07.10.2015
Christ Church Cathedral Marks 800th Anniversary of Magna Carta with series of Lunchtime Lectures
Christ Church Cathedral continues its series of lunchtime lectures marking the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta on Tuesday next. The series features four leading Irish thinkers who will consider its relevance in contemporary society.
The lectures will take place at 1.15pm each Tuesday until October 27. Admission to the lectures, which will be held in the Music Room at Christ Church Cathedral, is free of charge.
The first speaker was Dr Peter Crooks, Assistant Professor of Medieval History in Trinity College Dublin, whose topic was ‘An Introduction to Magna Carta’
The second speaker of the series will be Senator Ivana Bacik (Reid Professor of Criminal Law in Trinity College Dublin) who will be discussing ‘Women’s Rights’ on October 13.
Next will be Archdeacon Gordon Linney, whose lecture will be entitled ‘Free to Believe’ and will take place on October 20.
Finally Dr Alice Leahy (Director and Co–Founder of homeless charity TRUST) will speak about ‘The Right to a Home’ on October 27.
Bernie Murphy, Managing Director of Christ Church Cathedral, gave the background to the lecture series. “Magna Carta is arguably one of the most important documents ever written, and we can still see its influence on modern–day democracy. It is certainly something to celebrated – particularly on this its 800th birthday – so we at Christ Church wanted to do just that by arranging this series of lectures with these great Irish intellects,” she said.
Magna Carta, meaning ‘The Great Charter’, is one of the most famous documents ever produced as it established for the first time the principle that everybody, including the king, was subject to the law. Originally issued by King John of England in the 13th century, Magna Carta to this day is still considered the cornerstone of modern–day democracy. Most famously, Magna Carta established the principle that all ‘free men’ had the right to justice and a fair trial.