O'Malley Clan Chieftain

Anne with the O'Malley Clan Chieftain Grace O'Malley at Rockfleet Castle at the 2025 annual O'Malley Clan Rally held in Westport.


Author Anne Chambers with some members of the annual Wander Women Tour from America at Grace O'Malley's castle of Rockfleet, June 2025

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https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/marconi-irish-prima-donna-margaret-burke-sheridan-tickets-1370950693429
Lecture-concert on the encounter and patronage by inventor Guglielmo Marconi of Irish soprano Margaret Burke Sheridan, with Puccini's arias.
Margaret Burke Sheridan (1889-1958) was an Irish opera singer considered the second Irish prima donna, after Catherine Hayes.
From 1909 to 1911 she studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she met Guglielmo Marconi, who helped her in arranging her further opera studies in Rome.
With Marconi's help, in 1916 she auditioned for Alfredo Martino, one of the leading singing teachers at the Teatro Costanzi, and made her debut there in January 1918 in Puccini's "La Bohème". In subsequent years she sang at La Scala with great success.
Together with Biographer ANNE CHAMBERS, author of 'La Sheridan: Adorable Diva 1889-1958', relates the remarkable story of this Irish Prima Donna and how, with Marconi's help, she conquered the stages of the opera world, in an evening with 3 Puccini arias performed live by Rachel Croash (soprano) and Annalisa Monticelli (piano) and with the presentation of documents and letters published between the two protagonists.
Limited places.
Free reservation on this website
An initiative by Embassy of Italy in Ireland, Istituto Italiano di Cultura Dublin and Irish National Opera, with the support of dlr LexIcon Library Dun Laoghaire.
Irish National Opera will present Puccini’s Madama Butterly in November at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre.

Author Anne Chambers presenting a copy of her biography of T.K. Whitaker at the annual T.K.Whitaker Lecture at the Central Bank of Ireland in 2018 given by Mark Carney, newly-elected Prime Minister of Canada.
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T.K. WHITAKER (1916–2017): Irishman of the Twentieth Century by Anne Chambers

Thanks to Colm McGuirk from the Irish Mail on Sunday, published on March 16th, 2025, for the interview 'Pirate Queen Grace O'Malley was too regal for blockbuster treatment'.