scholars inside and outside the country. The association was then
named IASAIL-JAPAN. It was affiliated with IASAIL (International Association for the Study of
Anglo-Irish Literature), which was established in 1969. IASAIL was later renamed “IASIL” so
that its research fields would include not only Anglo-Irish Literature but also Irish Gaelic
Literature. In line with this change, the Japan branch modified its name in 1996. It is now called
IASIL Japan.
Masaru Sekine took the initiative in organizing the association. Together with Robert
Welch, then Secretary of IASAIL, Masaru Sekine and Ken’ichi Matsumura made arrangements
for the establishment of the Japanese branch of IASAIL. The members of the organizing
committee were Reiji Fujimoto, Takatoshi Furomoto, Osamu Osaka, Tetsuro Sano, and Hiroshi
Suzuki. Also many others supported the promotion with much enthusiasm. Under the guidance
of Iwao Mizuta, the first President, and Ken’ichi Matsumura, the first Secretary, the inauguralconference was held in October 1984 at Waseda University. A number of distinguished
international guests and scholars were invited to attend: Norman Jeffares, the first Chairperson of
IASAIL; Brendan Kennelly, the first Secretary of IASAIL; Heinz Kosok, the then Secretary of
IASAIL; Ann Saddlemyer, a former Chairperson of IASAIL. Among the many eminent speakers
were Declan Kiberd, John Lawlor, and Frank Tuohy.
The most prominent feature of the Japan branch was its brand-new policy of adopting
English, not Japanese, as the official language for the conference administration and all
presentations. The founders of the Japan branch were decisive about this, agreeing with Tetsuro
Sano, a member of the organizing committee, who emphasized the significance of the use of
English at the conference in order to educate younger Japanese scholars. Furthermore,
contributors to the academic journal of the association were required to write their articles in
English. It is believed that at that time, about thirty-five years ago, IASAIL-JAPAN was the only
association in Japan whose official language was not Japanese, but English.
IASIL Japan holds an international conference every year, and publishes its academic
journal annually. The original name of the journal was The Harp. Its first issue was published in
1985, a year after the establishment of IASAIL-JAPAN, and the second issue appeared in 1987.
After the publication of the fifteenth volume in 2000, the journal was renamed Journal of Irish
Studies (JIS), whose celebratory volume XXX appeared in 2015.The successive editors, Ken’ichi
Matsumura, Peter MCMillan, Peter O’Connor, Andrew Fitzsimons, Seishi Matsuda, Beverley
Curran, and Masaya Shimokusu have worked hard to enrich the quality of the journal. Their
wonderful efforts have led to the present contract of JIS with JSTOR, one of the largest digital
libraries of academic journals and books in the world.
During the launching period of IASAIL-JAPAN, we successfully gained financial support
from the Japan World Exposition 1970 Commemorative Fund to invite distinguished guest
speakers from abroad. Furthermore, we negotiated directly with the Cultural Relations
Committee in Ireland with the support from the Embassy of Ireland, Tokyo. In recent years,
grants from Culture Ireland have made it possible to invite many wonderful writers and artists to
the IASIL Japan conference. Occasionally, we have received financial support directly from the
Cultural Section of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ireland. We would like to take
this opportunity to thank the Embassy of Ireland, Tokyo for its continuous kind assistance,
which has made this possible. It should also be mentioned that the development of IASIL Japan
owes much to the precious academic network, which each member has endeavoured to create, as
well as the hard work of the host universities and their diligent staff. Here is a list (in random
order) of some of the honoured guests of IASIL Japan conferences:
Ondřej Pilný, Deirdre Madden, Margaret Kelleher, Lia Mills, Alan Gilsenan, Patrick
Lonergan, Patrick Crotty, Moya Cannon, Fintan O’Toole, Anne Fogarty, Gerard Fanning,
P.J. Mathews, Sinead Morrissey, Maureen O’Conner, Paul Muldoon, Clair Wills, Dennis
O’Driscoll, Julie O’Callaghan, Riana O’Dwyer, Morris Beja, Ellen Carol Jones, Bernard
O’Donoghue, Elisa Joy White, Luke Gibbons, Evelyn Conlon, Joseph Woods, Michael
Cronin, Paula Meehan, Theo Dorgan, Gerald Dawe, Daniel Albright, Michelle P. Brown,
Timothy O’Grady, Cathal O Searcaigh, Frances Devlin-Glass, Medbh McGuckian, Paul
Durcan, James W. Flannery, Ciarán Carson, Thomas Kilroy, Seamus Heaney, John Kelly,
Ronald Schuchard, Michael Sidnell, Julia O’Faolain, Michael Longley, Edna Longley, James
Simmons, Jennifer Johnston, Elizabeth Cullingford, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill.
In the history of the association, the 1990 IASAIL Conference in Japan was one of its
biggest projects. It was held at Ohtani University, Kyoto, during the famous Gion Festival in
July. Lively discussions were shared with approximately 60 participants from abroad and 100
participants from Japan. The keynote speech was given by Seamus Heaney: “Keeping Time: Irish
Poetry and Contemporary Society”. The publication of International Aspects of Irish Literature(Gerrards Cross: Colin Smythe, 1996) by Toshi Furomoto, George Hughes, Chizuko Inoue,
James McElwain, Peter MCMillan and Tetsuro Sano, was an outcome of that memorable
conference.
The success of the 1990 IASAIL Conference in Kyoto encouraged many Japanese to attend
the 1992 IASAIL Conference at Trinity College Dublin. During that conference, Seamus Heaney
kindly invited the Kyoto conference organizers and friends from Japan to his home. Members of
IASIL Japan remember and cherish the memory of the great poet, who showed his warm and
enduring friendship with them before and after he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in
1995.
In 2013-15, during which I served as President of IASIL Japan, various events on W. B.
Yeats, the first Nobel Prize winner from Ireland, were held not only in Ireland but also in Japan
to celebrate the 150th anniversary of his birth. Supported by the Embassy of Japan, Tokyo,
lectures, symposia, and theatrical and musical performances were held in Tokyo and Osaka in
close cooperation with IASIL Japan.
To close this short description of the history of IASIL Japan, I would like to thank former
Presidents of our association for providing me with information on its activities, and to wish for
the future prosperity of the organization.
IASAIL/IASIL Japan Presidents
1984-1987 Iwao Mizuta
1988-1993 Tetsuro Sano
1994-1999 Taketoshi Furomoto
2000-2005 Ken’ichi Matsumura
2006-2008 Mitsuko Ohno
2009-2011 Masami Nakao
2012-2015 Yoko Sato
2016-2018 Naoko Toraiwa
2019- Andrew Fitzsimons
IASAIL/IASIL Japan Secretaries
1984-1987 Ken’ichi Matsumura
1988-1990 Taketoshi Furomoto
1991-1993 Mitsuko Ohno
1994-1996 Chizuko Inoue
1997-1999 Yoko Sato
2000-2005 Akiko Manabe
2006-2008 Masaya Shimokusu
2009-2011 Kazuhiro Doki
2012-2015 Kumiko Yamada
2016-2018 Haruko Takakuwa
2019- Toshiki TataraAn article about the inaugural IASAIL Japan conference,
Mainichi Daily News, 22 October 1984Seamus and Marie Heaney with conference delegates; Seamus Heaney after his talk,
IASAIL Kyoto, 1990
A tribute to Seamus Heaney at the 2013 IASIL Japan conferenceMoya Cannon at the 2015 IASIL Japan conference Margaret Kelleher and Lia Mills at the 2017 IASIL Japan conference
Neil Murphy’s book launch at the 2018 IASIL Japan conference
Photos from IASAIL/IASIL Conferences
IASAIL Graz 1984
IASAIL Graz 1984IASAIL Uppsala 1986 IASAIL Coleraine 1988
IASAIL Sardinia 1994 IASAIL New York 1996
IASIL Barcelona 1999
IASIL Bath 2000 IASIL DCU/St. Patrick’s College, Dublin 2001
IASIL São Paulo 2002 IASIL Debrecen 2003
IASIL Debrecen 2003 IASIL Galway 2004
IASIL Porto 2008 IASIL Belfast 2013
IASIL York 2015 IASIL York 2015
IASIL York 2015 (a trip to Shandy Hall) Dawn Duncan, the longest serving IASIL Secretary, at the IASIL Cork conference, 2016
IASIL Online Presence, 2019 Finally, here are a couple of screenshots documenting the current life of IASIL on the internet: the new website, which is currently undergoing the last round of revisions, and its links to the IASIL facebook and twitter accounts; and the beautiful, bilingual website for the 2019 anniversary conference at Trinity College Dublin created by the conference organisers, which testifies so well to the dialogue that IASIL has been striving to instigate between scholars working in the English and in the Irish language.
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