Cork’s musical tradition tracked in ‘a first’ PhD

THE Assembly Rooms, the Theatre Royal, the Athenium — all part of Cork’s musical folk memory and now, the focus of a remarkable thesis on the musical life of Cork from the middle of the 18th century to the middle of the 19th.

The passion and scholarship that Susan O’Regan brings to a previously unexplored aspect of the city’s social and cultural history has earned her the first PhD ever issued by Cork School of Music (CSM). She graduated yesterday alongside her daughter Rachel Deloughry, who was awarded a B Mus. The ceremony took place in the Curtis Auditorium of the CSM.

In examining the details of public concert presentation from 1754 to 1840, Susan’s study throws light on numerous aspects of the city’s past which relate to social life, the music trade, public charities and the links with the wider professional musician circles of Dublin and London.