When 18th century Catholic Irish tenant farmers revolted against greedy landowners, the war that followed resulted in more than 50,000 rebel deaths in the final days of the war.

This tumultuous and bloody history in 18th-century Ireland will be remembered in a presentation Wednesday at SIUC by Andrew Carpenter, professor at University College in Dublin.

Carpenter will speak about long-lost Irish verse and its history in a lecture titled Rediscovering a Lost World:Verse in English from 18th Century Ireland.

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The lecture, sponsored by Irish Studies Program, the English Department, the Graduate School and the Provost’s Office, will begin at 8 p.m. Wednesday in the University Museum Auditorium.

This lecture is part of a series of events over the last two years funded by a $236,000 federal grant to enhance the Irish Studies Program in the English Department, said John Jackson, vice chancellor for Academic Affairs and provost.

Several scholars in the field of Irish Studies have visited in the last two years. The program also organized a celebration of Irish and Irish-American Music in April. The event featured Irish-American musicians in performances and a workshop with experts on Irish music, dance and history.

In general, I say we have an extraordinary Irish Studies Program, and this presentation is just one of those associated with it, Jackson said. It really is a fine program, and I am very proud of it.

Clement Hawes, associate professor of English, said Carpenter will present the unofficial view of life in 18th-century Ireland, and that the presentation will be very much folk-oriented, touching on some lore of the time.

Carpenter, an authority on English satirist Jonathan Swift, has complied an anthology of Irish verse and co-edited The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing.

Hawes said he met Carpenter at a public symposium he attended in Northern Ireland last year and was responsible for inviting Carpenter to speak at SIUC.

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The presentation should be wonderfully lively, funny and entertaining, Hawes said. Carpenter is a wonderful speaker, and this event promises to be a very interesting and exciting one.

Factoid:The lecture will begin at 8 p.m. Wednesday at the University Museum Auditorium in Faner Hall.

The event is free and open to the public.