Although I was slightly skeptical of the visits and speakers we were scheduled to have, each experience proved to be worthwhile and fascinating! It sounds rather cheesy, but even with the first few scheduled events, like the lecture from Roddy Flynn and the Print Museum visit were incredible experiences.
Roddy Flynn spoke to us at the center about media in Ireland over the years. I did find it cool to hear some similarities between bits of their media and ours in the states. Hearing about how their regulations manifested from the culture surrounding Ireland in the 20th century I also found interesting.
Many of the regulations he talked about were based on religious beliefs, which I sometimes find to be an issue in the States as well. This affected women’s magazines because the government did not want “family planning” sections to be shared with the Irish public. These sections typically dealt with concepts such as contraceptives and abortion. Overall through print and film, there was a lot of censorship from the government for media in Ireland.
I was rather surprised to find out that there was no censorship in theatre, however. This was because those who were attending theatre performances were upper middle class and considered educated and rich enough to identify right from wrong, therefore restricting exposure to those who were below middle class.
Throughout the lecture, I kept getting stuck on specific tidbits, such as the fact that abortion was outlawed until 2018 there. Flynn also spoke about how “traditional Irish music” was moreso made up by radio stations in the 1950s. That was news to me.
Overall, the lecture was very cool to listen to! I also enjoyed how passionate the professor was on the subject.
Later in the day, we made a trek to the National Print Museum! On the way, Grace, Max and I stopped to grab lunch where I got my second Guinness of the trip. (I truly hoped the allergic reaction was a fluke, but alas, it was not.)
I was so surprised to see that all of the machines we got to see were in working order. I feel that it is so uncommon in the U.S. to have people that care enough to maintain that kind of craft and preserve the machines that make it possible. I liked learning about the individual machines and their functions. It was partially sad, however, hearing how because the craft is so niche and specialized, the practice is literally dying out. Those who ran the museum had all been apprentices for years and been working with those types of machines for over 60 years. They even said how they were weary to teach others just because of the dangers that come with working the machines.
On a lighter note, however, I acted as an “apprentice” and made myself a little poster as a souvenir. Our guide during the process taught us a bunch of phrases that originated from old printing practices such as “coining a phrase” and “minding your ps and qs.”
I feel a good way to close this blog entry, however, is with the event of the day:
THE NEW POPE WAS ANNOUNCED WHILE I WAS IN MASS AT CHRISTCHURCH.
Thank you
-Sav
