The Illuminated Lyric of Lafracoth

Abstract

A medieval historical fiction in dramatic form for older adolescents and adults, this verse play depicts a person of conscience in early 12th century Ireland. This work is intended for late adolescents and adults who have either acquired or are engaged in higher education. The author envisions uses in classrooms, drama and book clubs in which conscience sensitive character analyses and discussions of moral life in and out of religious contexts are deemed worthy of pursuit. The original 2008 version of The Lyric of Lafracoth without illustrations can be found at: https://hdl.handle.net/1805/16779 In this illustrated version, artist Deborah C. Galvin was asked to create five illuminations for the letters P, A, C, E and M which figure prominently in the conflicted story of Lafracoth and her father. Deborah obliged but was not satisfied with just five. Over the two years 2008-2010, she completed sixteen times that many. In 2012, these were exhibited in a crafted parchment paper version of the manuscript at The Helen Beiser MD Art Show during the 59th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in San Francisco and again that same year at the Fourth Annual Indiana University School of Medicine Art Exhibition in Indianapolis.