CLASSICAL ASSOCIATION OF IRELAND
CAI LIMERICK The Spring Term began with good news: the Branch secretary, Tom Seaver, was appointed Honorary President of the Association for 2018. However, this was followed by an unexpected shock, resulting from the 2016 Summer Conference: Mary Immaculate College sent their invoice belatedly in February and only then did we discover negative equity on our balance sheet. Thankfully, this situation has now been rectified. Meanwhile, an interesting programme of lectures was organised, all delivered by local academics. Dr Matthew Potter, the newly appointed curator of Limerick City Museum, led off on February 8 with ‘Byzantium’s greatest Ruling Family: the Macedonian Dynasty, 8671256 AD’. He was followed a fortnight later by Mr Gerald O’Carroll, author and historian, who spoke on ‘Bishop Charles Graves, of Limerick, Classical Scholar (18121899)’. The third lecture, on March 22, entitled ‘Iudaei nos Nazarenos appellant: the early Christian Church and its Jewish Heritage’, was given by our Chairman, Mr Patrick Ryan. Our final offering, ‘The Hunt in Ancient Greece’, was given on April 5, by Ms Paula Keane, formerly of Croom N.S., who is also our Branch Delegate to Council. Adult Greek and Latin classes, conducted by Patrick Ryan, resumed in early January and have continued throughout the term. Some 17 participants are taking Greek, with lesser numbers in the Latin classes.
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May 2017 All lectures and classes are held in the Limerick Education Centre. The Branch committee are indebted to the director and staff there for making the excellent premises and back-up services available to us over the past year. The annual Branch dinner was held in the Unicorn Restaurant, Dooradoyle, on May 4. Numbers were up on last year and a very enjoyable evening was had by all. Finally, our Chairman wishes to announce that his Summer Soirée on Saturday, June 17, at 3pm, will include a reading of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. All are welcome to attend. Tom Seaver Branch Secretary