About the Autumn School

Who belongs? Migration didn’t invent the question, but it refuses to let anyone dodge it. Every wave of people arriving somewhere new forces the same reckoning: who gets called local, who gets called outsider, and who decides?

This year’s Allihies Autumn School explores migration, identity, and the politics of place through scholarship, lived experience, creative work, and public conversation. Across three days, the event brings together researchers, archivists, artists, historians, and community voices from Ireland and the United States.

Speakers and contributors

Teresa Buczkowska

Immigrant Council of Ireland

CEO of the Immigrant Council of Ireland, writer, and media commentator on migration, democracy, and women’s rights. Her work has appeared in The Irish Times, Irish Independent, Dublin Inquirer, The Journal, and openDemocracy. She received the Women of Europe – Woman in Media Award in 2024 and is a 2022 Obama Scholar.

Dr Andrea Ciribuco

University of Galway

Lecturer in the School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures at the University of Galway. His work focuses on translation, intercultural communication, and migrant integration, and his Autumn School presentation addresses migration in rural areas.

Prof. Flora Cornish

London School of Economics

Born on the Beara Peninsula, Flora Cornish is Professor in Research Methodology at the London School of Economics. Her session reflects on family migrations into and out of Beara and invites participants into a personal writing exercise on mobility and memory.

Aubrey Edwards

Artist and Public Humanities Researcher

A multidisciplinary artist, cultural anthropologist, historical archaeologist, and memory worker based in Wyoming. Her project An American Wake: Filleadh explores the lives, labour, and legacies of Irish immigrant workers in the American West.

Kathleen Fitzsimmons

Leadville History Hub

Educator, public historian, and researcher from Leadville, Colorado, Kathleen Fitzsimmons focuses on Irish immigration to the American West, immigrant identity, and the social history of mining communities.

Luke Finken

Leadville, Colorado

Educator and community leader in Leadville, Luke Finken has been involved in public life, heritage, and business, including the Leadville Irish Miners’ Memorial and the twinning of Leadville and Allihies.

Prof. Mary Gilmartin

Maynooth University

Professor of Geography at Maynooth University whose research focuses on contemporary migration to and from Ireland. Her presentation at the Autumn School is titled Making sense of migration.

Aubrey Jaap

Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives

Director of the Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives, Aubrey Jaap works to preserve and share Butte’s cultural heritage through exhibits, oral history, public programming, and community outreach.

Lindsay Mulcahy

Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives

Assistant Director of the Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives, Lindsay Mulcahy is passionate about helping people discover Butte’s rich history and also serves in local historical and festival committees.

Zak Moradi

Featured film subject

Semaco “Zak” Moradi is a Kurdish-Irish hurler who moved from Iraq to Ireland in 2002. His story is featured in the programme film Home: The Story of Zak Moradi.

Local Voices

Local voices: Pat Holland, Clogheen, Garnish. John Michael Sullivan, Tra an Pherla, Reentrisk, Allihies. Michael Miney O Sullivan, Cahermore, Beara.

Stories of emigration and return, life in the 1950s and 60s.