Kevin Whelan's Exaugural Lecture "The Unbeaten Path: The Magic of the Irish Landscape"

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After 28 years of service, Professor Kevin Whelan will be retiring from the University of Notre Dame summer 2026. To mark this occasion, he will deliver an Exaugural Lecture on Thursday 23 April at 6:30 pm in the Royal Irish Academy of Music (Westland Row), followed by a reception.

The illustrated lecture will be on The Unbeaten Path: The Magic of the Irish Landscape.

Kevin was the inaugural Director of Notre Dame Dublin, established in 1998. Since then, he has welcomed over four thousand Notre Dame students to Ireland. He encouraged them to experience Ireland off the beaten path, through the soles of their feet, taking walks on the wild side to reach the magical places that tourists never encounter. Whatever about the students, he enjoyed every minute of it, and this lecture offers a love poem to all the places that mean so much to him.

This last lecture under the auspices of Notre Dame seeks to explore the power of place, and to explain why we should consider the Irish landscape as our most precious treasure.

It is also designed to thank the unstinting kindness and generosity and support of friends and colleagues that was fundamental to everything the programme could do. They opened doors, opened their hearts and never said no to even the most outrageous requests.

The birds have vanished in the sky
And now the last cloud drifts by
We sit together, the mountain and me
Until only the mountain remains.

Li Po, “Zazen on Ching-t’ing Mountain”

All are welcome. Please RSVP to dublin@nd.edu so we can keep track of numbers.