The Flight of the Earls was "one of the most poignant and romantic episodes in Irish history", Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said yesterday as he launched a programme of activities commemorating the departure of Hugh O'Neill, his family and supporters from Lough Swilly in Donegal in 1607.
The Flight of the Earls commemoration will be combined with other activities to mark the 400th anniversary of the foundation of the Irish College, St Anthony's College, Louvain, in 1607 and the 350th anniversary of the death of Franciscan scholar, theologian and diplomat, Fr Luke Wadding.
The joint commemorative programme will include special exhibitions by the National Museum, the National Library, the Hunt Museum and the Waterford Treasures museum.
An Post has arranged for the issue of special commemorative stamps. Academic seminars, workshops and presentations will be held in UCD, Louvain, Belgium, NUI Maynooth, Dublin Institute of Technology, Trinity College Dublin, University College Galway, the Ó Fiach Library in Armagh and in the Irish Colleges in Rome and Paris.
"Some have suggested that Ireland is a land burdened with too much history," Mr Ahern said at the launch in Government Buildings. "By that, I suppose, people mean that we are tempted to live too much in the past, to nurse old wounds, to recall old wrongs and to lament lost opportunities.
"We might also be accused, perhaps, of celebrating too much the great men and women and great deeds of the past, and not enough those of today.
"But I believe, passionately, that a country which is not aware of and comfortable with its past, for all its complexity, and the scope it provides for diverging and conflicting interpretations, cannot be comfortable in the present, or still less, be confident about shaping its own future," the Taoiseach added.