Hardiman and Beyond: The Arts and Culture of Galway since 1820 is the title of a new book being launched this Sunday as part of Cúirt.

Edited by John Cunningham and Ciaran McDonough, it takes as its starting point the renowned James Hardiman’s History of the Town and County of the Town of Galway, published in 1820.

This new publication is billed as “the continuation of that story – the history and culture of Galway City – from 1820 to the current day”.

Its production has been supported by University of Galway, where John Cunningham lectures in history and where Ciaran McDonough previously worked in the same area.

Over 39 chapters, the book deals with Galway’s history, landmarks and culture, and contains stories about the city’s arts and festival scene as well as biographies of arts figures who were either born in Galway or have lived in the city. They include Rita Ann Higgins, Patricia Burke Brogan, Nora Barnacle, Máirtín Ó Direáin and Walter Macken, among others.

The book has 38 contributors as well as many interviews with people working in the arts or writing about them, as it covers a range of areas from music, theatre, language and dance to architecture.

Visuals feature large, with 213 etchings, photos prints and maps contained in its 387 pages.

This new publication will be launched on Sunday. This will start at 5pm in Nuns’ Island Arts Centre, in a free, ticketed event when the editors will discuss Galway’s cultural life with a panel of contributors including author and UG English professor Lionel Pilkington and singer and musician Anna Falkenau, a PhD student at the university.  Following that, the event will move to Galway Arts Centre on Dominick Street at 6.15pm, when Dickie Byrne will be the guest speaker for the launch.