Trinity Long Room Hub Podcasts

Recorded April 15th, 2026.

Listen back to this inspiring conversation between two trailblazing female academics, Professors Emeritae Eda Sagarra and Corinna Salvadori Lonergan, which took place on 15 April 2026 in Trinity Long Room Hub. The conversation was facilitated by Amberlie Collins, a final year student of Middle Eastern and European Languages and Cultures (MEELC).

This event formed part of the 'Languages 250 at Trinity (1776-2026)' programme, throughout 2026, the School of Languages, Literatures and Cultural Studies is marking the 250th anniversary of the establishment of Modern Languages in Trinity College Dublin.

Learn more at www.tcd.ie/trinitylongroomhub

Recorded May 21, 2026.

A lecture by Professor Michael Cronin, Chair of French 1776, Trinity College Dublin

The Trinity Long Room Hub Annual Humanities Horizons Lecture for 2026 was delivered by Prof Michael Cronin, on A STEM Strategy for Modern Languages? Mapping Ireland’s Multilingual Futures.

250 years ago the first Chairs in Modern Languages in these islands were established in Trinity College Dublin. The TCD Chairs in French and German are the oldest, continuous Chairs in these languages in the world. But what of the future? How does Ireland build on its pioneering role in modern language education to make modern languages central to social cohesion, psychological wellbeing and economic prosperity on the island? The lecture argues for the benefits of a concerted strategy to make modern languages a strategic asset in the future development of our island community.

About Michael Cronin

Michael Cronin is 1776 Professor of French and Senior Researcher in the Trinity Centre for Literary and Cultural Translation. Michael Cronin received his BA from Trinity College Dublin, his MA from University College Dublin and his PhD from Trinity College Dublin. He has taught in universities in France and Ireland and has held Visiting Research Fellowships to universities in Canada, Belgium, Peru, France and Egypt. He is a Fellow of Trinity College Dublin, an elected Member of the Royal Irish Academy and the Academia Europaea, an Officer in the Ordre des Palmes Académiques.

Michael Cronin is the author of 13 monographs, the co-editor of seven edited collections and the author of over 150 refereed articles and book chapters. His work has been translated into 16 languages including Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, Korean and Modern Greek. Among his published works are Across the Lines: travel, language, translation (Cork University Press, 2000), Translation and Globalization (Routledge, 2006), Translation and Identity (Routledge, 2006), The Expanding World: towards a politics of microspection (Zero Books, 2012), Translation in the Digital Age (Routledge, 2013), Eco-Translation: translation and ecology in the Age of the Anthropocene (Routledge, 2017), Irish and Ecology/An Ghaeilge agus an Éiceolaíocht (FÁS, 2019) and Eco-Travel: journeying in the Anthropocene (Cambridge University Press, 2022). His research interests are in the areas of eco-criticism and bio-cultural diversity.

Learn more at www.tcd.ie/trinitylongroomhub

Recorded 12 May 2026.

What will shape the future of Europe in an era of global change?

A special public event marking the Trinity European Laureate Awards 2026, presented to European Movement Ireland (accepted by Julie Sinnamon, Chair of its Board) and former MEP and Minister, Frances Fitzgerald, in recognition of their outstanding contributions to civic society, public engagement, and equality across Europe.

Following the award presentations, a distinguished panel of speakers explores the future of Europe and the challenges shaping its path in a rapidly changing global landscape. From political and social change within the EU to wider geopolitical pressures, the discussion considers how Europe can respond to uncertainty while strengthening democratic engagement and civic participation.

Panel speakers include:
Mark Little, journalist and entrepreneur
Denise Charlton, CEO of Community Foundation Ireland

Learn more at www.tcd.ie/trinitylongroomhub

Recorded May 14th, 2026.

A panel discussion on the Irish anti-apartheid struggle featuring key members of the movement organised by the Trinity Long Room Hub with the Little Museum of Dublin.

In conjunction with Together/Apart, a collaborative exhibition between the Little Museum of Dublin and the Centre for Humanities Research at the University of the Western Cape, the Trinity Long Room Hub hosts a panel discussion on the Irish anti-apartheid struggle featuring key members of the movement.

In April 1964, the Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement (IAAM) was launched in Dublin by Kader Asmal, a South-African law professor in Trinity College Dublin. Lobbying for improved human rights in South Africa, the Movement raised awareness of the racism experienced by communities and campaigned for the release of political prisoners.

Twenty years later, eleven young shopworkers in Dunnes Stores in Dublin, refused to handle South African goods. This simple act led to an almost three-year strike that became a symbol of solidarity in the liberation struggle.

Together/Apart invites us to consider the deeper resonances of solidarity that link the peoples of Ireland and South Africa. Beyond the spectre of war and violence, this exhibition asks us to reconsider the meaning of generosity, care and solidarity – ideas that once helped to forge a human chain in the face of apartheid.

This panel discussion explores the legacy of the Irish anti-apartheid struggle and asks what we can learn from historical expressions of international solidarity. Join the people who marched, campaigned and advocated for the end of apartheid.

Chaired by Prof Patrick Geoghegan, Director of the Trinity Long Room Hub, panellists include:
Joan Burton, former IAAM Honorary Secretary and Labour Party leader
Hugo MacNeill OBE, former Irish rugby international and current Pro-Chancellor of Trinity College Dublin
Mary Manning, activist and former Dunnes Stores striker
Rafique Mottiar, former IAAM Treasurer and Vice-Chair
Dr Connal Parr, historian and author of Solidarity and Pressure

The Together/Apart exhibition opens to the public in the Little Museum of Dublin on 14 May 2026 before travelling to South Africa later in the year.

Learn more at www.tcd.ie/trinitylongroomhub

Recorded 12 May 2026.

Trinity Long Room Hub Visiting Research Fellow Prof Elke D'hoker (KU Leuven, Belgium) in conversation with Dr Paul Delaney (School of English).

About the fellow:

Elke is a Professor of English literature at KU Leuven and director of the Leuven Centre for Irish Studies. After a critical study on the novels of John Banville (Rodopi 2004), she turned her attention to the Irish short story. She has published many articles and book chapters on this topic, as well the monograph Irish Women Writers and the Modern Short Story (Palgrave 2016). Her present research focuses on the importance of magazines in supporting, codifying and disseminating Irish short fiction from the late 19th century to the present. Among the books she edited or co-edited in these fields are Irish Women Writers (Lang 2011), Mary Lavin (IAP 2013), The Irish Short Story (Lang 2015), The Modern Short Story and Magazine Culture (EUP 2021), Sarah Hall. Critical Essays (Gylphi 2022), Ethel Colburn Mayne: Selected Stories (EER 2021), The Writer’s Torch: Reading Stories from The Bell (Stinging Fly 2023), and The Edinburgh Companion to Irish Literature and Periodical Culture (EUP, forthcoming). Her interest in literary pedagogy led her to publish a textbook on teaching literature in 2022 and to set up the KU Leuven Centre for Literature and Education. She has long been a board member of EFACIS (European Federation of Associations and Centres of Irish Studies), serving as its vice-president from 2019 to 2025.
During her visit at the Trinity Long Room Hub she is working on a project called The Irish Short Story & The Dublin Magazine (1923-1958)'.

Learn more at www.tcd.ie/trinitylongroomhub