The Irish Jewish Museum invites you to a Talk on
Sunday 24th May 2026 at 3:00pm
From Belfast To Tel Aviv
The Fascinating Story of a Playwright’s Journey
Seamus Finnegan
The story of a playwright from Belfast and how he came to teach at a Jewish school in London, be invited to participate in a festival of Jewish theatre by a Hungarian Holocaust survivor, Kariel Gardosh, interview the President of Israel, write a book about Israeli playwrights, visit Israel 4/5 times in one year, make long lasting friends of over 40 years in Israel, still meet and socialise with students from JFS, write plays on Jewish themes. How did it happen? Do we know why? It has been, and continues to be, something that engages the Belfast playwright in a very profound way.
About Seamus Finnegan
Seamus Finnegan was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He studied English, Drama and Education at Manchester before moving to London, where he taught at the Jews Free School from 1974-78. In 1982, Finnegan’s play James Joyce & The Israelites was performed at the First International Festival of Jewish Theatre in Tel Aviv. In the mid-1990s, Finnegan was writer in residence at Mishkenot Sha’ananim in Jerusalem, where he co-wrote Hypatia with Israeli dramatist Miriam Kainy and began work on his book about Israeli playwrights, Dialogues In Exile. Many other visits to Israel occurred over the years, including one to interview Chaim Herzog, write Spinoza and The Star In The Cross and most recently, Shalom, Belfast. A full list of work and productions can be found on his bio pages in Wikipedia and the The Society of Authors
Details
RSVP – events@jewishmuseum.ie
Tickets – Recommended donation €5.00
Date – 24 May 2026 at 3:00pm,