Center for Irish Research and Teaching

The Flagship Irish Studies Unit in the University System of Georgia. Founded on St. Patrick’s Day of 1995, Georgia Southern University’s Center for Irish Research and Teaching (CIRT) flies the flag for Ireland and advances Irish America in the University System of Georgia, whose 26 member institutions serve more than 340,000 students. Appropriately based in Savannah because of the city’s historic connections with Ireland, CIRT is committed to studying the identities, experiences and achievements that constitute Irishness, a concept that continues to evolve and that, at its best, enlarges the ancient Gaelic principle of flaithiúlacht (generosity). The center provides rich opportunities to Georgia Southern students and researchers around the state to study the connections between Ireland and Savannah and to provide access to primary-source research in Ireland and the United States, including the CIRT’s Lawless papers, which follow Virginia-native and Irish descendant Joseph Thomas Lawless’ involvement in the southern leg of an extensive U.S. tour by Éamon de Valera, a prominent political leader in Ireland’s history. The collection includes letters, advertisements and more that document an important narrative in modern Irish-American history.