Oxford-Cambridge Celtic Colloquium

Myriah Williams writes:

Established in 1996, the Oxford-Cambridge Celtic Colloquium celebrated its 20^th meeting on May 16^th at Jesus College, Oxford.  A postgraduate conference, the Colloquium is intended to foster ties between Celticists at these two institutions, and it provides an atmosphere in which budding academics may feel at ease presenting their work, perhaps for the first time.  There were an especially large number of Celticists in Oxford this year, as the O’Donnell Lecture had been held the day before, May 15^th, in the St Cross Building.  The lecture, titled ‘Between Ogam and Runes: the so-called Alphabet of Nemnivus’, was presented by Prof Paul Russell of the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic.

Celticists relaxing, Jesus College, Oxford

Having enjoyed the festivities of the O’Donnell Lecture the previous evening, the contingent for the Oxford-Cambridge Celtic Colloquium was primed for a day of papers and discussion.  The speakers, four each from Cambridge and Oxford, were spread across three sessions.  The first was devoted to topics of Welsh interest, and included papers from Catrin Williams (Oxford), Rebecca Thomas (Cambridge) and Ben Guy (Cambridge).  Following lunch in the hall of Jesus College, the focus was shifted to Irish subjects in the second session, with talks from Kristyna Syrova (Oxford), Sara Lackner (Cambridge) and Harold Flohr (Cambridge).  The third and final session saw a return to Wales, with Angela Grant (Oxford) and Sarah Ward (Oxford) presenting.  As a special treat, Prof Thomas Charles-Edwards lead a small tour through the Fellows’ Library, where we saw a selection of books including Plummer’s editions of Annals and Saints’ Lives, an Irish primer and a Breton phrase book.  The day was concluded with a lovely dinner in the Mansell Room of the College.

Professor Charles-Edwards leads a tour of the Fellows' Library