Prof Adele Dalsimer, internationally recognised Irish studies scholar and co-director of the Boston College Irish Studies Programme, died in Boston on February 13th, aged 60. Born on March 31st, 1939, she was a native of New York and a graduate of Mount Holyoke College. She received a Master's degree from Hunter College and a doctorate in English literature from Yale University. In 1969 she began teaching in the English department at Boston College.
In 1978, in collaboration with historian Kevin O'Neill, she conceived and developed the Irish Studies programme at Boston College. Over the last two decades, the centre for this pioneering programme has become world-renowned, hosting visits by numerous Irish writers, artists, musicians, politicians and academics. Notable visitors included Nobel laureates Seamus Heaney, John Hume and David Trimble.
The interdisciplinary character of the Irish Studies programme - featuring courses on literature, history, Irish language, art, music and dance - is living testimony to Adele Dalsimer's vision for Irish studies. In recent years, she devoted herself in particular to the study of Irish visual arts; under her guidance, Boston College hosted ground-breaking exhibitions of Irish artists, in co-operation with the National Gallery, the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery and IMMA.
1999 saw the fifteenth anniversary of the Boston College/Abbey Theatre programme, established by Adele Dalsimer, Tomas MacAnna and the late Sean White. This, and exchange programmes with UCC, UCG and Queen's University Belfast, among others, have made it possible for numerous students from Boston College to study in Ireland, and for many Irish students to study at Boston College, at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Students of Adele Dalsimer, in America and Ireland, attest to her "radiance, vitality and vision" and to her inestimable legacies as teacher and mentor.
During her years at Boston College, she published and lectured widely. Her books include The Unappeasable Shadow: Shelley's Influence on Yeats (1988) and Kate O'Brien: A Critical Study (1990); she also edited a number of volumes dedicated to the interdisciplinary analysis of art. She served on the boards of the American Conference for Irish Studies (ACIS) and the International Association for the Study of Irish Literatures (IASIL) for many years, and played a central role in the development of both organisations. In 1999 she received an honorary doctorate from the National University of Ireland, for her "unique and outstanding scholarly contributions to the field of Irish Studies". She was also awarded honorary degrees by the University of Ulster (1998) and Mount Holyoke College (1995).
Adele Dalsimer is survived by her husband James (Jim), son Joshua and daughter Jennifer; her parents Ida and Buddy Mintz and brother Sandy.
Prof Adele Dalsimer: born 1939; died February, 2000