Presentation of ‘The Irish revolution: 1919–21, a global history’ to secondary schools by Minister Josepha Madigan
The Irish revolution: 1919–21, a global history
Tommy Graham, Brian Hanley, Fearghal McGarry and Enda Delaney (editors)
The Irish revolution: 1919–21, a global history is the third in the History Ireland Centenary Series tracking the decade of commemorations and features contributions from a host of scholars in the field, focusing on placing the Irish revolution in a global context.
The Commemorations Unit (Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht) has funded the distribution of The Irish revolution:1919–21, a global history to all post primary schools in Ireland.
Speaking at the presentation of The Irish revolution:1919–21, a global history to senior level history students at Oatlands College, Stillorgan, Co Dublin, Minister Josepha Madigan said
‘The Irish Revolution 1919-21: A Global History, the latest publication from the History Ireland stable, demonstrates that the War of Independence wasn’t just about ‘raids and rallies’ but part of a wider moment in world history. I am delighted to support its distribution to post-primary schools throughout the country. The publication will be a significant learning resource to support history teachers and students alike in navigating this challenging period in our history.’
Minister Josepha Madigan, Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht

Photographer – Paul Sherwood [email protected] 087 230 9096
Minister Josepha Madigan presents copies of ‘The Irish revolution: 1919–21, a global history’ to students and teachers at Oatlands College, Stillorgan, Co.Dublin. April 2019

Ronan Colgan (Managing Director, Wordwell Ltd.), Brian Hanley (joint editor, The Irish revolution: 1919–21, a global history), Minister Madigan, Gus Lynch (Senior History Teacher), Tommy Graham, (History Ireland editor and joint editor, The Irish revolution: 1919–21, a global history) and Robert Browne (Deputy Principal, Oatlands College)
The Irish revolution: 1919–21, a global history provides a much-needed perspective afforded by standing back from events in Ireland to understand the wider context of post-war Europe, and equally Ireland’s place in the newly-reconfigured western world where empires were now in irreversible decline.
- The Irish revolution:1919–21, a global history widens the focus from the history of the Irish overseas to the global significance of the ‘Irish question’ and charts how extensively the conflict in Ireland was debated across the world in anti-imperial, labour, suffragist, dominion and other circles.
- What has emerged clearly is how transnational communications, primarily newspapers and the telegraph, fundamentally shaped how the Irish revolution was reported and written about. The digitisation of newspapers now allows for this story to be told from many different places.
- The growth in digital archives such as the 1911 Irish Census of Population, the Bureau of Military History and the Military Service Pensions Collection enables people, wherever they happen to be located in the world, to explore in unprecedented detail the fascinating and rich history of Ireland’s global revolution.
- Tommy Graham is editor of History Ireland, Dr Brian Hanley is author of The impact of the Troubles on the Republic of Ireland, 1968–79: boiling volcano? (Manchester University Press, 2018), Fearghal McGarry is a Professor in the School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politicsat Queen’s University, Belfast. And Enda Delaney is Professor of Modern History at the University of Edinburgh
Further information Tommy Graham editor History Ireland
[email protected] | 087 688 9412