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wELCOME
Welcome to the website of the Lurgan George Russell (AE) Society which organises the annual AE festival in Lurgan. Our aim as a group is to promote knowledge and appreciation of the life and heritage of George Russell, better known as ‘AE’ who came from Lurgan and became one of the most important people in Irish public life in the period 1890-1930. AE Russell was a renowned painter and poet and was the central figure of Ireland’s cultural revival at the turn of the century. At the same time, as a writer and commentator he was the constant voice of reason and wisdom during a very turbulent period of Irish history.
For someone who achieved so much, for a variety of reasons AE has not yet been accorded due recognition in the history written to date either nationally or even locally. We seek to redress this imbalance at least in Lurgan and North Armagh. The Lurgan AE Society engages in various AE-related activities throughout the year but most notably the annual AE festival in April, usually in the week surrounding his birthday (10th April). Details of the latest George Russell Festival are set out elsewhere on this website.
Come along and see what it's all about. In the rich portfolio of George AE Russell heritage there is something for everyone - Art, Poetry, Spirituality, Politics, Irish History, Social Change, America's New Deal, Economics, Journalism, Commentary, The Arts, Gandhi, JFK, Mary Poppins, Theatre, W. B. Yeats, Newgrange, Irish Revival, AE's Fairy House, .......The list is practically endless!
For someone who achieved so much, for a variety of reasons AE has not yet been accorded due recognition in the history written to date either nationally or even locally. We seek to redress this imbalance at least in Lurgan and North Armagh. The Lurgan AE Society engages in various AE-related activities throughout the year but most notably the annual AE festival in April, usually in the week surrounding his birthday (10th April). Details of the latest George Russell Festival are set out elsewhere on this website.
Come along and see what it's all about. In the rich portfolio of George AE Russell heritage there is something for everyone - Art, Poetry, Spirituality, Politics, Irish History, Social Change, America's New Deal, Economics, Journalism, Commentary, The Arts, Gandhi, JFK, Mary Poppins, Theatre, W. B. Yeats, Newgrange, Irish Revival, AE's Fairy House, .......The list is practically endless!
George Russell Festival - Lurgan 2019
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Full colour AE book available for purchase - other stouts are of course available ...
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Lurgan AE SOciety
The Lurgan AE Society was created as the Lurgan and North Armagh George Russell Festival Society in 2017 and has a Facebook presence under the title - The George Russell Appreciation Society. The group is an inspiring one, driven by a collective interest at a community level to celebrate a local figure. It is a strong mix of civic pride, local history research, a celebration of a fascinating life and a belief in communicating that, with a passion verging on the evangelical. Officers and members of the Society are well rooted in the community across the Lurgan area and beyond. The Society is cross-community both in its membership and outlook.
Over the last few years the Lurgan AE Society has succeeded in significantly raising awareness of AE Russell in the area – particularly with the statutory authorities who increasingly realise the potential value – both economic and societal - of this unique heritage. The Society has been able to attract support from a range of funders and has succeeded in raising awareness of AE’s tourism potential via an innovative EU cross-border literary tourism project ‘Spot-Lit’. The Lurgan Group has also reached out to AE connections all over Ireland and in the United States. The Group is affiliated to and a driving force within a new ‘national’ AE Society based in Dublin.
The research that the group has carried out is impressive but the greatest achievement of the Society is its creation of an exhibition and the display of it at a number of venues. All this gives a strong ‘authenticity’ to the overall project. It is not an ‘idea’ but something more akin to a crusade, which in turn underpins the significance of AE, that an individual could inspire such commitment.
George Russell is probably the most distinguished son of Lurgan in the town's entire 400 year history. He was known popularly as 'AE ' and was a celebrated painter, poet, editor, land reformer, political thinker, visionary mystic and philosopher. He was a leader of Ireland's literary revival and a voice of reason and wisdom throughout Ireland's turbulent years in the period from 1890 to 1930.
AE was born at 12 William Street Lurgan on 10th April 1867 into a lower middle-class Ulster Protestant family. A blue plaque marks the house. He was baptised in Shankill Parish Church and spent eleven formative years in Lurgan. His family later lived at the North Street gate lodge of the Brownlow estate and young George attended the Model school in Brownlow Terrace. Although his family moved to Dublin in 1878, AE never lost his Northern connection. He frequently visited family and friends in Lurgan, Drumgor and Armagh city. He went on to become one of the most remarkable and inspirational personalities in Ireland and in the wider world.
Over the last few years the Lurgan AE Society has succeeded in significantly raising awareness of AE Russell in the area – particularly with the statutory authorities who increasingly realise the potential value – both economic and societal - of this unique heritage. The Society has been able to attract support from a range of funders and has succeeded in raising awareness of AE’s tourism potential via an innovative EU cross-border literary tourism project ‘Spot-Lit’. The Lurgan Group has also reached out to AE connections all over Ireland and in the United States. The Group is affiliated to and a driving force within a new ‘national’ AE Society based in Dublin.
The research that the group has carried out is impressive but the greatest achievement of the Society is its creation of an exhibition and the display of it at a number of venues. All this gives a strong ‘authenticity’ to the overall project. It is not an ‘idea’ but something more akin to a crusade, which in turn underpins the significance of AE, that an individual could inspire such commitment.
George Russell is probably the most distinguished son of Lurgan in the town's entire 400 year history. He was known popularly as 'AE ' and was a celebrated painter, poet, editor, land reformer, political thinker, visionary mystic and philosopher. He was a leader of Ireland's literary revival and a voice of reason and wisdom throughout Ireland's turbulent years in the period from 1890 to 1930.
AE was born at 12 William Street Lurgan on 10th April 1867 into a lower middle-class Ulster Protestant family. A blue plaque marks the house. He was baptised in Shankill Parish Church and spent eleven formative years in Lurgan. His family later lived at the North Street gate lodge of the Brownlow estate and young George attended the Model school in Brownlow Terrace. Although his family moved to Dublin in 1878, AE never lost his Northern connection. He frequently visited family and friends in Lurgan, Drumgor and Armagh city. He went on to become one of the most remarkable and inspirational personalities in Ireland and in the wider world.
Brownlow Castle - Commencement point for the Lurgan Historic AE Walking Tour
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Lurgan Town Centre Today
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