Les Girafes

Well that was quite a weekend!  A really interesting, relaxed and thought-provoking conference in the highly scenic campus of UCC. A very wide selection of subjects on offer all related to Folklore and Senses. Parallel sessions ran throughout each day so choices had to be made. I enjoyed an intense young American woman discussing spectral drawings in the Pre-Raphaelite collections; a nostalgic look at the Reader's Digest book Myths and Legends of Britain, now a cult in itself;  a provocatively entitled talk Folkore as Fuck (actually about cottagecore as presented on social media - (google if you’re  not sure what that is but be prepared for lots of  wafty romantic images of wafty romantic young women doing wafty romantic crafty things); an examination of the mostly revolting lore and language surrounding UK school dinner; a desperately sad examination of personal belongings left in industrial/reform schools and Magdalen laundries; a historical and contemporary discussion  on vaginal odour (yes really, and actually fascinating and depressing - Gwyneth Paltrow’s candles have a lot to answer for,  google with care!)  and a very interesting delve into Finnish folklore collections - I  knew that Ireland had an astonishing and comprehensive collection of Folklore archives dating from the 1930s but I didn't know that the inspiration and advice came originally from work in Finland. There was also a riveting talk on sight at holy wells! Yes, it went well, lots of nice feedback. It was very global with speakers from Ireland, England, Wales, Isle of Man, Finland, Sweden, Greece, Lithuania, Scotland, India, America, Poland, Canada, France, and  Estonia. 


I stayed in student accommodation which in itself was a bit of a nostalgia trip - you remember the tiny room, bed, wardrobe and desk! Spotless though.



Leaving the conference on Sunday morning I thought I would venture into the city and do a bit of shopping. Oh boy, it was all kicking off! It was the end of the Summer Festival and I stayed to watch the French giraffes amble spectacularly down St Patrick's Street (and yes that is an opera singing princess on top of the red thing). Then I rushed off to the Corpus Christi procession (huge!) wend its way from the Shandon down to a specially constructed altar in the Grand Parade. I don't know which spectacle was more astonishing. 


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