Live stream | Lecture: ‘Filling in the Gaps’
Vona Groarke, Ireland Professor of Poetry. Photograph by Joe O' Shaughnessy
Hereafter blends research with poetry, prose reflections, history and images to create a unique approach to exploring family history.
Hereafter: The Telling Life of Ellen O'Hara.
A portrait of a young Irish woman reinventing herself at the turn of the twentieth century in America
Ellen O'Hara was a young immigrant from Ireland at the end of the nineteenth century who, with courage and resilience, made a life for herself in New York while financially supporting those at home. Hereafter is her story, told by Vona Groarke, her descendant, in a beautiful blend of poetry, prose, and history.
When archival research uncovers as many gaps and dead ends as facts, a creative response may be needed.
Vona Groarke has published fifteen books, including nine collections of poetry with The Gallery Press, most recently Infinity Pool, shortlisted for the 2025 T.S. Eliot Prize.
Hereafter: The Telling Life of Ellen O’Hara – a poetic account of Irish women domestic servants in 1890s New York, which arose out of her time as a Cullman Fellow at the New York Public Library 2018-19, won the 2024 Michel Déon Award.
Member of Aosdána and Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, she was Writer in Residence at St John's College, Cambridge from 2022-26, and is the current Ireland Professor of Poetry (2025-28).
This event will be livestreamed and recorded.
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