Cornish Colloquium hosted to celebrate St Piran’s Day

The Institute of Cornish Studies (ICS) are organising the event, which will feature guest speakers, a music session and an award ceremony, taking place on March 4.

St Piran’s Day is the national day of Cornwall, and is named after Saint Piran, one of the patron saints of the county.

The enlightening talks will be followed by a Cornish music session, with those attending welcome to bring their own instruments or take part in the singing.

Dr Merv Davey, one of the guest speakers, and graduate of the ICS, will be showing how there was a strong sense of Cornish identity throughout different times in History with his talk on: ‘A Cornish identity in every era?’ He will show how in the Middle-Ages, the language was widely spoken, and this provided a sense of semi-independence from the rest of England. He will also describe the nineteenth century attempts to revive the language and how a sense of Cornish nationality developed.

The event will also see the launch of a new developmental phase of the ICS with Dr Ben Dobson talking about economic priorities for Cornwall and Dr Lamorna Spry, a Trustee of the Cornwall Heritage Trust, further exploring Cornish heritage.

Dr Garry Tregidga, Director of the ICS, said: “Here at the ICS we’re delighted to be able to celebrate and inform people of Cornish Heritage. This is an excellent opportunity to learn from a number of renowned experts in the field, but to also enjoy the Cornish entertainment through the music.”

The event is part of the annual St Piran’s Day celebrations on the University of Exeter’s Penryn Campus, organised in association with the Libraries and Falmouth and Exeter Student’s Union (FXU) Celtic Society.

To reserve a place and for further details, please email cornishstudies@exeter.ac.uk