There’s a hint of an earlier age to this story, like those recently discovered unopened 18th century letters from Irish people living in the Bordeaux region of France.

Kinealy

In this second week of January 2014 I received a tri-fold piece of mail informing me that Christine Kinealy, an authority on the Irish famine, “has been appointed director of the newly created Ireland’s Great Hunger Institute at Quinnipiac [University, near New Haven, Conn.] … The Institute will build upon the work of Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum … while providing a forum for developing new scholarship about, and new engagement with, this tragic period in Ireland’s history.”

That’s great. I enjoyed my March 2013 visit to the An Gorta Mor archive collection and separate museum. Both are important stops for anyone interested in Irish history.

The only problem with the postal piece? Kinealy’s appointment was announced in August.

Here’s the Spring 2014 schedule of programs at the museum.