In 1994 a Franciscan Friar, Fr Finbarr Flanagan ofm, returned to Belfast from South Africa. Finbarr had become interested in C. S. Lewis, had written about him, and wanted to find out more about him in the land of his birth.
Of course, he found that there was very little to indicate that C. S. Lewis was born in Belfast and grew up here. Resolving to 'light a candle rather than curse the darkness', Finbarr wrote a leaflet 'C. S. Lewis and Belfast'. In that leaflet he proposed, for the first time, that there should be celebrations in Ulster in 1998 to mark the centenary of Lewis's birth.
That leaflet made its way to me, James O'Fee, because some people knew that I was interested in C. S. Lewis. I considered that the best way to advance Finbarr's proposal was to form a group of like-minded people.
In January 1995, The C. S. Lewis Centenary Group met for the first time. We were able to meet in the magnificent surroundings of the Deputy Mayor's Chambers in Belfast City Hall. Since then we have met 14 times in all. You can find a list of our members on another page.
Our aims:
The Group has two main aims.
Firstly, we want to raise awareness among our own Ulster folk of C S Lewis's achievement and Christian message; and of his links with the Province.
Secondly, we want to encourage as many Lewis enthusiasts, and others, from other parts of the world, to visit the Lewis sites in Northern Ireland during the Centenary year.
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