Those down East Cork way over the weekend may be intrested to hear of theWilliam Penn Symposium which will be held on Sunday, August 25th in the lovely surroundings of the Kilkenny Shop in Shanagarry.

Running from 4.30 to 7.30pm and hosted by the Cloyne Literary and Historical Society, it will be opened by Cork City councillor, Brian Bermingham.

The first talk will be given by Julianna Minihan, who has a keen interest in Quaker history in Ireland, the UK and US, and in the life and work of William Penn, an early Quaker and founder of the province of Pennsylvania in America.

That’ll be followed by a talk on the history and architecture of Shanagarry Castle by conservation architect Wendy Lyons. Kilkenny and Irish craft will be explored by Gillian Bell after which tea and coffee will be served before moving on to the digital edition of William Penn’s Irish Journal. The talk on that will be given by UCC’s research fellow at their school of history, Dr Benjamin Hazard and Dr Hiram Morgan, a senior lecturer in history in UCC.

The restoration project being undertaken on the gardens at Penn Castle by Joseph Croke, horticulturist and lecturer at CIT and his students in conjunction with Kilkenny design will be the next topic before the symposium closes with a group discussion